The name Paolo Mojo is now being spoken together with Desyn Masiello or Luke Fair. Why? All the DJs mentioned have been presenting good house music, which gains listeners attention back again. We’re sitting in Sonobar, talking right before a party which I’ll later deem as one of my best parties in 2004.

Sound Revolt: Do you know that Mojo sounds a little bit Spanish? Maybe it should be pronounced like moho? [in Spanish “j” is pronounced like “h”]
Paolo Mojo: Moho? You’re right, because every time I go to a Spanish speaking country, people call me Paolo Mo-ho. That’s how they pronounce it. I’m not sure what mojo means in Spanish. Maybe you could look out for that and let me know? Anyway, Mojo didn’t come from that. Mojo began as the name of a club night I got involved with about five years ago. And I became known as Paolo from Mojo to help promote the night, mainly on the Internet actually. From there it was a short leap to become Paolo Mojo.

Sound Revolt: Why did you stop doing those parties?
Paolo Mojo: Every club has a life of its own. Sometimes things work for a long time, sometimes not. Our night worked only for a short time, but it worked really well. The guy who started it was Desyn Masiello, who I’m sure you’re aware of, and Omid 16b was the other organiser. They were great while they lasted but everybody moved on to other things.

Sound Revolt: So you were one of The Idiots? [Leon Roberts, 16B, Desyn Masiello]
Paolo Mojo: No no no… I’m not an idiot (at least not in that sense). The Idiots are Leon, Omid and Desyn, as far as I know. Nothing to do with me.

Sound Revolt: So what was your name before?
Paolo Mojo: Paolo, DJ Paolo. When I was visiting message boards I was calling myself Paolo Mojo, a bit like John of the Pleased Women – that kind of thing. Just after we finished The Big Mojo Parties I won a competition called Bedroom Bedlam, which doesn’t exist any more but at that time it was quite well regarded. So they asked me what’s my name and I said “Paolo Mojo”. It was a really spontaneous thing and I thought “oh shit, have I said that really”? Since then it stuck and people started booking me as Paolo Mojo and I’ve become comfortable with it.

Sound Revolt: When did you start playing?. You don’t look like a guy who’s 29. But you are.
Paolo Mojo: This is the thing! I’ve been playing since I was... gosh... 16? But, to be honest with you, up to about 1998 I just didn’t really take it seriously at all. I was a student, I was in college and I had decks. I used to play house parties for other students and then my flat mates and colleagues said that I should really try something more. I always knew this was something I was born to do, but I always thought there is always tomorrow. And I thought that way for a longer time. That began to change when I moved to London in 1997. I met people like Des, who was similar to me and started playing small parties and bars in London and on the South Coast.

Sound Revolt: Did you earn money or you parents just gave you some for a good start?
Paolo Mojo: Oh, I had a real career if you like. I’ve only recently stopped. I was an account director at City Financial PR up until 2002. And even up until last months I was doing occasional projects as a freelancer, because lets face it, it’s not always easy to live purely from dance music. That was definitely a time 18 months ago when I thought “I’m not going to progress if I don’t start to produce music”. But to do that you’ve got to take time to learn, so my DJing at that point went back for a little while. And in order to make some money I had to do some freelance PR. But I think it’s quite common, that a lot of people in today’s music scene were trying to do different things to make their living.

Sound Revolt: One of the DJs you may probably think of has asked us not to mention on Sound Revolt that he’s a lawyer. The other one asked us to take down some dates he had in the middle of a week.
Paolo Mojo: Oh, I can relate to that a lot because I went through the same sort of things.

Sound Revolt: But being a freelancer is a different thing.
Paolo Mojo: Yes, you’re right, it’s then on you to manage your time effectively. I’d have to do certain things for my employer obviously, but at the same time I’d be thinking of how to finish a track this week. Then I’d have a gig on weekend, things I needed to sort out with my record label... I’ve got to produce charts – all those kind of things. I have to be very focused with my time and I think I’ve done this quite successfully this year.

Sound Revolt: Looking back into your career, what was the most important year for you?
Paolo Mojo: This year, without a doubt.

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