Paul Abad

Paul Abad is a DJ, producer, festival and events director and music, arts and technology professional based out of Meanjin (Brisbane), Australia.

A key figure in Australia’s vibrant techno, electronic music and festival culture at large, Paul has been active out of his South-East Queensland base for more than 25 years. In that time, he has built his festival brand Earth Frequency from a small, 300-person tree- planting doof to one of the country’s premiere conscious music, arts and lifestyle festivals with a plethora of associated events throughout the year; performed at countless festivals, clubs, parties and warehouses alongside the world’s most influential artists; and most importantly, helped build a vibrant and connected community around everything he is involved with.

Paul’s musical experiment began in the radical melting pot of Brisbane’s scene in the late nineties with the experimental sounds of glitch, IDM, EBM, music concrete and industrial. Playing his first DJ set in 1997, he quickly became involved in Queensland and Northern NSW’s fast-growing underground party culture, promoting a string of successful events before the birth of the now seminal Earth Frequency in 2005.

It was during these early days that he first found the taste for deep subby grooves, first inspired by digging through the back catalogues of Chain Reaction, Rhythm and Sound and other dub techno luminaries before unearthing the booming warehouse vibes of Richie Hawtin, Surgeon, Chris Liebing and Ben Sims. It wasn’t long before techno in all its forms was his main focus, with its pulsing kicks and bass, complex polyrhythms and sculptable sonics providing the perfect palate for Paul’s innovative approach to DJing.

After initially dabbling with a four-deck setup, Paul quickly embraced technology with a DJ/live hybrid approach via Ableton Live as early as 2004, allowing for more sophisticated and layered storytelling alongside long, smooth transitions spliced with original grooves, loops and effects. His current setup includes laptop with Ableton, effects and drum machine, underpinned by the analogue summing and creative possibilities of PLAYdifferently’s Model1 mixer.

The end result means Paul can effortlessly traverse through the different tones and moods of techno with both sonic consistency and ultimate flexibility, ensuring he has earned his place as one of Australian techno’s most experienced and dynamic DJs and live performers with his resume including premiere global festivals and events Rainbow Serpent (Melbourne), PURE (Brisbane), Eclipse2012 (Cairns), Dragon Dreaming (Canberra), Elements (Sunshine Coast), Freaks Of Nature (Germany) and many more.