Lone Wolf's Top 10 of 2010

Hey folks!

It's that time of year where i am laying in bed with the Flu, contemplating my favourite 10 albums of the year. I've changed it about 10 times as i felt i had to be honest as to which i really did enjoy the most and not just putting in which i think 'should' be there. Thats why i have added the honourable mentions at the end, but i suggest if you haven't, you should check out these albums:


10.Wild Nothing - Gemini

This was a nice surprise. I bought this on recommendation and i kind of dismissed it at first, but it was actually my friend Josh (boyfriend of Laura Groves) who simply would not let me pull the plug on it. And you know what, he was right. It's a great collection of songs which has clear influence from bands like The Cure for example with is chorus drenched guitars and reverb covered vocals. A great album.

Favourite Track: Live In Dreams


9. Napoleon IIIrd - Christiania

You may think i'm biased as it is no secret that Nappy plays in my band. But you must remember that the people i choose to participate in Lone Wolf, i choose because they are ace! In Napoleon IIIrd's case, that was based on his first record and his last EP.
This album sees him finding a much larger, digital sound with nods to the likes of Animal Collective. The choruses are of such power that i'm sure that if i concentrated hard enough i coulad actually hear them being chanted from Christiania itself! A wonderful record. Let's all go to Christiania.

Favourite Track: This Town


8. Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy

Well this was a shock i can tell you that! I didn't think i'd even want to like a record by someone who barges on stage and ruins someone's award moment. But that's the beauty of being able to separate one's personal issues from the music emanating from the speakers. We've all heard rappers describing how great they are and how much money they have, but on this record Kanye genuinely sounds pissed off with the world and he conveys it in a very believable manner over well chosen samples from the likes of King Crimson and collaborations with many folks including Bon Iver! Definitely worth checking out even if you have never really been into what he has done in the past.

Favourite Track: Gorgeous


7. Edwyn Collins - Losing Sleep

For a man that has been through a living hell that not many of us will ever even begin to understand, to make a record this good on your return is simply astonishing. Although saying that, it would have been great regardless of any back story. The collaborations between Collins and Ryan Jarman, The Drums, Franz Ferdinand and Johnny Marr are all excellent. It is on my favourite track "I Still Believe In You" when you hear Collins really sound deep and defiant.

Favourite Track: I Still Believe In You


6. Menomena - Mines

This is a really intriguing record that i discovered quite late this year. It's kind of like a blend between TV on the Radio and Why?. The songs are often heavily layers with fuzzy bass and nice synths. The production is outstandingly well put together. This is the record that i'm struggling to write about in a short paragraph because it's just so varied.
It's just ace!!

Favourite Track: Tithe


5. John Grant - Queen Of Denmark

This is a record that took it's time with me. But Jesus (JC) am i glad i persevered. I had the privilege of playing along side John this summer and it really brought alive what this record is all about. This man has had a tough life and whilst some of us (myself included) choose to look back and feel down about things and maybe record music that sounds as down as the emotions you are feeling, he has managed to make a wonderful, tongue in cheek account of his experiences full of black humour and sarcasm. His voice is stunning and he just has a truly magnificent musical persona.

Favourite Track: Chicken Bones


4. Beach House - Teen Dream

Beach House come back proving that the 'difficult' third album is really just a myth. Saying that, i don't know how difficult it was for them to put together, but to this listener it certainly sounds effortless and magnificent. This record just has an air of confidence about it that the previous two didn't lack as such, but maybe didn't display in as vast quantity as this one. I love the way that Victoria Legrand can just take the simplest of lyrics and make them sound heart wrenching. An example would be on the album closer where over and over she simply sings "I'll take care of you, if you ask me to". It brings tears to my eyes and i believe her. A potential future wedding song for me and my missus i think.

Favourite Track: Norway


3. Arcade Fire - The Suburbs

What an amazing record this is. Arcade Fire have pulled themselves back from the opinion dividing 'Neon Bible' (I actually really liked it) with a record of extreme magnitude. As soon as opener 'The Suburbs' starts you know that Arcade Fire have maybe gone through some kind of revision. A little less Springsteen and a bit more Neil Young maybe? Either way, it works and just demonstrates the versatility of the song writing. On this record you hear more in the way of synths, processed beats here and there and in general just rather ambitious in places, notably 'Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)' which nods more towards 'The Knife' in it's influence. Genius. The top 3 for me this year has been hard to place.

Favourite Track: Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)


2. The National - High Violet

When i first heard 'Terrible Love' i thought, 'right, thats The National again alright'. A little dismissal as maybe I just thought it was them doing the same thing again. How wrong i was. I liked the album, i listened again, I really liked the album, I listened again, I loved the album, i listened again i really loved the album etc.
The songs on this record are heart achingly beautiful. They have a way of just getting better with every listen, to the point where you actually wonder if this band are capable of writing a bad song! The lyrics are poetic as ever, "What makes you think i'm enjoying being lead to the flood?" (Runaway), and the melodies just build using such beautiful subtle means. A triumph and a close fight for the top spot.

Favourite Track: Runaway



1. Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti - Before Today

What can i say about this wonderful, intriguing, masterful record! I first heard Ariel Pink in a record shop (it was his Scared Famous album) in Greenwich and it was one of those situations where i had to ask the guy behind the counter "ere mate! Who's this you're playing??". That was when he was still using (what sounds like) paper to record on. Extremely lo-fi, distorted recordings, but underneath i just knew this guy had 'something'. This album is living proof. There is not a single track on this album that i dislike. The whole thing sounds wonderful and just makes you think of summer in Los Angeles in a strange 1970's style 2010. I could write a whole blog on this record so i'll just leave it there and say please, please just listen to and love this record. It's an absolute gem.

Favourite Track(s): Fright Night, Round & Round

Honourable mentions which are basically albums that were on the list, then off, then on then off in a sea of indescision:

Pulled Apart By Horses - Self Titled
Gayngs - Relayted
Perfume Genius - Learning
Sufjan Stevens - The Age Of Adz
Badly Drawn Boy - This Is What I'm Thinking Pt1: Photographing Snowflakes
Benoit Piolard - Lasted
Field Music - Measure

And many more!

