presents
Paul Roland
The Return to Music

Ein Hörspiegel-Interview / © 2002/2004 Der Hörspiegel

I first listened to a Paul Roland Album in 1997, standing in a music store checking out some real cheap cd offers that looked interesting to me. The album I found was „Waxworks“, a „Best of Paul Roland“ CD. I liked the music, and so I spent 4 DM (about 2 EURO!!), not knowing that many bucks would have to follow. But soon I knew, this music got me on fire. I needed everything I could get from this artist!
Several CDs, EPs, LPs, Minis and Books later, I read on Alberto Crosio‘s Paul Roland website, that Paul – after a very long musical break – was about to play live again. On a Gothic festival on a castle near Berlin.

This was in Autumn 2002. The festival was called „Herbstnächte“ („Autumn Nights“). As I found out, a girl called Sina from the Herbstnächte staff had asked Paul to play live there. Great! My good pal Markus and me had to go there. I asked Sina if there was a chance to meet Paul after the concert and so she made this interview happen. Many thanks to you, Sina! Without you this all wouldn’t have been possible. (Nico)

Okay, let's take a look at who’s sitting around the table:

Paul Roland Author and Songwriter	Alberto Crosio Webmaster of the Italian PR-Site	Nico Steckelberg "Der Hörspiegel"	Markus Skroch "Der Hörspiegel"
Erica (a friend of Paul's music from Italy) and Jenny (the violin player)	Two friends of Paul's music (please get in touch)	Hans-Martin Gross (from ex PR-Label Bouncing Corporation)

Nico: Hello Paul! It’s so great to meet you today! We’ve been travelling hundrets of kilometres just to do this interview with you. Okay, not as far as Alberto had to go. Ha ha.

Alberto: You are second in the top ten! Ha ha!

Nico: It’s been a long time since you have performed your last gig. Is this a return to Paul Roland – the musician?

Paul: Possibly. Well, I’ve given up music completely and I thought I would never play again. Just all the labels had closed, as a coincidence they went down one after the other. And the people behind them wanted to do something else or the economy wasn’t right or whatever. That just left me isolated in England. With no contact. I had some experiences with distributors or something who said, Oh, we can only sell 500, so we’re not interested. We can get good reviews, we can get good plays on the radio, but we can only sell 500. I said, 500, that’s fine by me. They said, No, that’s not worth our while. Good bye.
In the end I was just sort of left. I didn’t have a choice. I was cut off. I thought, well maybe, that’s the time... it was finished. And I got very disillusioned. I thought, well, I’ll turn to something else, and the books had already started. I was gettin‘ very busy, I had two small children as well. I really thought I’d never play music again. That was it. It was only because Sina wrote to me and said, it’s in a castle, it’s a Gothic festival, it’s in Berlin. And I thought, well, that’s too good to turn down. But I hadn’t touched the guitar for seven years. I hadn’t listened to my own records, so I had to learn to play the songs again, as it were somebody else’s songs. It’s quite interesting because then I could be more critical. And I came to realize who I was, if you like. Before I was quite sort of ambitious and intense, if you like, cause I was younger. And now I had a more mature perspective on it. Step back from it. And I thought, well that song’s good, but that was wrong, shouldn’t have done that. I saw myself the way that people who like my music see me, and not as I saw myself. Now I know what kind of music I want to make and what I think other people would like. I got into too many different styles, I suppose. Cause I could do what I wanted. I wasn’t signed to Polydor. But now I think I see my strength, if you like. And I was to see what was also good. It’s a bit frustrating, cause I’d like to re-record everything, but I can’t. Anyway.

