In 2024, Paul Sawyer made a thrilling debut in the Mini Challenge Clubsport series. Behind the wheel of his R53 Cooper S, Sawyer took on the fiercely competitive field, ultimately securing an impressive 5th place overall. But his presence on the circuit extended beyond the track—bringing his deep-rooted passion for music into the heart of the racing community.
Throughout the season, Paul provided the soundtrack to the after-parties at each round of the series. The Sunset Garden events, organized by the Mini Challenge Clubsport team, offered drivers, crews, friends, and families a space to unwind in the paddock, with carefully curated sets that blended melodic grooves with laid-back, atmospheric beats.
Now, Krafted is channeling that same energy into a brand-new compilation: Sunset Garden. Curated by Paul Sawyer, this compilation brings together the finest in melodic and progressive house, infused with a touch of chilled, sunset-ready vibes. Designed to capture the essence of those golden-hour moments—when the engines cool, the adrenaline settles, and the night ahead begins to unfold—the album is a seamless blend of deep, emotive soundscapes and hypnotic rhythms.
From a production standpoint, what kind of sonic character were you looking for across the tracks on Sunset Garden?
As the Sunset Garden album was basically to celebrate the social events that take place at the Mini Challenge Clubsport series on the Saturday evenings, the music really needed to reflect what that event is all about.
Its’ an event for the drivers, friends, family and anyone from the audience wanting to get together and relax from the first day of racing, so it’s not about full-on dance music.
As we release a variety of genres from Chill to Organic House, Melodic Techno and Progressive House, it works perfect for the journey that we wanted to create.
Sunset Garden Link – https://go.protonradio.com/r/rlNUPBm65oFFk
How tightly did you brief the contributing artists in terms of tempo, mood, or texture?
I explained what the event was about, so it made it possible for artists to experiment with their sound and left it open for them to put together music that may not be of their usual style.
It was quite difficult to whittle down the tracks from the amount of demos we had received as we were inundated when we advertised the album online.
We had actually signed more tracks than we ended up including, but after testing the mixed version, we had the hard decision to remove a few tracks from the album. The good thing is we ended up with some great singles to release at a later date as a result.
There’s a strong sense of flow throughout the compilation. Did you treat the tracklist like a DJ set, or something closer to a narrative arc?
Yes, very much so. That was so important when we finalised the flow of the album.
Many of the tracks sit in that hazy space between club and home listening. Is that crossover space something you actively explore when producing or curating?
We have been releasing chill albums for a while now and that was on a similar tip. Plus our residency on BBC Radio 1 was more about that mood as we were presenting the Wind Down show for 2.5 years, so we really found our groove when compiling sets that sat between the two.
We will be continuing to do so with the new Sunset Garden series and also with the Chill albums.
Were there any particular synths, effects, or sound design approaches that defined the compilation’s tone for you?
I’d say all of the tracks define the tone of the compilation. The journey from start to finish is exactly what we were looking to compile.
How did you ensure sonic consistency across tracks that came from different artists with different production styles?
As a label manager that just comes with experience. You know straight away from hearing a production when it’s going to fit sonically. We also have a quite a few artists involved that we trust and love from being on our labels in the past.
We did invite a handful of producers that we wanted on the album as we knew their music would be a perfect fit.
The compilation leans into spacious, emotive production. How do you balance that with the rhythmic drive that’s still present?
When going through the demos, I was very conscious of not signing anything too energetic. Some of the tracks, including my one ‘Sprint To Finish’ are a crescendo, but that was all part of the overall experience of the album.
What’s next for you and Krafted this year—are there more crossovers, compilations, or releases we should be watching for?
We have so many amazing releases lined up across all of our labels. On a personal note, I have a release with my label partner Simon Sinfield called Parc Ferme coming out at the end of May that also has a racing link. Very evident when you get to see the artwork!
We are planning a big party at Brands Hatch in August with a special guest DJ, which is part of a Mini Festival that expects over 20,000 people in attendance, so that’s something we are really looking forward to.
We are also DJ’ing at MotoFest 2025 on 28th June 2025 at Eastleigh Football Club, which is organised by my main sponsor Silverlake Auto Recycling. That’s going to be a great family day with lots of supercars, race cars and superbikes.
Links:
https://www.facebook.com/paulsawyerofficial
https://twitter.com/PaulSawyer_
https://www.instagram.com/paulsawyerofficial
https://www.beatport.com/artist/paul-sawyer/348231
https://soundcloud.com/paulsawyerofficial