#paul joseph

[travelbinge]

Cat in the snow by Paul Joseph

[itspauljoseph]

Playing with some pocket ideas. First rough draft.

[itspauljoseph]

Hi.

[itspauljoseph]

Flying to LA today.

Today, I’m flying to LA to see my denim supplier. It’s been a couple years since I was able to go do this and it’s something I’m really looking forward to. Not just because I get to see what fabrics they have in stock, but also because it signifies that I’m ready to start making (and more importantly) selling jeans again.  I always found making jeans for people other than friends and family to be very difficult. Mainly because I’m hyper critical of what I make and always feel that I can do better. But after talking to friends and family that create for a living, I found that this was completely normal and everyone experiences it. It was such a relief of pressure to say the least. 

The last couple of years have been a roller coaster to say the least. Romantic relationships ending, longtime friendships seemingly coming to a close, multiple career changes and unfortunately having to put my business on hold. 2016 was especially difficult when my family and I decided to uproot, sell our family farm to move to the west coast. Sounds great, and it was, but starting over at 34 isn’t easy. So was moving from a peaceful 14 acre equestrian estate to an attached townhouse in the burbs. The burbs can be a strange place. 

The one thing I really love about making jeans is working with my hands. Seeing progress and having a tangible piece of evidence of my efforts at the end of the day. Instant gratification. If my hands are stained blue by 10pm, I'll be smiling. Making something, and more importantly, making people happy just feels damn good.  I’m not going to say this is going to be a good year, or a bad year compared to others. But I will say that it’s nice to be working towards something big again. So far, this year is off to a good start. 

[tonyonekanoby-blog]

(Paul Joseph) Minor Swing by Django Reinhardt

[kixxarse]

[jennakinstxs]

Make A Wish Foundation Charity Do at the Vauxhall Tavern

I don't know how long I have been working with Paul now. I am always bad at time estimation when it comes to how long people have worked in our store or how long it has been since they left. Depending on how much I love them it feels I have known/missed them forever. Paul is a passionate singer, proud of his voice and adamant to make sure he safeguards and treats it with the necessary respect. I have always admired this.  We share devotions for some of the greatest vocalists that have and are still gracing our planet, like Barbra Streisand, Whitney Houston and k.d. lang, I mean, how could I deny someone with such great taste my love? I have been meaning to go see him at the Vauxhall Tavern as he has regular slots at Duckie's and told me about other occasions.  Finally, I have agreed to come to the charity event for the Make A Wish Foundation last saturday. I was looking forward to it for the past two weeks. Coming home at 9.40am saturday morning, knowing I would have to get up at noon to get ready took effort and self-discipline! But I am so glad I went. He seemed very happy that we made it and we were excited to finally hear him sing. His mum was in the audience, which was very touching. 

There was a very good line up of artists and I remember none of their names.  The first act was or might possibly still be in a few west end shows (Chicago & Dirty Dancing) and you could hear why! Beautiful voice. I had to suffer through Gareth Gates in Joseph a few years back and Gates was shit. The hostess was very engaging and quite funny and so were the drag queens for the night, providing entertainment as backing singers, bake off judges and for other duties.  Paul was the second act and Lamia & I moved to the floor for the full experience of his 5 song set. He opened with an awesome rendition of 'It's raining men' and I hope Lamia has forgotten Geri Halliwell ever existed. I have been to many concerts of famous and lesser known people. I love live music, I think it is the best way to experience an artist (at least the ones I like) and I am sure I have been overwhelmed by many performances and thrown around words like "mind blowing" but this would only be on someone I have admired for a very long time and whose music probably means a lot to me personally.  When Paul started singing, the words "mind blowing" took on a new meaning for me, possibly the intended meaning. His talent and ability to carry the song through all its highs and lows without failing was incredible and I was just stunned. I have no musical talent in my bones, but I know what I like when I hear it and what is a brilliant performance and I was witnessing one. 

