Como Las Grecas sits down for a chat with Paul K, an artist walking he boundarys between a few genres and someone we wanted to find out a little bit more about.
Can you tell us a little about your experience? Where are you from / how did you get into music?
I’ve been into music for as long as I can remember and I’ve been playing in bands since my teens but became more serious about making my own music in the early 2000’s. I released a couple of albums as a duo called Basilica and then in 2016 released an album called «Gifted_Damaged» with my band Glitch Code. As Paul K I released my first album «Soul Connection» in 2007 and music from that album has been used a lot in film and TV. Since 2017 I’ve released a series of albums as Paul K which were instrumental albums. They were «Omertà», «The Fermi Paradox», «Reconstructed Memories» and «Anandamide». The new album «The Space Between» is the first Paul K album featuring my vocals.
I’m from a small town in the UK called Corby and I now live in a small village called Weldon which isn’t too far from where I grew up.
Who have been your main inspirations (both musical and in «life»)? And how have they affected your sound?
Musically I’ve been influenced by many artists over the years. David Bowie and Kate Bush have been big influences in the way they are not afraid to experiment with the sound and structure of a track. I also like the experimental approach of artists like Brian Eno, Nick Cave and Karlheinz Stockhausen. Early Simple Minds, Ultravox, Joy Division and Japan also shaped my influences over the years.
In life I’m inspired by people who have changed the way we live our lives such as Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Elon Musk etc. Entrepreneurs who were able to deliver on their ideas!
How would you define your sound?
This is an interesting question because I like to mix genre’s but still have that elecrtonic heart at the centre of everything. My sound is multi-layered and sonically a mix of analogue and digital sounds but I still like to use traditional instruments (drums, bass, guitar etc.) when required and certainly in the live shows for that extra energy.
How has your sound evolved so far? Do you see yourself as part of one style of music?
My sound has evolved to now include my vocals but also to be more experimental with instruments, textures etc while still being able to convey a story or message. I don’t see myself limited to one style of music and the albums cover everything from neo-classical to progressive rock, ambient, electronic and even a few dream pop tracks here and there!
What can you tell us about your last release? What inspired you? What do you want to convey?
«The Space Between» is about the human condition and the need for answers such as «are we alone?». It is the natural follow up album to “The Fermi Paradox” album I released a couple of years ago. It’s about an astronaut who has volunteered for a one way journey through space to pass through the Heliopause and is set maybe 30/50 years in the future. He is accompanied only by an AI robot that becomes sentient during the journey. When the astronaut eventually dies the AI takes over and continues into space alone. Each track plots the journey from liftoff looking back at the Earth to the debilitating effect of years alone in space and is also related to the love and loss the astronaut has felt in his life so, as with most of my work, the lyrics exist on multiple layers and meanings. He records his life story to the ship’s memory and the AI takes on the persona of the astronaut and continues into the abyss of space alone.
I’ve always had a fascination with space travel and technology and I think it’s a good time to explore this theme with the recent advances in both space travel and what effect AI will have on the human race in the future. I’m trying to convey the message that mankind will need to adapt to service and maybe AI offers is a way to do that in the future!
What modern artists are you enjoying? Maybe you can share some lesser known artists we might not know of?
At the moment I’m listening to Nick Cave & Warren Ellis, Max Richter, Hinako Omori, Kathryn Joseph, James Blake, Placebo, Porcupine Tree, Damon Albarn, Brian Eno, W and Hannah Peel
What projects are you working on right now?
I’m planning some live shows for the new album and will also feature some tracks from the last four albums which we had to postpone during the pandemic. I’m also working on my next album and experimenting with some new pieces of tech that I want to feature on the new tracks.