But there you go! Thats my 2010 faves. What about yours? Comment and let me know! What have i missed?

Take care all and Merry, Merry Christmas! See you all in 2011.

xxPaul Mxx

Update/2011 Shows...

Hi everyone.

So just to let you know what is going on in the Marshall world.

Right now i am already knee deep into writing the new album. Yes, i know The Devil And I was actually released little more than 6 months ago (do you have your copy yet?), but i have refused to slip into laziness and i have pounced upon this bizarre train of creativity i seem to have hopped on.

I'm obviously not going to reveal too much about it just yet, but i can safely say it's a step on from the last record and not so dark this time. Don't worry, i find it very hard to write anything other than sad songs, but let's just say that murder hasn't popped up as a topic...yet. ;)

So anyway, I/we do not plan to tour as such at this stage, but however the full band are going to do a few special one off headline appearances in early 2011. I'd love to see you at one of these below:

JAN 12th 2011 @ BRUDENELL SOCIAL CLUB - LEEDS
w/ BLUE ROSES + MI MYE
£5



Tickets:

WEGOTTICKETS: http://www.wegottickets.com/event/99848

SEETICKETS: http://www.setickets.com/S.asp?A=Lone+Wolf%2B+Blue+Roses&P=5938

TICKETWEB: http://www.ticketweb.co.uk/user/region=gb_northeast&query=detail&event=419285&interface

CRASH - http://crashrecords.co.uk/online/product.php?xProd=9934&xSec=209


JAN 14TH 2011 @ LA FLECHE D'OR - PARIS, FRANCE
w/ 1973
More info TBC


WEEKEND OF JAN 28th 2011 @ TANNED TIN FESTIVAL - CASTELLION, SPAIN
w/ FAUST, XIU XIU, THURSTON MOORE + LOADS MORE

Tickets onsale soon! Facebook event: http://www.facebook.com/tannedtin?v=wall

FEB 5th 2011 @ THE KAZIMIER - LIVERPOOL
w/ STEALING SHEEP + OWLS*
£8



Tickets: http://tiny.cc/soundwilderness - http://tiny.cc/seelone

If you are interested in booking a show, please contact my booking agent Mark here: mark@elasticartists.net

Take care everyone!

xxPaul Mxx

Duels - The Barbarians Move In - The finest album to come out of the UK in the past 10 years?

A bold statement.

Not too long ago i was reading over Leeds Music Forum on which there was a thread giving Phoenix a bit of a slagging because they had said something along the lines of the fact that there hadn't been a single GREAT (this is a word you'll have to get used to in this post) album to come out of the UK since My Bloody Valentine's Loveless. This sparked off quite a stink as you can imagine, but although not being the worlds biggest Phoenix fan i wouldn't usually take their opinion with much more than the proverbial grain of salt. However, other than maybe OK Computer, 13 and Screamadelica, there weren't THAT many suggestions that people could really fit into the category of 'greatness'.

Obviously what one classes as 'great' can be argued, however there are certain albums in history that even if it is not personally liked by yourself, you can't deny the impact of i.e. Sgt Pepper, Dark Side Of The Moon (which i do not personally care for too much).

But if we bring the time scale forward a little to involve only the past decade, i think a whole new picture has been painted. In the age of the internet you no longer need a record deal in order to release your record (not that you ever did but that's besides the point), and what that means is that the sheer volume of records out there that go 'unheard' is astronomical, and so one cannot be blamed for missing something that has slipped under the radar.

I could spend all day contemplating what has been 'great' in the past 10 years. If i opened this up to a worldwide scale you'd have albums like Scott Walker's 'The Drift' to contend with, however i am talking solely about the UK.

So after much deliberation, and spending the hours in which i cannot sleep contemplating, i truthfully feel i should tell you all about an album by Duels called The Barbarians Move In. Originally signed to Virgin ('let go' after their first album) and promised the world, for the bands second record (TBMI) was released on a smaller indie label 'This Is Fake DIY Records' in 2008.

So now comes the difficult task of describing what makes this record so, well, great! I'll try and keep it as brief as possible by picking some choice moments. It's not an easy task because if i could describe every note on this record to you, i would.

Press play... after a small synth swell BANG, we are straight in. It feels like even on the first guitar riff of 'The Furies' along with the thumping kick drum, you just know this album is gonna be 'serious'. This feeling is exaggerated with the sound of what could be banshees yelping in the distance. Jon Foulger's voice is unsettling, yet beautiful as he delivers the line "we will find you, and we will show no mercy".

This 'darkness' is a theme throughout the entire album and so many of you reading this will probably assume that it appeals to me for this reason, but the quality of song writing, lyrics, performances simply cannot be denied.

""Awww, why you always sleepy?" Do your black wings beat like the black eyed crow?"

'Regeneration' is one of the most exciting pieces of composition i have heard in more than the 10 years in question. And it is just that... It's exciting. When hearing James Kenosha's almost tribal drums you'd be forgiven for referencing Marilyn Manson's 'The Beautiful People', but only for the rhythm i assure you, what follows is an onslaught of musical brilliance. The banshees are back again, backed by jagged, distorted guitars, building up to the epic chorus of "Save what you can (We're regenerating)". Katherine Botterill's backing vocal sends shivers up my spine with the back drop of crashing guitars. But it's when the song dips in volume, as Jon makes us squirm in our seats with the lyric "soon enough i told you, soon enough i said" that we are about to be granted with a final farewell. This comes in the form of a sheer barrage of crunch covered guitars as the chorus ascends one last time. It really is an exhilarating experience, and one that is hard to put into words.

"So tell me everything, what caved you in? When did Barbarians quietly move in?"