And I had to do a lot to harden up my fingers again, I had to work at the chords, had to remember the lyrics. And I got more and more into it, I got encouraged by different things. And I said, Ah! Now you’re coming! So and so wants to interview you or you’re getting a lot of interest or something. Then things suddenly calm. Cause I though it was dead. And it was quite difficult, it’s a strange experience to have made music with such sort of heart, you know, I’ve put myself in it. And they’re not being a part of me anymore. I’ve had a life outside music, but now I can see that it was a good break to have. So that I come at it as a more mature writer and not playing Attic like I was before. And that was making it a bit more serious, maybe now is the better start than where I’ve ‘come too certain of what other people would really want and what I should be doing. Before, I thought that if I played all acoustic all the time it’s like Leonard Cohen. I don’t want to be Leonard Cohen in 22, yeah. And now that I’m not 22 anymore, that’s not a bad idea. Be a writer who plays acoustic, with violin and other things like that. There was some other ideas now of what I’d like to make. Which should be different from before, now starting to make the same kind of record. Because that’s the way I thought. Now I’ve had a break, I can do something completely different.

Nico: The break is done, and now you’re back, you’re alive again. And it sounds pretty good. And Jenny did a really good job, too!

Paul: Yes! Well, it was always my intention to have a violin. When I played Piers in Germany many times, he played the viola, and that wasn’t really what I wanted, but because he was a friend and he was into playing live, that’s how I went with a viola. What I really wanted was this.

Nico: So, how do you fell now, after the gig?

Paul: Pretty satisfied. And I wasn’t as nervous as I thought I would be. Because I appreciated more. Because I thought, Do I really want this? – Yes, I do! I missed it! So why should I be nervous now? Because I don’t have to sell myself or prove anything, it’s just like playing to friends, it’s just like a party. I’m not doing it to impress anybody, I’m doing it because of the nice songs, and you wanna hear it and I wanna share it with you. So, it’s a different quality, the whole thing.

Nico: Is this a one-off gig for now?

Paul: For now, yeah.

Nico: Would you do a tour again in the future?

Paul: No, I wouldn’t do a tour, because I have two small children, so I can’t do that. But what I might do is, say, have a long weekend and play two or three gigs. That would probably work now, someday. And there could be quite a distance between them. So the people from different parts of Germany could find one of those places that’s near them. I wouldn’t mind that, but I can’t do a whole tour.

Markus: What about a new studio album?

Paul: I’ve got quite a few different ideas. I‘m particularly keen to fulfil the projects that I left undone before. Now I think I’m sorry I didn’t do them when I quit music. Now I’ve got a second chance. I think now I do it.

Nico: And when will that be?

Paul: Well, probably as soon as I go back. See, the children are going to start school full time now, they’re very small. My wife goes out to work (...big laughter at the table...) then I pick up the guitar and then off we go. So maybe by Christmas I’ve got an album.

One of the two guys: Are there some songs in your head?

Paul: Look, the day that Sina phoned me I picked up the guitar again and a song came out. And since then I’ve been walking down the street and songs have been coming up the way they used to. I wrote Cairo that way. I didn’t write it with the guitar, just while walking down the road and the song came. So this thing doesn’t go away. And I only have to be encouraged. If I think no one‘s interested I can’t play – it’s funny. I need somebody to say, You make me a record by Tuesday and I’ll put it out, okay? I say, Okay, I make you a record by Tuesday then. But if nobody’s interested I don’t do it for myself. I need to feel a bit of ...

Nico: Pressure?

Paul: Yeah, I like a bit of pressure. That’s why I like to write the books, because, if they say, Don’t take a year to write a book, I probably wouldn’t do it. I need someone to say, You got three month to write a book, and then I get down and I do it. That’s the way I am. I like to get on with it. That’s why I put out quite little records at one point, cause different labels were interested. I thought, great! I do one for you... and this one’s for you!

Nico: Your last studio album Gargoyles was much darker than the music you did before. As we can see here today, the Gothic-scene feels related to you. Why do you think especially people from the black scene like your music nowadays?

