HOLLOW EARTH

 

                                               

                             

 

Paul’s first encounter with a guitar was at the tender age of 12 when his elder brother brought one home intending to learn to play it himself. Paul just picked it up and never gave it back. It was a red Burns Nusonic electric guitar and Paul did not have an amplifier. Luckily his brother forgave him for stealing his guitar and converted an old valve radio so he could plug his guitar in and actually hear it!  Many months were spent in his bedroom posing to The Small Faces singles and trying to look like Steve Marriot.

 

 

He then formed a “band” with his school friend and played a gig at his school. His friend just had a snare drum and Paul had now progressed to a 15-watt amp!  Some years after this first brush with fame Paul Joined an outfit called “Skin Deep” which played tracks by Deep Purple and other rock bands of the time.  During this time Paul was asked to join a new band in his hometown of Colchester, a move that was to change his life. This band was called “The Mighty Plod” and was a Glam Rock outfit before Glam Rock was famous. Numerous gigs around the country and lots of media interest (due to the makeup) made this the first time Paul gave up his day job and become a full time musician. However, the dream was not to last and after a fall out with the roadie Paul left the group. You can see more at TMP website.

 

 

After this Paul played in several “pop” bands doing the usual clubs, pubs, holiday resorts and RAF bases. Some of the bands were, “The Shay” “Mustard” and “Jumbo Bus”. The money was good but there is only so much of that you can do before it ceases being fun and becomes like another job.  This led Paul to look for a different outlet for his obvious guitar wizardry and after several bands writing and playing their own material Paul teamed up with another guitar player from nearby Ipswich called Nik Kershaw. The band, called “Hog” had a wealth of original material, mostly written by Nik, but did not perform live very often due to most venues only wanting “covers” bands. It seems odd now that many of the songs performed in Hog become big hits for Nik several years later. Hog were a very good band but due to the lack of gigs, apathy set in and Nik joined a Jazz/Rock band called “Fusion” and Paul joined a rock band called “Boy Bastin”.

 

 

Boy Bastin was formed by an old friend of Paul’s called John Brunning who had just finished touring with Mungo Jerry. This led to the second time Paul gave up his day job and Boy Bastin were signed to DJM Records. Recording sessions followed at Abbey Road Studios and Regents Park Studio, one single was recorded in the same studio as Pink Floyd’s “Dark Side of the Moon”. Television appearances and Madavale sessions for Radio one all came to nothing, mostly due to the lack of promotion by the record company and after several years of trying the band slowly fell apart. It was about this time Paul’s first child was born and he felt it was time to get a day job again. This was the beginning of a 15 year break from bands and guitar playing for Paul, apart from two gigs with the ex Boy Bastin bass player, Roy Little.  As a point of interest John Brunning, is now a successful radio presenter on Classic FM.

 

 

In 1991 Paul moved from his hometown in Colchester to Blofield, just outside Norwich, to take up a new job.  It was purely by chance that Paul saw an advert in the Academy of Sound music shop looking for a “Steve Howe” guitarist and thought it would be good to play again after all these years. Whilst he was aware of bands like Yes and Genesis he had never listened to them in depth. So when he telephoned the number in the advert and Stewart asked him if he could play “Roundabout” by Yes he said  “Yeah I know that”.  The truth was that he vaguely remembered the song but he certainly did not know how to play it. Paul’s first love is rock but he enjoys the challenge of playing Hollow Earth material and it has taught him a lot in terms of guitar playing.

 

 

 

 

 

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