Besides the simply astounding musical performances on this record, the lyrical content is extremely poetic, and ranges from complexity to down right simplicity. It is very hard to find a balance between these two ends of the scale, but Jon Foulger manages to pull this off at a high level. One of my favourite examples of this is on 'The Perimeter Fence'. After the sparse drum intro and acoustic guitar, you can almost feel the desperation as Foulger simply says, "Nothing ever changed did it?". What follows is the opposite end of the scale, "your mother got her teeth fixed, but still she says the same things". But there is something about that opening line and the way it is delivered. The fact that he is both telling us, and asking us such a simple question to which we all know the answer. For such a simple lyric to have such a dramatic effect on me is very rare.

"The birds sing to the tune 'I told you so'"

The piano chord sequence on The Healing makes me marvel. Part of it's brilliance is that when it's trucking along with the kick drum and tambourine in the background, you think you've got the measure of it. The backing vocals have a 'Sympathy for the Devil' feel to them. But the chorus of this song is a perfect example of what makes this record such a gem. Foulger sings "All i need now is the healing" over this wonderful unexpected ascension of chords, that are almost uplifting behind the upsetting lyric.
When the strings are finally introduced along with Maher's fuzzy bass line, it really is the icing on the cake, building up to an ending with the same pace as where we started.

"I have had my piece of the frauds and the sluts"

My favourite track on the album is called "The First Time/The Last Time". The echoes of a suicidal person maybe, or just a cry of desperation, "I want to hear the church bells ringing out for the last time". With this song we really are entering an emotional territory that i find difficult to put into words. The vocal delivery is flawless, it almost has a Bowie like quality to it. Just a single acoustic guitar over a backdrop of ambient noise which builds and builds, a kick drum, and those lyrics... those lyrics. "We all stood there living proof that all things must come to pass". This song genuinely brings tears to my eyes. Every single time i hear it.

"Silent prayers on a tossing sea, Is there any hope for me?


The album closer, title track "The Barbarians Move In" is the perfect example of how to close an album of this calibre. Beautifully and dramatically. As the strings sweep and swell, there is almost an air of Portishead. With a chorus that relies on nothing other than the strong string arrangement and a collection of vocals all chanting the same line together. Simply song writing at it's best.

"I could chew through the walls and meet you on the outside, I could dash out your brains under moonlit skies or I could show you some forgiveness for all the time"

As i said above, i could sit here an describe every song, note,lyric, string arrangement, vocal and everything else on this record, but i feel i would be simply repeating myself over and over as i try to convey my love for this record. I know i haven't mentioned Wolvesland, This Year's Man etc but i feel like i've given you enough evidence that you would be a fool to not at least hear this album.
So all i can do is give you this link (provided by the band, and totally legal) where you can download the album for free: http://www.duelsmusic.co.uk/mp3/duels_tbmi_090599.zip

I just feel i should say a little something to clear up any peoples opinions that may think i am biased, as is it no secret that Jon Foulger and James Kenosha play in my live band. I had listened to this album a long time before I ever met Jon. I kind of knew James (ish), but it was only when my close friend Fran Rodgers started a relationship with Jon that i got to know him. So, as you can imagine, feeling the way i do about this record, it can only be described as an honour that when i asked them to be a part of my band, they said yes.

So, there you have it. Duels - The Barbarians Move In. The greatest album to come out of the UK in the past 10 years? I think so. And remember, it's just my opinion.

xxPaul Mxx

Philip Selway + Europe + Jaques

Hello everyone.

Just like the start of the last blog i've been a bit busy demoing it up right now and so i've neglected this here blog for awhile.

So let me tell you a bit about my jaunt with Philip Selway around Europe.

Well, actually it started with a sold out headline show for us at La Peniche in Lille. Myself, Laura Groves (aka Blue Roses) and Laura's man Josh hit the road in the 'dad mobile' at a silly early time in order to make the drive from Leeds to Lille which is a pretty long one i can tell you.
It was my first Eurotunnel experience. What a cold, dark place! But it gets us to france in like half an hour so who's complaining right?

The venue in Lille was on a boat next to a funfair, and it was the first of our 3 experiences of working with a wonderfully helpful crew. I feel like i've been on a roll with that of late.
It was lovely to see so many people come down. There was no support and so to fill this place up for what was technically the first ever Lone Wolf head liner was pretty nice. It was also nice to meet a couple of my long term fans. One of which (Claudia) travelled all the way from Amsterdam to be there and Audrey travelled up from Paris. We did a 60 min set which saw me doing an encore of Greenfly which i don't think i have played live since SXSW 2009.

When you travel and play gigs with a small group of people, you tend to go a bit nuts. Even if it's just for one night. So i got this daft mirror application on my iphone and took a photo of my face. The image in this picture was pretty startling and after many beers he became an entity of his own. Ladies and gentlemen, meet Jaques:



We like to think that Jaques floats up and down the corridors of the hotels we stay in warding off burglars and other criminals. He has no limbs, but he can just 'make things happen'. He also (though not often) talks out of his tear ducts...
Yes. all three of us are mad. Did you never realise?

So the next day we headed off to Brussels:



We met up with Mr Selway and his crew who were as welcoming as ever. The AB Club in Brussels is a pretty special venue indeed.
I wish i could say the same about our hotel...

Ladies and gentlemen this is a plea... If you ever go to Brussels and you are taken in by the cheap prices of 'Hotel Barry' just look away and find something else! It was one of the scariest experiences ever!
We picked up our key (and TV remote control... WTF??) at the front desk and were directed though a fast food restaurant to a door on the other side. When we walked through the door we literally had to climb over a pile of bin bags to get up the stairs to which we were greeted by some snails on the ceiling. Our room was this dingy, stinky little place that had FIVE beds jammed into it. There was a phone on the wall that had been melted by someone, filthy carpets, the drawer on the desk was stained with what genuinely looked like blood, the shower was falling to pieces. We sat and contemplated if we should just sack it off and go to stay somewhere else, but money wasn't permitting so we dealt with it. Granted, i pushed a bed up against the door when we slept... Even Jaques didn't make it to this hotel. He slept in the car.

