Issue 048
April 2009
Dedicated professional fighters spend roughly half their lives training and travelling to and from the gym. However much they might change their schedule and mix with different training partners, this time could become mind-numbing without a constant backdrop of music to help lift their spirits and soothe their pain. Welterweight star, Paul Daley couldn’t agree more and can rarely be found without his iPod, a device which is virtually bursting at the seams with the wide assortment of music crammed inside.
Do you have a wide taste in music?
Definitely, definitely a strange mix. I just like music, obviously you’ve got your favourites, but all music can be good music – to train to, or to chill after training. There’s different tempos to the music and, as Frank Shamrock said, ‘It’s mood-set’ because it sets the mood for whether you’re training, whether you want to chill at home, or whether you’re getting ready to go out: so it varies for me.
What do you go for when you’re getting ready for training?
The journey to the gym from my house is about 15 minutes. Religiously, I’ll have my iPod with me. Generally the music at that stage is a little bit more high energy – rock, rap, something like that. When I’m talking about rap, I’m listening to commercial guys like 50 Cent. I like Jim Jones and the Dipset a lot, they make some cool music, some UK guys as well – all sorts of cool artists.
What gets played at the gym when you’re training?
The Rough House guys, luckily, we’ve all got similar tastes in music, so we don’t have our own individual music when we’re there together, we just have one sound system that goes through the gym. It varies from drum and bass, [grappling coach] Lee Livingstone likes his Drum and Bass, nobody minds it. Dan Hardy likes his rock and rap, so if Dan’s there we might have some heavy metal, some rap or something. Sometimes Dan’s heavy metal goes over the heads of some of us, but we don’t mind it, it’s all cool.
What do you listen to after training?
I just listen to some chilled music, Jason Moran is my new favourite, he makes some really cool music, then you’ve got your Chris Browns and your Jay Holidays, I always like some R’n’B artists.
Do you listen to your entrance music a lot beforehand and use it as a psychological trigger at fight time?
Not really, generally my pre-fight music for the entrance is something that I just pick out. I wouldn’t generally listen to it again and again while training because I’d get sick of it. I have done that in the past, but when it’s come on just before the event, I’m like, ‘Oh, I’ve heard this a fucking thousand times already!’ So generally, I like to save any pre-fight music for the day of the fight.
Do you listen to music in the changing room before a fight?
Oh yeah, I’m having a party! Anyone who’s been in the changing room with me will tell you, they usually tell me to turn it down! The music I listen to is to bring a certain amount of focus, but it’s also to relax you, make you feel laid back.
If you put your iPod on now, what would you listen to?
I’d probably listen to an artist called ‘Gigs’, the song is called ‘Talking the Hardest’. It’s a UK hip hop track, UK rap.
Paul Daley spoke with Jim Page