Paul: Well, I think it’s the supernatural element, the occult element in it. They like songs about demons and things, but I’m approaching a slightly different way. I’ve got a slightly English whimsical one, I usually use humour with it. They like to take it very seriously. I think it makes it more human if you don’t see them as a comic book or kind of a monster but as a person, there is tragic. That makes it one of a real character. So that’s why I like that.

Yeah, I think it’s really the occult-supernatural aspect. But I’m surprised that the music works for that audience, for the music is very different. But obviously the lyrics, the imagery I think is probably what they match onto. And perhaps a lot of the bands aren’t stuck on a scheme, so if somebody does something slightly different, they’re open to that as well.

Nico: Do you think there is a typical Paul Roland fan?

Paul: I don’t like to think of people as fans, cause that embarrasses me. I just like people who like my music. And, from what I can tell, they are usually pretty well-raised, intelligent people with a good sense of humour. And with a very brought taste in music, too. And usually they like, you know, some sort of almost hardcore and ... They say, Oh, you know, people who bought your record they also bought Dead Can Dance and ... forgot their name... but extremely hardcore, they bought this record and they bought you. So it’s obviously, people who are very open. And that’s very good. Cause I’m open to other sorts of music as well. I take hits and other things.

Nico: Do you think there is any essential music nowadays?

Paul: Essential?

Nico: Well, important music, music that’s got spirit?

Paul: Yeah, I mean, since the 90s, when all the Brit Pop stuff came up and acoustic guitars were okay again, and songs were okay again, I thought that was great, cause I thought that had died. And in the 80s with all this electronic things like the Human League and all this stuff, you know, and then the soulers‘ stuff. I thought it’s dead, it’s not gonna come back again, but then Brit Pop came back. Also some Indie stuff. I like Suede. I like The Cult as well, cause I like a bit of meat (laughing). And again a sort of imagery that they bring with them. And I don’t tend to listen to a lot of acoustic stuff. But sometimes a bit classical things, like Händel, where I feel there’s a refinement in there. So it’s a spirit, but it’s not necessarily a lively spirit. This sort of stately, majestic quality – that appeals to me very good.

Nico: What is your favourite album of any artist of all time?

Paul: Well, I like Marc Bolan a lot. In a certain period, not later. So I’d say something like maybe "Unicorn", "A Beard of Stars" by Tyrannosaurus Rex and "Led Zeppelin I". And "The Court of the Crimson King" by King Crimson. There’s a lot, but I think that’s a good start.

Nico: And what’s the last CD you’ve bought?

Paul: Ahm... probably "Deep Purple in Concert" or something, 1972 (laughing). Rory Gallagher I would buy... things like that. And I heard lots of 70s stuff. And I bought a Suede album and things and The Cult stuff... cutting off the top of my head what else.... well, that’s it for now.

Nico: When you focus on your own work, do you have a favourite song or album of yourself?

Paul: I tend to like bits of the albums, but Masque is one I felt was pretty close to what I wanted and funny enough. Roaring Boys, which I didn’t like when I did it – or rather I was very unsure of after I’d finished it – now it’s one of the ones I would listen to if I listened to my own stuff. Happy Families and A Cabinet of Curiosities are the closest to me. They’re more of me than the others. The other ones have a rock band and you could say, it’s a bit like so and so, but it’s got his voice. But Happy Families and Curiosities is an indulgence for me. I thought, I can do what I want, and I want to do this stuff. I don’t think anybody would like it, but I do it anyway. Yeah, I did. So, I was very surprised.

Nico: A lot of people liked it very much. I think, especially because it was so different from other things.

Paul: And I like to do a couple of more like that, in that way.

Nico: In the beginning you said that you nowadays criticize and re-arrange some of your older songs. Is there a least fave song of yourself?

Paul: It’s not the songs that are least favourite, it the recordings. I think, that wasn’t well recorded or, should have done that, or put the wrong instrument on that or something. Or I sang it badly. It’s not the song. I don’t look at them as songs. I look at them as tracks. That’s why I sometimes re-did things, trying to get it right. And people think, God, stop recording the same old song, do something new. But I was frustrated, for they hadn’t worked out, so I did it again. The Werewolf of London album, the first one, is the weekest. It’s got some embarrassing things.