Josh and the melted phone:




But anyway, the show was a delight. I got to meet a bunch more dedicated fans before heading out to a bar and fully utilising the fact that i was in Belgium. It's not often that you can just get a Maredsous 8 or a Westmalle Tripel on draft so i thought id drink myself to death before braving Hotel Barry! Myself and my moustache cause quite a stir in the gay bar we were drinking in and i had to turn the barman down which was much to Laura and Josh's amusement.

We survived the night in Hotel Barry and just like something from a comedy film, i happened to just take a glance out of the window to see Phil's tour bus pulling away and driving past our hotel. It was one of those "DON'T LEAVE US HERE!!! TAKE US WITH YOU!!!!" moments. We checked out, paid (begrudgingly) and set off for Paris.

How i adore Paris. I think i've been there like 4 times now and never have i been disappointed. The city just bleeds a certain charm that you very rarely find elsewhere.
Tonight the crowd were (sorry UK) by far the best i have ever had. Despite the fact that both my guitars decided to break during the set, i have never had such a loud rection. I felt like i was a head liner to be honest! So thank you Paris. Audrey showed up again to get her second Lone Wolf dose for the week.

After the show Laura, Josh and I finally got to spend a little time with Philip and his band/crew/management and we all went out for cocktails. A wonderful end to a short, but lovely trip to Europe. I can safely say that Mr Selway is among the most wonderfully lovely people i have ever met in my entire life. I also managed not to get too gushy about Radiohead!







Anyway, it's 13:15, im still in my pyjamas and i have songs to write, plus im going to go down and say hi to Anna (Our Broken Garden) who is shooting her new video in Leeds with Ashley Dean right now.

Take care all and speak to you all again soon.

Much love!

xxPaul Mxx

USA Tour Part 4 - Los Angeles

Hey dudes! Sorry!

Believe it or not i actually have spent the majority of the week a) being really ill and b) being extremely creative with about 4 new songs demoed (with no vocals due to the illness) and i'm about to record something else. This really is a rare phenomenon. The Paul Marshall species of man generally writes about 1 song every 1-2 months so fuck knows whats happened. Maybe i smashed it in so hard at Leeds Festival i managed to awaken a dormant part of my brain!

So that is the reason that this blog is arriving on your digital doormat so late!

Anyway the city of Angels.....

This blog starts of with a rather amusing tale about the plane ride there. I had a sad time leaving New York as i felt like i wasn't done there yet but i had to remind myself i wasn't on holiday and there's gigs to be played!
I sat on the plane in the aisle seat next to a rather large man who resembled a viking. He really did! But the worst thing was that this man really did reek. It wasn't B.O. in fact it was more like a combination of out of date milk mixed with really sweet strawberry yoghurt. Now bearing in mind that the flight was 6 hours, i wasn't too impressed but y'know, what can you do.
So i'm sitting there and just as we taxi to the runway the guy starts shifting around and looking pretty uncomfortable. Out of nowhere he suddenly at max volume lets out and almighty "BBBBLLLLEEUUUURRRGGHHHHH!!!!!!!!" as he wretches about to vomit all over me! Naturally i jump out of my skin (and my chair) and i'm like, "Dude are you ok?". He replied saying he'd eaten some horrid airport food and that he "should be able to keep it down". Hmmmm. I wasn't satisfied with that! ha ha. I only had one pair of jeans with me and i was going on stage that evening so the last thing i wanted was to be covered in viking vomit! I kindly offered him the aisle seat so he could run to the toilet if need be.
So i was sitting in the middle seat now gripping the arms of the seats in anticipation of the take off wondering if he was going to make it or not! He did...just! As the plane got to an altitude high enough to take your selt belt off, he literally flew down the aisle and into the loo to be sick. Poor bugger. But at that point myself and the pretty lady next to me had realised that we hadn't acknowledged eachothers existence. We looked at eachother and the moment our eyes met we both just burst out into roaring uncontrollable laughter! Horrible i know but that first 30 mins was a tense time, and that release of the laughter set me up for one of the most fun flights i've ever had. The lady in question turned out to be a fashion designer from New York called Mina Stone (http://minastone.com) and we got on like a house on fire. We had a glass of wine or two and chatted for pretty much the whole flight. I'm now pleased to say i've found a new pal in New York and we are still in touch on facebook etc.

After landing at LAX i met my good pals Jen And Chris (who actually cameo in the KYEOTR video) who had flown over from Denver just to come and see me which was a lovely touch. They gave me a lift back to my hotel to which i was greeted by the strangest headboards you have ever seen. Welcome to LA. I got the breasts and Tom F got the legs:



The venue for the gig was quite literally stunning! A huge ballroom type place with large chandeliers hanging from the celing.
I think the LA crowd were the most receptive of the entire trip. One thing i found about playing in America is that if you mention how much you love the towns tyou are playing in, you seem to win them over! ha ha. All i had to do here was mumble a sound that happened to resemble 'LA' into the mic and they went NUTS! I really enjoyed this show and i was really glad that it was the one my publishers in the US came to see. I also met a guy called Paul Bryan who i'll talk about more later.

So the next day the time came to say my final farewell to the beasts. I stayed an extra 3 days in LA and they were going off to play a festival in San Francisco. I was really gutted i couldn't go with them. I had seen some cities in the USA that i never thought i would get the chance to, and having made it over as far as the west coast, but not seeing San Fran was a kick in the balls, plus being in LA all on my own seemed pretty daunting with no car. Luckily Jen and Chris were around for one more day!
But anyway i went to a little place called 'The Den of Hollywood' where i enjoyed some 'red velvet pancakes'! My missus Sofi will tell you that i'm not the biggest fan of pancakes for breakfast, but i thought when in Rome and im really glad i did! These were amazing:



So i went to Santa Monica/Venice Beach with my pals and we took a drive up the pacific coast highway. We went out for mexican food which was awesome and basically just hung out as long as we could because we knew that it would probably be a long time before we saw eachother again. Venice really was a place full of crazy people, but the coast was beautiful.



