Paul Oakenfold Talks About His Love for Burning Man

Burning Man, the storied festival of art, self-expression and nude middle-aged men, begins this weekend in the Black Rock Desert of northern Nevada. Upwards of 65,000 people from around the world will brave insane heat, whiteout-condition sandstorms, and the aforementioned nude middle-aged men to participate in one of the world’s most legendary parties. This year, electronic music legend Paul Oakenfold is again bringing his camp, White Ocean, to Burning Man. One of many sound camps dedicated to music and dancing, White Ocean features a genre-spanning lineup that includes Above & Beyond, Markus Schulz and underground heroes like Juno Reactor, Seb Fontaine and Hernán Cattáneo.

The fact that we even have this information is, however, problematic. White Ocean received criticism from the (passionate bordering on vigilant) Burner community for releasing the musical lineup in early July, as the event prides itself on putting limited emphasis on big-name DJs and mainstream, festival-style announcements. On August 12, White Ocean posted a long apology on its Facebook page, stating, “words cannot express the remorse, guilt and sorrow, we feel for offending and possibly damaging Burning Man and the Burner community, both of whom we love and cherish more than anything else!” Oakenfold, who has been to Burning Man nine times in the last 15 years, says he regrets the offense but assures that those heading to the desert have a lot to look forward to at White Ocean.

We’re certainly not trying to do a big rave or anything like that. That would be awful.

So Paul, why is Burning Man special to you?
Have you been?

I have, yeah.
So you know why.

But I want to hear why it’s special to you.
It’s very creative. I find it inspiring. You’re in this place where there’s no phones, surrounded by creative people expressing themselves, so it’s just amazing.

Was the apology letter on the White Ocean Facebook page due to the lineup announcement?
Yeah, it was exactly that. [Organizers] were concerned because we released the lineup, and it’s not within the spirit of Burning Man. I mean, everyone knows we go, and everyone knows what’s going on, but the Burning Man organizers didn’t want a DJ lineup released. And it was, and we said, “Okay, we get that; no worries. We respect you and want to do the right thing, and if that’s what you guys want, then we’ll abide by it.”

So they just felt it was veering too much toward music festival territory?
Yeah, and they were very understanding. It’s an arts festival, and they don’t want it to slip. They understand there’s going to be music there. They even came to our camp last year, and we know them, but they don’t want it to seem to the world that it’s moving in that direction. The event sold out, we put our lineup up, they asked us if we would take it down due to those reasons, and of course we obliged.

The lineup features six nights of music, each spotlighting a different genre. How do you get DJs who haven’t been before to come to the middle of the desert and do this for you?
Well, since I’ve been playing there a lot and talking about it a lot, now people are aware that I’ve been doing this, and it’s been growing. We’ve had more big DJs that want to play. There were a lot of DJs we had to turn down, for no other reason than that the lineup is full. Some of the names we turned down were big names, but we felt that it’s not about having all big names; it’s about having the right DJ play at the right time. It was very interesting, actually, because we also wanted to share and express what’s really behind the DJ.

How do you mean?
For instance, one of the greatest DJs out there is Hernán Cattáneo. He’s from Argentina, and he’s been playing progressive music for many years. To really understand him and to let him take you on a journey—which is not now what DJs really do—we wanted to let him play a longer set, rather than the hour-and-a-half or two hours that DJs usually do. Last year, the Nervo girls wanted to do an underground set rather than the EDM set they usually do.

We encourage the DJs to express themselves. They can do musically what they want to do; there’s no pressure. That’s really the foundation of what Burning Man is about: expression. Seb Fontaine was one of the biggest DJs in Britain back in the day and taught a lot of the generation of that time what electronic music was all about. He got in touch and said, “Are you doing it?” and I felt that he would bring something artistic and creative to Burning Man, rather than the same DJs you see at all the festivals playing the same music on the main stages.

You’ve been to Burning Man nine times, so you obviously know what you’re doing out there. Do you have any tips for first-timers?
It’s a balance. If you are going to go to party, then you have to look after yourself, especially in the heat; it’s important. First and foremost, hydrate yourself. Secondly, make sure you eat some food and rest. If you’re going for a week, that’s a long time—especially out there. The wonderful thing about Burning Man is to go and explore. Be a part of it. Be creative. A lot of people are open-minded, and they welcome you to their camps. It’s very much still a community and a lot of fun. Take crazy outfits. If you ain’t got a crazy outfit on, then you’re boring as hell.

What’s the craziest outfit you’ve worn?
I usually go with a lot of face paint and anything you wouldn’t wear while walking down Hollywood Boulevard.

What are you favorite Burning Man memories?
I was in the middle of a sandstorm, and that was absolutely crazy. I put my hand in front of my face and couldn’t see my hand. Second one, the sun was coming up, and I saw three rainbows. I don’t know what that means, but at that time, at eight in the morning, everyone was freaking out. Everyone had their opinion on what three rainbows meant, and everyone was saying, “You’re never gonna see that again in your life.” The funny thing is, I haven’t.

Do you think that Burning Man is more spiritually and emotionally profound than most other festivals?
Yeah, I do. I think Burning Man is a unique festival that everyone should see, because it really will live with you for the rest of your life. That’s why us as White Ocean are very respectful to Burning Man and love being a part of it. We do as much as we can to bring creative people together who will share and respect what it’s all about. We’re certainly not trying to do a big rave or anything like that. That would be awful. We just want to share great music, creativity and artistic people with the world, and we think by having a lineup like this, it shows it.

I imagine the DJs all experience something new too. It’s not just bringing them to the people; it’s bringing them to that experience and opening up their worlds, too.
Absolutely. We’re sharing a wonderful time and experience, and they love it, and it’s good to give. We don’t want to forget that in life, in general. It’s good to give, and it’s nice to put a smile on someone’s face or open the door for a lady or listen to a friend in need. These things are important, and Burning Man is all about people coming together in this way.

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