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PAUL DRAPER Q&A (PART TWO) (PART ONE HERE) |
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Paul kindly took the time to answer lots of tricky, technical and sometimes
strange questions asked by Draperview.com in this exclusive Q&A
Questions by Paul Timson for www.draperview.com
Note:- These questions were written in 2006
and some refer to events in that year.
Prince was not at THIS years Brit Awards but last years for example.
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Q. Do you find writing songs on a Piano/Keyboard,
compared to writing songs
with a guitar, affects the song all the way up to it's
finished status. And
which do you tend to or prefer to sit down with to
come up with new ideas,
chord sequences etc?
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A. I find it much harder to write on piano, basically
coz i'm a crap player, I just play to write, I cant
play other people's stuff. A piano song is very
different from a guitar song in the way it develops,
but once written I usually switch between playing it
on guitar or piano to see which it sounds best on.
Once a song's finished it doesnt really matter what it's
written on to determine its outcome as a recording,
but I tend to swap sections around and lyrics right up
until the last minute.
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Q. Do you go to the cinema often or do you prefer a night in
with some good DVD's? What is the last DVD you bought
and are you aware that the X-files DVD boxsets are dirt
cheap on certain online shops right now? ( I remember rumours of vast
sums of money changing hands for you to procure them a few
years ago).
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A. I go to the cinema a bit, I tend not to watch DVDs
coz there's so many movie channels. The last DVD I
watched was a Talking Heads documentary, cant remember
it's name but it was very good, big suits an all! I
havent seen The X-files for years but I liked it back
in the day
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Q. If you had to 'go back in time' and stop either
'Doctor Who' or 'The Prisoner'
from ever being conceived (the shows not the characters) which would you delete from
TV history... if you really
had to pick one?
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A. Couldn't really pick one, although I liked 'Dr Who' as
a kid, whereas I still love 'The Prisoner' as an adult
and can watch it over and over
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Q. Out of all the decades you have existed in, which
has been your favourite
and why, or are they all much of a muchness?
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A. I like this decade the best, well it's the best for
me! Apart from that I couldnt pick one because I like
elements from all decades. 60s = Beatles 70s = Bowie
80s = Prince, the holy trinity of musical creativity
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Q. When I listened to the 'Everybody Loves A Happy
Ending' album by Tears For Fears, I
couldn't help but think It sounded like your work in
many places. Do you
think that is a valid comparison and do you know if
Roland Orzabal was a
Mansun fan? Do you like Tears for Fears' music
yourself?
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A. I dont know that record, but Roland came to some of
our gigs, I still maintain he's a great pop writer and
underrated. Loads of people make comparisons between
my writing and his, and I can see that, I can't help
what spews out of me so what happens, happens and if
its got a connection, so be it!
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Q. Kate bush also has very similar phrasing and
arrangements in places on
older songs. I am a Kate Bush fan myself and prefer her
older albums
(especially 'Lionheart'), would you say that
subconsciously her influence crept
into your own songwriting?
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A. 'Lionheart' is my favourite Kate Bush album. She's
always been a massive influence on me, I love her
stuff and I think she's one of the few geniuses in
music. She wrote 'The Man With The Child In His Eyes'
for her O level, and 'Wuthering Heights'!
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Q. And what do you think of 'The Kick Inside' and 'Lionheart' as albums? Are
you more a 'Hounds Of Love' person? What do you think
of 'Aerial'?
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A. 'Lionheart' is my fave Bush LP as I say, but 'Hounds
Of Love' is amazing too, very much of it's day
technically and I like 'The Kick Inside'. I dont have
anything bad to say about Kate, she's an original and a
genius and one of my favourite artists of all time
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Q. Did you see Prince at this year's (2006) Brit awards and
what did you think of his performance? Does it feel
uncomfortable to you that some people may see you in the
same way you see Prince?
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A. I thought his performance at the Brits was cool,
but his Superbowl performance and press conference
were much better. I've seen Prince gigs loads, the
Lovesexy tour was the best, one of the best rock shows
ever.
Who the fuck sees me in the same light as
Prince, I'm a white dude born in Liverpool, he's a black
dude from Mineapolis. I met him once in Tokyo and sat
next to him in a club, he had his cane with him, all I
had was a straw for my cocktail, that sort of sums it
up really
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Q. If you could form a supergroup with a vocalist,
guitarist, drummer,
keyboardist and a bass "dude" and you had to be in it
who would you choose?
If you really didn't want to be in it who would you
put on vocals?
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A. McCartney on bass but with Andie and Chad and me.
They didn't know how good they were and the potential
they had, they got lead astray and it was the biggest
waste of talent ever. I'd have Robert Plant on vocals
probably.
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Q. Has Chad ever put you in mind of Mark King (Level
42) visually, especially
while playing bass in the studio? (on the occasions when Chad has played bass) Have you ever seen
Chad wearing the Bass
as unfashionably high as Mark King did? ;) He's always reminded me a (little) bit of Mark to look at, but i've only seen them both from afar or in 2D.
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A. I've never thought of Chad in the same breath as
Mark King, except when Mark King trapped us in a studio
car park when his Range Rover door locks stuck. That's
the only breath I can think of Mark King and Chad in,
but if you see a similarity, then cool!
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Q. Would you ever do (solo) cover versions of songs you love
even as side projects released just for fans on the
internet?
We all love your songwriting but your voice is great
too and many fans can
often imagine a song with you doing the vocals on it, would you
ever do that or is it too "Karaoke" for you? ;)
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A. I'd defo do cover versions, I used to hate it, but
i'll defo do some in the internet age!!
I sing Frank
Sinatra at karaoke, not bad as well if I may say so
myself. I hate my own voice but if other people like
it, then cool! I'd prefer to just write and produce,
but singing is part and parcel of it so I do it
anyway!
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Q. Lastly, a tounge firmly in cheek question:
If you knew of a couple of long term fans
who had met through
your music, and I believe you know of at least one
such pairing ;), would
you ever consider playing a small acoustic set at
their wedding. If they
asked really nicely and/or paid you five grand?
Or
would you need a
guarantee that you would get first bash at the buffet
to sway it? ;)
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A. Dunno about that, I'd be too scared. Could wangle
something up I suppose if I thought outside the box a
bit!
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Q. Thank you Paul, it has been a pleasure to be able to put these questions to you. I hope we can do it again
in the future. Is
there anything else you'd like to add?
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A. Thanks for doing the site, it's great and thanks for
anyone reading this. I suppose everyone knows i've
always hated doing interviews on tv and stuff but I
dont mind doing ones like this at all, in fact it's a
pleasure as I wouldn't be doing my own music if there
wasnt still an interest, i'd just be writing and
producing with other artists, so thankyou all!
Paul
x
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