Dominic "Ski" Oakenfull (best known as Ski Oakenfull) is an English music producer, keyboard player, and educator. His nickname "Ski" was given by his bandmates in The K-Creative who named him after the dance music artist

Adamski Adam Paul Tinley (born 4 December 1967), known professionally as Adamski, as well as Sonny Eriksson, is an English DJ, musician, singer and record producer, prominent at the time of acid house for his tracks "N-R-G (Adamski song), N-R-G" and " ...

. In 2019 Ski interviewed

for a deconstruction video for pointblank Music School.

Career

Collaborations

Ski Oakenfull was a member of The K-Creative, who signed to

Gilles Peterson Gilles Jérôme Moehrle MBE (; born 28 September 1964), better known as Gilles Peterson (), is a broadcaster, DJ, record label and festival owner. He is renowned for his genre-defying approach to music with jazz at its core. From this base he ...

's record label

Talkin' Loud Talkin' Loud was a record label, originally founded by Gilles Peterson in 1990 after he left Acid Jazz Records. The label name is based on Peterson's Dingwalls club night "Talkin' Loud And Sayin' Something", itself a reference to James Brown a ...

in 1991, and their single ''Feed The Feeling / Three Times A Maybe'' reached #58 in the UK Singles Charts in 1992. After the group disbanded, Oakenfull was a member of

Raw Stylus Raw Stylus was a London-based dance music outfit whose core members were Jules Brookes, Ron Aslan, and Donna Gardier. Originally, Raw Stylus released white label vinyl records into the London club scene in the early 1990s, and played live with ...

, and then played keyboards with Galliano until 1997, and again on their 2024 album ''Halfway Somewhere''. He has also performed with

Incognito Incognito is an English adjective meaning "in disguise", "having taken steps to conceal one's identity". Incognito may also refer to: Film and television Film * ''Incognito'', a 1915 film featuring Rae Berger * ''Incognito'' (1937 film), a Dan ...

Kylie Minogue Kylie Ann Minogue (; born 28 May 1968) is an Australian singer, songwriter, and actress. Frequently referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Princess of Pop", she has achieved recognition in both the music industry and fas ...

, The Bays, and Milton Jackson.

Solo work

Oakenfull released his debut album ''Life Changes'' in 2000. ''

Muzik ''Muzik'' was a British dance music magazine published by IPC Media from June 1995 to August 2003. ''Muzik'' was created by two former ''Melody Maker'' journalists, Push and Ben Turner. Push was the editor of ''Muzik'' from its launch until he ...

'' rated it 4/5 and praised its mix of house, disco, soul and jazz-funk music styles.

All Music AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the datab ...

rated it 3/5, and described it as "bringing back to life one of club/dance's most trendy circuits dating back to the early '90s." The album featured single ''Where Did The Love Go?'', and ''Fifths'', with the latter becoming the most played unplaylisted track on

MTV Europe MTV Global (formerly MTV Europe) is the international version of the American TV channel MTV as 24-hour music video and entertainment pay television network officially launched on 1 August 1987 as part of the worldwide MTV network. Initia ...

at the time. He also produces and releases music under the alias Ayota, a project that explores ambient, downtempo, and Japanese-influenced electronic soundscapes, blended with field recordings and vocals. The project's debut album, ''Helicopter Cuts'', was released in 2007 on Third Ear Recordings in Japan where it became the Tower Records ambient album of the year.

Education work

In 2012 Oakenfull began teaching at pointblank Music School, and later became a Certified Trainer of music production software

Ableton Live Ableton Live is a digital audio workstation for macOS and Windows developed by the German company Ableton. In contrast to many other software sequencers, Live is designed to be an instrument for live performances as well as a tool for compos ...

. He is now Head of Education and Curriculum at the school, where he oversees the design and management of its music degree programmes. Oakenfull is also widely recognised for his in-depth breakdowns of iconic tracks known as 'deconstructions' which he often presents live at festivals and conferences such as IMS, Sonar+, ADE, and AVA.

Record label

Oakenfull is also label manager and owner of Primaudial Records, an independent label he founded in the early 2000s to release his own material and selected projects by other artists. The label has served as a platform for Oakenfull's creative output, ranging from

house A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air c ...

ambient Ambient or ambiance or ambience may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Ambiancé'', an unreleased experimental film * ''Ambient'' (novel), a novel by Jack Womack Music and sound * Ambience (sound recording), also known as atmospheres or backgr ...

and

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

Select discography

Solo albums

Solo singles, EPs and compilation tracks

Charts

References

External links

* *
Dominic Oakenfull
discography at Discogs {{DEFAULTSORT:Oakenfull, Ski Year of birth missing (living people) Living people English record producers 21st-century English educators English keyboardists