I basically then spent my last couple of days wandering around Hollywood like a billy no mates, until the last night. Remeber that guy Paul Bryan who i mentioned earlier? He is a friend of my US manager and he did the whole "Hey Paul (B), my artist Lone Wolf is in LA go and take him out" thing. I had never properly met this guy before and so i was wondering what kind of an evening it was going to be, but i had a good feeling about it.
So Paul picks me up and takes me to the greatest seafood restaurant i have ever been to called "The Hungry Cat". I looked at the menu and some of these meals were hitting the $30/40 mark. I looked at him as if to say "shit man this is a pricey joint" to which he replied, "hey man you don't have to worry about that, i'm taking you out tonight!". I was obviously taken aback by this man's generosity and instantly trying to get him to let me pay for the drinks or ANYTHING but he wouldn't have it. It turns out that Paul is a sting arranger, producer and session musician for a lot of people. He is currently working with Aimee Mann and they are writing a musical together. He is also married and expecting a baby with Emily Procter who is an actress in 'CSI: Miami'.
The meal was simply great as was the company. He turned out to be such a great guy and full of inspiration to me. I think getting him to arrange some strings for the next record isn't out of the question!
This is what we started with:



You also need to look to the left of the picture to notice the awesome cocktail that Paul was drinking. It was a cucumber Martini. Hendricks gin, vodka(?) and purified cucumber. Hell yeah. I had a cocktail later called a 'Brother Jake' which was Rum, Tequila and pure squeezed Orange Juice. Stunning.
So i don't want to tell you what the meal came to price wise, but lets just say Paul, if you are reading this I owe you one big time! You are a diamond among men!

So that pretty much brings the USA tour to a close. I really did have a wonderful time and i met some great, great people who i am staying in touch with. I really cannot wait to go back! I hope you have enjoyed reading this mess. A massive, massive thanks to everyone at Bella Union/Yep Roc/Red Eye/ Blue Mountain.

USA... you have made it onto my list of things marked 'GOOD'. I salute you.

xxPaul Mxx

USA Tour Part 3 - New York, New York

So i took a break from writing this blog to go to Leeds Festival. I'm not even sure if anyone reads it and the painstaking minutes of my life that i while away here re-counting my trip across the globe may fall on 'deaf eyes' (im gonna use that as a lyric) but what the hell.

I arrived in New York and the first thing i saw literally was a teenager standing in the train station wearing a baseball shirt that just said 'WANG' on the back and so i found that hilarious.
I emerged from Penn station to see the Empire State Building and walked past Madison Square Garden on my way to my hotel. I was already in awe of this city. You have to bear in mind that it was my first visit to a city that gets nothing but praise from everyone i have ever known that has been there.
I met up with my new friend Mona Dehghan from Domino Records and she took me out for some food, then down to the lower east side where we basically got blind drunk. The Beasts turned up and were apparently just having a meal sat next to Lady Gaga in the restaurant next door who was donning nothing other than a barely nipple covering top and a pair of knickers. Thats hygiene for you!

So the next day i met up with my US manager Jake to head out and do some promo. On the way to the emusic office i passed the Flat Iron building which is easily up there with the coolest things i have ever seen:



Then i went on to play my first of what i didn't know were going to be some bizarre promo slots! I played at a pizza party in the emusic office. Now that was odd. Everyone there was lovely (as was the pizza) but it was about 12pm in the afternoon on a blazing hot day in the office with me sitting there playing my death songs to a bunch of dudes eating pizza! ha ha. I managed to flex my Swedish talking skills with a lady there called Pernilla before moving on to the next one. We took a cab over to the Highline Park which is basically a dis-used train line now converted into a park.
I played a version of '15 Letters' and 'Keep Your Eyes On The Road' for some cool folks called 'The Wild Honey Pie'. You can see the sessions here:

http://vimeo.com/14129277

http://vimeo.com/14125806

After that i enjoyed a Cucumber and Watermelon ice lolly (i refuse to say popsicle just because i was in the USA!) and proceeded to head to the venue. It was a gorgeous place, but it was a shame it was located right next to a meat supermarket called 'Western Beef' so in the choking humidity the whole street just stank of DEATH!
I got some nice footage of me and Tom Fleming singing Scott Walker's 'Farmer In The City' as a vocal warm up backstage then went out and played! It was one of those gigs where i thought i'd played shit, but it seemed like the NY crowd were really digging it. They made me feel ridiculously welcome in their city, and after reading a few blogs and reviews about it it seems that it didn't sound so bad from out front! :)

Tom and i went back to our hotel that night and continued drinking Jameson's till about 2am while once again, listening to more Scott Walker. Bearing in mind that he had to be up at 6am to catch a flight to LA and i could just lounge around in bed.

So, i got up and went to do more promo in NY which started wiha nice gig in the office for the lovely folks at Relix magazine, then i decided to throw my guitar back into my hotel and leg it to the Empire State Building. There was no way i was going to visit NY and not go up there!



I then had my final piece of promo which was possibly the weirdest of them all. I had to play at Limewire's 10th anniversary party in their office! Yes another bizarre Lone Wolf booking. There were balloons, streamers, party hats and just before i went on a really emotional speech from the chairman... Then steps up Lone Wolf with his death songs again... The life and soul of the fucking party! :) I played a couple of songs and though it best to leave quietly and let them all enjoy thier party.

Mona then took me to Brooklyn where i saw a giant Laundrette (once again i refuse to say Laundromat just because i was in the USA when i saw it! :)) which had a bar and and massive flat screen TV. It seemed like THE place to wash your clothes in Brooklyn.
We had a couple of beers and i decided to get an early one as i was flying to LA the next morning....

The final instalment tomorrow!

xxPaul Mxx

USA (well Canada in this case) Tour part 2 - Toronto

This entry is a little shorter as my time in Toronto was considerably less than the other cities i visited on this tour.