Nico: First or second edition?

Paul: Well, both, really (laughing). Well, the second edition was a slight improvement. But I’m not gonna talk about my bad songs.

Nico: (laughing) You don’t only play music, but also know a lot of facts about music...

Paul: Well, not so much as other people who talked to me, because they know a lot of Indie bands and interesting things. I had a Mainstream musical education ... you know, I was listening to Led Zeppelin, and anybody who is obvious. Because I didn’t have any friends who were into Indie stuff. And there was only one, I made my own music. And people said: Oh, have you heard this, and have you heard that other. And I said, no, I never heard them. So, in a way I was ashamed. Because I could have been listening to good stuff, that could give me more ideas.

Nico: You wrote a book about Rock and Pop music.

Paul: Yeah, I did two. I did a CD guide as well to Rock and Pop.

Nico: There’s a lot of information in there. I think it took a lot of time?

Paul: Yeah, it did. But I couldn’t cover bands that were really interesting. And I got Dead Can Dance in there, and I got The Television Personalities, Robyn Hitchcock and a couple of people. Cause I mean they were important and should be introduced to a wider audience. But there’s hundrets more, isn’t it. You can’t put them in a mainstream book like that.

Nico: You also wrote books about unexplained things, meditation ... by the way, did you play the music for the CD coming with that book?

Paul: No, I had nothing to do with that. It’s just some natural sounds or something, isn’t it? New-agey?

Nico: It’s waves and some spherical sounds. There was no copyright information.

Paul: Well, they made it themselves without telling me (laughing).

Nico: What are you recently writing about? Are you writing at all?

Paul: Yeah, I write all the time. I write books one after the other. I just finished a book called "Master your psychic powers" for Hamlyn. And I’ve interviewed a lot of psychics to try. They’re actually people I work with anyway. I didn’t just go and find somebody. I work with these people and ... I teach spiritual things and development, if you wanna go with that. I’ve got a pack of Tarot cards. Well, they’re not really Tarot cards, they’re called Kabbalah cards. Something I’ve invented and created. And it’s gonna be published in November (2002). And I work with the artist of that. And that’s very new. It’s just like... well, Tarot cards is for divination. To tell the future, this is for psyhological insight. So whatever cards you put down will reveal something about you. They don’t tell the future. But they show your strenghs and weeknesses. Using salvation, mystical things and occult images and so on. So... what was the point? Sorry I missed it. (laughing) I got lost...

One of the two guys: Recent books.

Paul: Recent books... yes! A set of Kabbalah cards with a book. It’s being published by AGM Müller in Switzerland. They’re a big Tarot publisher.

"Master your Psychic Powers" which is not... I’ve taken the sensation out of it, and the fear out of the unknown. And I’m trying to make a common sense thing. This is not suitably given powers. We all have this, and it’s a sensitivity to other influences and to our true nature. It’s not how to move objects. This is all nonsense, which is what other people write about. This is about personal development. Openening yourself to higher states of awareness, conciousness. To meditational visualisation. So I’m trying to put into these books something that’ll help people with serious and common sense. Keep my feet on the ground, you know. But also raise people’s awareness, where’s, I think, a lot of other books, are trying to ... you know, is there a life after death? Well, I know there is, so what does that mean? Let’s go on from there and not keep doing the same thing over and over again. I feel the books are as important as the music. To a different audience, but.

Nico: What do you think about today’s fashion regarding mysteries... e.g. The X Files and so on.

Paul: Oh, yeah. It’s great entertainment, but it’s really re-enforcing people’s fears by suggesting there’s all this malevolant forces out there while there isn’t. The only thing to fear are people. Living or dead. There’s nothing else. There’s no demons out there, there’s no ... I mean, who’s seen a demon? Has anybody here seen a demon?