He continued with a Donna Summer track whose title I have forgotten and then sat down on the stage to pay tribute to Whitney Houston. I was nearly in tears, his voice moved me so much. No voice has ever got me emotional on the cuff without prior hearing it. Saying I absolutely loved it is an understatement.  He followed it up with Beautiful, personally not a fan of the song but he was knocking Aguilera out of the park. The set was finished off with a brilliant performance of an Erasure classic, involving the audience to sing and dance along! It took me a while to recover. Shame that I left it so long, but I am so thrilled that I have finally heard Paul sing. I am going to make sure it won't be another two years! As outstanding as Paul was, there was more talent to be seen later. The jaffa cake cupcake won the bake off, the raffle prices were awarded and we won nothing!  The last act was an instrumentalist on the violin. I am usually not the biggest fan of solo violinists if they are high pitched and screechy, but I think the comparison to Vanessa Mae was not too far off. Astonishing to watch! He is in the middle of auditioning for Britain's Got Talent, so you might be in for a treat!

[quitetalk]

Ben Howard - Interview

tBy Paul Joseph on April 12, 2011

Young West Country singer-songwriter Ben Howard is drawing alot of attention ahead of his Old Pine EP release on Communion. Recently aired on Zane Lowe’s Radio 1 show, Old Pine is a moving folk song with a modern twist, with intricate guitar picking and building percussion that complement Ben’s soft but distinctive vocals. The single is the title track of a four track EP showcasing Ben’s talent as a guitarist and lyricist and provides a taster for things to come. We caught up with Ben to find out a little bit more about the man behind Old Pine.

Old Pine is available is available to download here.

HYH: Where do you draw your inspiration from when writing, music and otherwise?

Ben: Mostly from my surroundings, people who come in and out of my life, and musically I think it’s hard not to draw on other musicians as influences so a whole host of other artists. The likes of John Martyn and Bon Iver are on the record player quite a lot.

HYH: You have an interesting playing style, mixing finger picking with harmonics and rhythmic tapping, where did this come from

Ben: I’m generally pretty hyperactive so I’m sure it’s in part due to table tapping as a kid. I like to learn stuff and it seemed to be a pretty interesting thing to try and take on board.

HYH: You’ve got to play with artists such as Jason Mraz and Fink who are also renowned for their playing style, how was it touring with these guys?

Ben: I’ve had some great tours with Fink through Europe. Probably the first time I visited most of the clubs and venues on the continent was with Fink. I’ve got some really memorable shows of the early days when it was really exciting just to be travelling round and playing to decent crowds of people. Amsterdam and Berlin for the first time were a total trip! The Jason Mraz stuff was a totally different scale: America at it’s boldest and brightest. Again some really fun times but it was intense. Lots of screaming people, fast food and marlboro reds.

HYH: Fans of you music will know of course that this isn’t your first release. Can we expect more of the same from your debut ‘These Waters’, or is the ‘Old Pine’ EP and future releases going in a different direction?

Ben: We recorded These Waters over two days as fairly inexperienced musicians so everything we’re starting to put out now is a lot more thought through. The first ep has a certain charm I think you get when you don’t plan stuff and a rawness that captured the essence of my music for sure. In terms of direction I like to just play what comes out, there’s some folkier jangly numbers on the new Ep then some rockier stuff on the upcoming album so it’s always a mix up. I like to think I’ll always evolve musically, and I guess that comes back to the learning I mentioned earlier.

HYH: From what we’ve read you’ve got a big passion for both music and surfing, do you try and keep a balance between the two or does music come first?

Ben: It usually balances out ok, I can’t make a living out of surfing so music often takes the driving seat. I try to surf as much as possible, especially when I’m home but it’s hard to get in the water as much as I’d like.

HYH: Zane Lowe recently played ‘Old Pine’ on his show, how was it hearing your track played out on Radio 1?

Ben: Yeah, very exciting. I was in Newcastle just starting a five hour drive and Old Pine came on. Very surreal and something I’ll always remember for sure.

HYH: Your currently on tour up and down the country for this EP, can we expect to see you at any festivals this summer?

Ben: Yeah, I think we’re playing some surf festivals and some more mainstream ones, not entirely sure on the schedule yet but we’ll be out and about. Really looking forward to the summer, sunshine and beers is top of the agenda right now.

HYH: All the best with the EP!

Ben: Thankyou!!