I took a flight over rather than travelling with the beasts so i could spend a bit of extra time with my Brother and my two nephews who live there which was lovely. Steve (my bro) left the UK when i was about 15 (im 29 now) and so it's always great to get the opportunity to hang out with him and the kids. Although i have to confess i do like to play xbox, and i do get to speak to my nephew Jared over the pleasantly violent setting of Modern Warfare 2 every now and then.

We spent the evening eating pizza and watching one of my favourite (crap) movies of all time. Commando. My god there is not a bone in my body that can express anything but love for that dire piece of trash. It is so dreadful it has some kind of space and time thing going on where it makes bad become good. I could actually spend the majority of this blog writing about that movie from start to finish but i'll save you that. Otherwise i'll start talking about Death Wish III too! :)

So i left my guitar in the WB van for ease of travel but sadly it meant that they had to meet me with it when they got to Toronto which was about 2am. Kelley (the Wild Beasts Tour Manager) basically wanted to break every bone in my body when i met them. They had been driving for hours and hours throughout the time i was enjoying Commando and were desperate to get to bed. I'll never forget when i went over to say hi and she didn't even look me in the eye, just said "Paul, just take your guitar and go". I felt DREADFUL. Naturally i went to bed that night with a heavy stomach.

The next day i went to a radio station called CIUT in Toronto a bit early for my liking. My voice doesnt lend itself well to early mornings and so i did the best i could. I sang 4 songs in a chapel on a University campus which was fun and got talking to the Australian lady who ran the show about how i don't want to play in Australia due to my fear of spiders. Her stories didn't help!

I then went to a place called Explore Music which is in a fancy new building on the docks of Toronto for an interview and another session. I really, really enjoyed this interview with a dude called Alan Cross who i could tell had really analysed my album and we shared a love for a lot of the same things. You are able to see this interview by clicking here!

I then made my way over to the venue called 'The Mod Club'. It was a beautiful place actually. Pretty massive and it was nice to see the Kissaway Trail boys there ready to do thier sound check. I aslo saw Kelley again and was all apologetic about them having to bring my guitar so late etc.
So, no sound check for me that day due to time restraints and so i just had to go out there and do it. I was pretty nervous becasue i had never played in front of my Brother before and i wanted him to see what this kid of 15 he left in the UK was able to do these days. I think the result was the best performance (technically) i did on the whole tour and the crowd were incredibly well responsive.

So after the show i went out with my Bro and his/my mate Mike to some random bar downtown which to put it bluntly, wasn't for me that night. Those guys were doing the whole "hey man you're on tour let's get fucked up" vibe and all that was on my mind was the fact i had to catch a flight to New York early the next day so i let those guys enjoy themselves and took a cab home.

Sadly, I discovered that there are two Connaught Avenues in Toronto and so after being taken to one and then the other it took me about an hour and a half to get home and a taxi fare of what should have been $90! I managed to haggle the driver down to $50 by blaming him for taking me to the wrong place. Lets say he wasn't pleased. I got in to find my nephews Jared and Connor fast asleep which was really sad as i was hoping to see them one last time before i went to New York.

So yeah this leg of the trip was a little more family orientated, but NEW YORK IS COMING!!!! WOOOOP!

:)

Love you all

xxPaul Mxx

USA TOUR Part 1 - CHICAGO

So finally now i'm back in Leeds after the tour and Green Man festival being so close to one another. I now actually feel like i can take a deep breath and tell you a bit about what happened over in the grand ol' US of A.

CHICAGO



What a wonderful city.

I arrived and had a couple of days to myself before the gig. I visited to Goose Island brew pub which was certainly a highlight.
The first 'Lone Wolf' thing i had to do was drive to Rock Island for a daytrotter session. I'd never driven in the states before this so notably i was shitting my pants a bit, especially considering it wasn't exactly just 'down the road'. It's a drive equivalent to Leeds to London and back so a round trip of about 7-8 hours.

The daytrotter studio was littered with all manner of vintage gear style delights. I was expecting to just be going in there with my acoustic and bashing a couple of tunes out, but i got to do a weird version of 'This Is War' on a rather odd electric piano, then did 'Keep your Eyes On The Road' on a flat wound arch top whilst one of the daytrotter crew (his name escapes me at this time!! Sorry!) provided some kick drum accompaniment. I also did a purely acoustic version of both '15 Letters' and 'We Could Use Your Blood'. Im sure this will be online soon.

On my journey home i got to flip the middle finger at a truck driver on interstate 88, to which he replied with a double handed attempt. I had no more hands to reply with and so therefore felt beaten by a worthy opponent. Once safe in my hotel room after that incident, which to be fair, could have ended up like the movie 'Duel' i was happy to hear that Wild Beasts had finally arrived in town and so after 3 days of Chicago solitude i literally flew out of my hotel across town to meet up with them only to find a table full of what i can only describe as 'shells' of the people i know due to thier lenghty day of travel. Obviously i felt wonderful after my 7 hour drive but thats besides the point. So we had an early night.



The next day was all about the show in Chicago really. The Empty Bottle was quite a small place (250 cap i think) but by no means without it's charm. I spent most of the afternoon admiring the graffiti on the walls of the dressing room and seeing a sticker for a band called 'Turgid Member'.
The Kissaway Trail were the victims of a storm over Atlanta which meant that they were unable to make the gig. In fact i think they arrived just after they were supposed to go on which meant i was bumped up to main support and the 11pm slot.
The crowd were obviously half up for it and half not. It was the beginning of Lollapalooza weekend and so there were about 100 people watching and 100 not, but i still had a wonderful time. I felt very welcome and enjoyed being on stage. It was the first time since the tour with WB in March that i had played solo.
Although the highlight of the evening came in the unlikely form of a slagging off! I was standing outside after the show talking to a few people who were being really nice about the show when i overheard someone standing right next to me saying how upset he was that he had missed me play, and was really jealous of the fact i am touring with Phil Selway from Radiohead later in the year. So naturally i thought "aww that's nice" until i heard his friend say "Yeah well you didn't miss anything, he was SHIT!". I let the conversation continue for a while wondering whether i should say anything and was on the verge of letting it go until i heard how much the original guy was fighting my corner and refusing to believe that i could have been THAT bad.