One of the two guys: I’ve seen a demon in a glass case. (Paul Roland song title)

Paul: (laughing) Oh yeah, that’s it. And I got him, he‘s harmless. But people have seen angels, but they haven’t seen demons since, you know, the middle ages or something. Because that’s just a symbol of our fear, whilst angels are a symbol of sawn things. Okay, maybe the haven’t got wings and a halo, but that’s the way we interprete them, because it’s socially acceptable. And maybe aliens and UFOs are the modern interpretation of the same presence or level of consciousness. They’re just kind of entity they were dealing with. We call them angels, or they did then. But sometime we call them UFOs or aliens now. Just because we don’t understand what it is. And we know that if we talk to our friends about it, they won’t think we were mad, like when we say aliens. They got that Hm, maybe there is!? You know. So each generation has its own way of seeing these things.

Nico: You’re also the author of a guide about angels and you also do angel workshops.

Paul: I did, yeah.

Nico: Please tell us what this is all about. What’s happening there?

Paul: Basically I explain to them what I’m explaining to you. So that I take away the misconceptions of things. I say, forget what you’ve read before. An angel could be a projection of your own higher self. Or it may be some kind of entity. Don’t try to put a name to it. In the new agy books they try this. This is this kind of angel and this is this type of angel. And they work for them and they do that. And they‘re making backdoors go open. I think that’s all litural rubbish. Because you don’t know if an angel is possibly your own higher self. When you’re in trouble you can project something. Like, you can make a thought form or something. Or it can be something sent to help you, which you see as an angel, because it’s actually just an energy or a light or a mind or anything. So you can’t tell somebody, this is an angel and it does this job. No one does know that. So I tell them to keep this open mind. Don’t fear anything out there, cause there isn’t anything to fear... and that sort of thing. And then I take them into meditation. I take them to a specific area of consciousness. And people have experiences. And they discuss what it is or what they mean. So I’m trying to coach them into exploring their own nature without fear. If you have an experience and you don’t know what it is, you put it in your pocket. And the next time you have one, could it be that? No. I put those two in my pocket until you get answer. Don’t always try to make statement. People love to make statement. It means THIS! You don’t know that.

I had one group where three different people in the group saw their dead fathers in a single meditation. I didn’t know that their fathers were dead, and I didn’t have anything in the meditation that encouraged that. I lead them to a specific state of mind of which those who needed to make contact had that contact and were reassured. It is always a loving thing. They always come to reassure them and say, I just came back to say I really love you and I didn’t have the chance. Or, don’t be frightened about what’s happening now. It’s gonna work out. Or whatever. You know.

So it’s always a positive thing. That’s why I’m really keen of it, cause I want to help people.

Nico: Did you have an experience?

Paul: I’ve had a lot of experiences. And they get more and more developed all the time. Cause I get higher and higher developed as a person. I mean, I started without a body experience, which is very common as a child. Cause you don’t know fear then. So you wake up out of a dream and think: oh, here I am in the garden. How interesting. I could fly, wow... That’s very common. But now what happens is, that most people, because of their adult minds, are limiting them. And maybe they wake up, suddenly they feel they’re falling. And they wake up. That’s coming back into your body. Or maybe they feel they’re flying in their dreams. Maybe not actually in an aeroplane, but they get the sensation of it. And they think, wow, that’s really, really free. That’s experiencing it within a dream. But you can consciously next time say, I’m gonna get out of the dream and I’m gonna really travell, but that takes a bit of nerve. And there’s also a lot of point, because you’re just being a tourist on that level. It’s not necessary for your spiritual growth to have these experiences. They just tell you – as they told me – that there’s more to reality than the physical. So then I wanted to know what does that mean. Is there anything to fear out there? So I went on a life exploring thing to find out what that meant. I knew that was real. It kept happening. So, what does that mean? I didn’t want to just waste my life away doing something. I want to know what it means. It’s obviously very important. The experience itself didn’t lead to any knowledge, it shows me that there’s my body and here I am. And I know, I’m not asleep, I’m awake, right. So what else is here? Where do I go from here? What happened to other people? What can I do with it?

