Reach Your Peak and Get High – Naturally
Paul Oakenfold 57 Superstar DJ and rave scene pioneer
For his 24th birthday, Paul Oakenfold made his first trip to Ibiza, which birthed the ecstasy-fuelled “Second Summer of Love”. Thirty years later, in 2017, he cleaned up his act to play “the highest party in the world” at Everest Base Camp to highlight environmental issues.
I loved the idea of that challenge: to see if I could perform at Base Camp at my age. But once the reality of it dawned on me, I started to worry. I was, like, “This is dangerous. People have died.”
Six months prior to the event, I set out to really get into shape. I stopped drinking and started to do long walks. I went on highaltitude walks up in Whistler, the ski resort, wearing a hypoxic mask. I studied the Wim Hof method.
When you’re at 17,000ft, it’s important to understand how to breathe.
Towards the end, I’d take a backpack and put loads of stuff in it. And I’d work on strength: legs, chest and arms. Then I went on a course to learn to stretch properly, because after you’ve been walking for so long, you really need to stretch.
It was an unbelievable journey. We hired Kenton Cool, Britain’s top mountain climber, to do the trip. We became friends and I learned a lot. As we were going up, we’d stop and talk to the local villagers. We even played a football game at 10,000ft against these kids. They beat us 5-1.
My partying days are over, really. On my rider,
I’ve got a juicer, so I’ll juice whatever I’ve got – apple, carrots, celery. After I play, I go back to the hotel. We all know that the older you get, the longer the recovery time.
Now and then, of course, I will party. I’m no saint. Years ago, when I was on tour with the Happy Mondays and I played at Spike Island, there was a lot of partying going on. But that’s years ago, now. How much do I remember? Not much! It’s all a blur, actually…
I own a tequila company, Perfectomundo. It’s really clean, with no chemicals added. It gives you a high – most spirits are depressants. I’ll have two glasses and sip it while I’m DJing. And there’s no hangover.