Now i'm a kind of hard face to forget due to this rather awesome moustache i have, and it does help the recognition process in the USA when you not only see the moustache but hear a broad British accent. So i turned around and looked at the guy straight in the face and said "i'm sorry, who did you say was shit?" to which he quite freely replied "Lone Wolf man, he was shit dude". He clearly did not recognise me which kind of made me feel better anyway because it showed the lack of attention he must have paid in such a small venue to not notice the two size able recognisable features i mentioned earlier. So i asked him again and moved a bit closer "sorry who was shit?" to which he once again said "that guy Lone Wolf, he wasn't very good at all". I moved in for the final kill, and was practically close enough to kiss him before i said "you don't even know who you are talking to do you?" with a big smile on my face.

The most beautiful moment of the evening was watching him suddenly realise he had basically told me to my face i was shit and then practically collapse to the ground in a colossal void of guilt and apologies before hanging his head and walking away.
His friend immediately went and purchased my album! :)

I then spent the next day at Lollapalooza with the Beasts. I did a bit of promo in the afternoon in the form of a couple of interviews and a radio performance but mainly enjoyed getting sunburned and hanging out.



The highlight of this day you ask? When i was on my way back to the hotel, im hoping this was once again because of my moustache, and the fact that i was wearing a tight white vest, sun burnt shoulders, sunglasses and carrying a little tote bag as you can see in the image above, i was approached by a preacher who with a Cheshire cat grin told me, "Son, Heaven has no room for homosexuals". Needless to say i frowned at him and continued my journey home wondering how people like this still exist! And also considering the fact that if Heaven does exist, do i really want to go there if that guy is going to be there!?

Tomorrow: Toronto!

xxPaul Mxx

USA TOUR!

Hi everyone!

for some reason my blogs always seem to start with 'it's been a while since i last blogged' but it is the truth here and i have a good reason. I have literally just returned from my tour of the USA. I'm going to do a little blog about each city i visited etc, but before i do i need to sort out all the video i have, and the pics etc and i will start posting it all up for you tomorrow.

But in all the synopsis was this:

Chicago: AWESOME
NY: AWESOME
Toronto: AWESOME
LA: AWESOME

So i'm sure you can tell you are in for a treat! Stay tuned!

xxPaul Mxx

Lone Wolf to tour USA!

Hi everyone!

I won't lie to you by saying that i wasn't hoping today i'd anounce a mercury nomination, but such is life, and luckily it ties in beautifully with the news that i do have for you!

I have great pleasure to announce that in August i will be touring the USA in support of my pals, and now as of today Mercury nominees Wild Beasts!

It's only 4 dates, but i'm gonna be over there for a couple of weeks doing promo and stuff so hit me up USA!

These are the dates:

Aug 6th @ The Empty Bottle - CHICAGO
Aug 9th @ The Mod Club - TORONTO
Aug 11th @ Highline Ballroom - NEW YORK
Aug 13th El Rey Theatre - LOS ANGELES

WOOOOO!!!!! See you stateside!

Congratulations to Wild Beasts! Lets hope they take it all the way and bring that prize home!

xxPaul Mxx

Rockfeedback Session

Hey everyone.

I've not written for a while becasue there is some amazing news imminent and i'm just holding off until i'm allowed to tell you.

But....

Just today this went online which i recorded at the Lexington in London about a week or so before the album was released. Enjoy!!

http://www.rockfeedback.com/tv/direct/channels/297400/971008

xxPaul Mxx

How did i get here?

Ok, so i wouldn't normally post a blog about a specific gig, but i just have to ramble about this one for a while. It's actually more of a blog for my sake than others as i'm really giving myself a talking to and telling myself to shut up, but feel free to listen well read in.

I'm quite a humble chap really. I don't take much for granted, and as i've mentioned in a lot of interviews etc i tend to worry a lot. I worry if i'm not worrying because SURELY there must be SOMETHING i should be worrying about.
I assume the worst in most situations. I tend to self-loathe somewhat. I don't think i'm the best at anything. I don't think i deserve anything. I want to be better at everything.

As you can tell i give myself a bit of a hard time. But i'm aware of the fact i do, and it's only by being brutally honest about it in situations like this now, sitting at my computer i feel i can keep on top of this whirlwind of a brain i was granted with.

I was in Carcassonne in the south of France with my lovely lady when i received a message saying the Richard Thompson had chosen Lone Wolf to play in support of Broken Bells at his Meltdown festival. It is very hard to really comprehend what an honour that is for little old me.
As you can tell from hearing me finger pick the guitar, i am a big Nick Drake fan and this man played alongside him back in the day as well as Fairport Convention etc. So to have him actually say he wanted me to perform is something magical.

Then 2 days prior i found out it was in the Royal Festival Hall. I'd already psyched myself for the fact it was in the Queen Elizabeth Hall which seats about 900, but to get to play in the RFH? nearly 3000? Lordy.

So when we rolled up to find about 10 crew waiting for us who at the attitude along the lines of 'you just sit back and relax while we sort out all of your problems' that was very nice indeed. Special props should go out to this crew who were the most professional, kind and CARING crew i have ever met in my life. The same thing goes out to the gig rep Lorna. If i even frowned slightly she was on top of the problem and it was solved before i had the time to blink. This really doesn't happen often.

So i walked out to see this view from the stage:



I got to use the Steinway Grand Piano and while that was being tuned especially for me (WTF?) i looked around me and just thought to myself, Jesus, in 2007 i was on the verge of giving up music entirely due to NOTHING happening, and here i am sitting at a Steinway in the Royal Festival Hall surrounded by 4 amazing friends who are playing in my band for next to nothing with Richard Thompson watching in from the side of the stage. How the hell did this happen? I'm certainly not complaining.