What’s healing about, e.g. I did healing on Jenny the other day. It can be very small, or it can be quite a profound experience which is sort of beyond words. But affects you, profoundly. Have you heard of remote viewing?

Somebody gives you a map coordinate, doesn’t tell you where this place is. You project your mind by sittig and you tell them what you see. They write it down, and then you say, I see a church, a this and a that. And they say, yeah, that’s right! That’s the map place. That’s possible. They‘ve seen that I did it. They said I had a quite good success rate. And I was quite sceptical, so I asked somebody to do it to me. And he did it to me. He put that hand on my back, I had my eyes closed and I saw my own room at home first, and then it started to disappear and other bits of furniture came out which were not mine. And the room eventually changed. And I described it all. And I couldn‘t change, it appeared spontaniously. I couldn’t alter it, so it wasn’t my imagination. You know how you can make a picture go silly, you put Mickey Mouses on things. You can really make nonsense. I couldn’t make this change, it was composing itself on me. I described, and the woman said, that’s my mother’s flat in New York. And she had no reason to say that. She wasn’t been paid to hold the meeting, she didn’t know I was writing about it, she just wanted to help me, cause I’d asked her what’s this is all about.

So, amazing, isn’t it?

Nico: Really! This reminds me of some storys of Jonathan Carroll. He’s a great author. You know him?

Paul: No.

Nico: He’s writing normal stories, but suddenly things are changing... children are flying through the air... really very good novels.

Okay, let’s stay here at this topic – books. Can you describe your private library?

Paul: Ehm, a lot of H.G. Wells, who is always my favourite author since I’s a child. Some Edgar Allan Poe, H.P. Lovecraft and a lot of books on mysticism ... a lot of books on magic. Practical magic.

Nico: Except Harry Potter?

Paul: Except Harry Potter (smiling). What else... ehm... a lot of books about history like the Regency period, First World War and things like that, so, but not many comics.

Nico: Your mother... (remembering a story that Paul told on stage earlier this evening. His mother threw away a lot of his comic books in the past).

Paul: Yeah...

Nico: Do like fiction or facts?

Paul: Well, I like to read fiction, because it stimulates the imagination. I also find some historical stories as interesting as fiction. I’ve got M Peters, one of my favourite authors. Like Edgar Allan Poe. He wrote three books about a rotting castle, lots of characters in it.

Nico: This reminds me of your music. Your songs are often little stories in themselves, too. How far did you travel to do some research for your lyrics or maybe your books, too?

Paul: Well, I didn’t, but it’s all in my head. One time when I was in Edinburgh I stood on the spot where Burke and Hare were hanged, but that was just for fun. That wasn’t research (laughing), cause you don’t get anything out about it. I do get something when I go to particular location where something historical happened. I don’t know why. I just feel the sense of history, but I don’t research anything really, because I have some instinctive knowledge or whatever. Maybe I romantisize it a bit too, but that’s okay. I’m not writing a non-fiction book, so I don’t have to... I just need a little bit of chocolate to make it taste like a chocolate cake.

Nico: You sing a lot about historical persons or choose past times locatios for your songs. What is your favourite historical age?

Paul: Probably the Regency Period. Yeah, 18^th century. I like the idea of the Highwaymen. I don’t know what it is about that period actually. I think it has an energy, as I perceive it, anyway. When there cross no motorcars and aeroplanes and things to speed up life too fast. And it still had this very rude aspect. So England was idyllic at that time, and the towns were full of characters...

Nico: If you had the chance to travel through time – like in HG Wells‘ Time Machine – would you like to choose a life in the past rather than today?

Paul: Well, I suppose I would like to live then, in the Regency period, but the more mature part of me says, I’m supposed to live now and I’ve got lots to learn from being here now. But I’m certainly torn between the two. I think, when I can visit that period in my mind, I see safely, without being harmed.

Nico: I think, the best about today is that we have toilets now.

Paul: (laughing)

Nico: Okay, now it’s time for some short questions and answers! What sort of car do you drive?

Paul: No, I’ll not answer. (laughing)

Nico: Sure, you don’t have to answer, but why don’t you?

Paul: Because that is too precise. I want people to imagine whatever they want to imagine. It’s too ordinary. It’s just a matter of being pragmatic. It’s not the car I would chose to drive if I had lots of money. I would have a white Jaguar if I could. That’s the car I would like to have. Maybe that tells you more.

One of the two guys: He’s driving an Oscar Automobile. (Everybody laughing. That’s another of Paul’s song titles)

Nico: Do you like Charlie Chaplin?

Paul: Not so much as Buster Keaton. He’s better.

Nico: This one I ask in every Interview, and I hope you answer it: Do you like cheese?

Paul: Cheese?

Nico: Cheese.

Markus: You know, he really hates cheese (pointing at Nico).

Paul: Well, I hate it, he he he he.

Nico: You do? You don’t really hate it...?

Paul: No, no I don’t hate it. Leerdammer is okay.

Nico: Very very intimate question now.

Paul: So there’s cheese in it?

Markus: Cheese question... (laughing).

Nico: Black or white socks?

Paul: Black.

Nico: Can we prove this?

Paul: Ha ha, yes!

Nico: Naa, it’s okay, I belive you. If you had to choose: Britney Spears, Kylie Minogue or Marilyn Monroe?

Paul: Ehm, not Marilyn Monroe, no. She was a pain. Kylie Minogue, yeah!

Nico: She’s a cutie, eh?

Paul: Ha ha, yeah!

Nico: If you had your last supper, what would you order?

Paul: Oh, ehm, steak, rose potatoes, green peas ... yeah, that’s my favourite food. I’m not vegetarian anymore.

Nico: What’s your favourite movie of all time?

Paul: Oh, that’s "Draugthtsman’s Contract", Michael Nyman and Peter Greenaway. But I’ve got by another hundret, if you got time.

Nico: (laughing) Do you like David Lynch movies?

Paul: No. Too bizarre. I like to know what’s going on. I like "strange" within a context, like "The Draughtsman’s Contract". That’s bizarre, but you’ve got a bit of a handle on, you know where we are and what’s going on. "Brotherhood of the Wolves" is excellent as well, by the way. Things like that, that’s a things I like. A period, lots of atmosphere and a bit of horror.

Nico: Are you still nervous before a gig?

Paul: Not as much as I thought that I would be. It’s okay to be a bit of nervous, cause it gets the adrenaline going. I’m really more keen to get on with it. It’s not so much nervous. Cause I’ve rehersed, I’ve done my bit, I make sure, professional, I’m ready, I know all the words and everything. But obviously I’m a bit anxous about conditions. It might be too cold... Yeah, a bit anxious. I’m not nervous when I’m on the stage. Just a bit before.

Nico: That’s it! Thanks for all those great answers! It’s been a pleasure to meet you.

Paul: Thank you. Do I get Kylie Minogue now?

Nico: Yes, you won Kylie Minogue. You can go right to Australia and have her. (everybody laughing)

Paul: Just say that you’ve sent me?

Nico: Of cause! Just say, Nico sent you and that’ll be okay.

Paul: Okay! (laughing)

Nico: Is there anything you would like to tell our readers? Your last words?

Paul: My last words are... I very much appreciate this support, the interest. And it’s enough to make me write new songs, so I can’t wait to get back and start writing, cause I think it’s gonna be some good stuff there and I’m excited to find out whatever it is. Thank you very much.