So the gig came along (after an hour of me practically hyperventilating in my dressing room, and my voice was a bit, well, shit at first to be honest. The nerves Paulie, THE NERVES! But when the band came out and joined me, the next 30 mins just went in the blink of an eye. This is one of the first gigs I have played where i simply just enjoyed it. The crowd were wonderfully responsive. I think they could tell what a big moment it was for me. One of them took this pic:



My friend Stacy took these:





So like the clicking of fingers the gig was over in a flash. I took a moment to really take in my surroundings and try to get through to the 'worrying' part of my brain and say "Just look where you are buddy, calm the fuck down".

So yeah, now all that is just a memory. Apologies if you have read this blog and you get any vibes of 'ooooOOoohhh look at me' about it. It's actually meant to convey the message that we really do sadly only have one life, and therefore, it's a cliche, but we really do have to just enjoy every minute and make sure that when something this good is happening, you have to take that moment and realise what you are doing/where you are. Everything is relative on so many levels. Just having a roof over my head, a nice family, a cat and a wonderful girlfriend provides the same feeling every day.

So, stop worrying about stuff Marshall and learn to enjoy your life! Same goes for anyone who deals with the same issues as me every day.

Now bring on Union Chapel and lets do it all over again! Can't wait!

Take care folks. Love you all!

xxPaul Mxx

Lone Wolf ticket giveaway!!!

Hi everyone!

Just a quick message to let you know that over the next couple of days i am going to be giving away 5 tickets to the amazing Bella Union night happening next week (24th) at Union Chapel featuring John Grant, Mountain Man, Alessi's Ark and yours truly.

But i will be doing this exclusively on Twitter! So if you aren't following me now, i suggest you do so here www.twitter.com/iamlonewolf

I will probably be giving away one pair a day over the next 5 days.

See you there!

xxPaul Mxx

Lone Wolf done a telly programme...

Hello all.

So yes i thought i'd get in there early to remind you all that on this coming friday night at midnight on Channel 4, Lone Wolf (with full band) is appearing alongside the awesome Everything, Evreything on Alex Zane's CTRL show. We recorded a version of 'Keep your Eyes On The Road' for it and so i'm hoping they use that. The normal version of the song kinda exceeds the TV limits so there is a possibility they will use another song from the set but we'll just have to wait and see. Here is a link to the show on Radio Times so you can set a reminder: Click Here

In other news--->

3 gigs i'm positively ecstatic about playing are all occuring in London next week.

Monday 21st sees Lone Wolf (full band) appearing at Queen Elizabeth Hall in the South Bank Centre as part of Richard Thompson's Meltdown festival supporting Broken Bells. Just in the last 5 minutes we have confirmed that i am going to be allowed to use the Grand Piano there so i'm really excited about that! Jon can't make that one sadly, but in his place the wonderfully talented Laura Groves (Blue Roses) is stepping in.

Then we move on to Thursday 24th which is a Bella Union night at another fantastic venue Union Chapel. This gig features John Grant, Moutain Man and Alessi's Ark also. I always enjoy playing gigs alongside my fellow Bella Union cohorts and so this is particularly exciting.

Then on the Saturday 26th you can catch us on the Bella Union stage in Hyde Park's Hard Rock Calling festival! We are obviously warming up the crowd for Stevie Wonder.

So have you gone out and bought your copy of The Devil And I yet? I'm really happy with the press it has recieved so far. Drowned in Sound gave it 8/10 and called it "A minor revelation", it got 4 stars in both Q and Uncut, it even got a 10/10 on one web blog so i must have done something right!

So what are you waiting for? I have actually put the whole album up for stream on my myspace page so if you want to try before you buy head over there right now......

See you next week at one of these gigs hopefully!

xxPaul Mxx

Lone Wolf vs Blue Roses FIGHT NITE!

Hello all.

Apologies for my lack of bloggisms for the past week or so. Since the album came out i've been a busy bee. Up and down between Leeds and London like a yoyo.

The first thing was for the Stag and Dagger fest in shorditch last friday where me Jon and James played as a 3 piece for the first time. The venue was very small and HOT! We played well but i was more bemused by something that had never happened before... DANCING! People were dancing to Lone Wolf i shit you not. When we got to the last song (which on this occasion was The Devil And I (Part 2)), i uttered, "Try dancing to this one" into the mic before we started. And guess what. They danced. All be it very slowly! So if you are reading this and were one of the dancers in question, i thank you personally! :)

The next day was a helluva lot of fun. We went to BBC Broadcasting house and played on Radio 4's loose ends with none other than that awesome Clive Anderson. See pic below taken from my own fair iphone, what a pose:



We were told, albeit a couple of days prior that we had to cut 'Keep Your Eyes on the Road' down to 3.30. So we basically chopped lots out of it and then played it about 100bpm faster. I think it's still up here on iplayer if you want to hear our turbo version: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00sf0t8/Loose_Ends_22_05_2010/ its about 32 mins in. You also get to hear what i sound like when i have just got out of bed. :)

One of the best things about that show was meeting the wonderful Nick Frost. Probably unknown to many of you that beneath this shady exterior there is a comedian waiting to get out. Myself and my best pal Rob have been writing sketches for years and we are dying to make a sketch show. So being a massive fan of Big Train, Look Around You, Brass Eye, Partridge, Spaced (i could go on but you know i basically mean the GOOD STUFF) to meet Nick Frost was a good thing. He approached us (as did actor Richard Coyle who also turned out to be a bloody nice bloke) to say how much he enjoyed our performance and naturally i thought he was just being polite. But he was then nice enough to say that 'The Devil And I' was his new favourite album on 6music the other day so i think i can safely put Nick in my file containing 'bloody nice blokes' that i keep next to my computer. Nice one Nick! I was going to post an image of one of my favourite characters of his that i spoke to him about, however i wouldn't suggest typing 'Hot John' into google image search.

So anyway onto the title of this blog. Lone Wolf is going to be taking a slightly different guise for a few gigs this summer including tomorrows Sheffield gig with The Invisible and next weeks gig in London with Arab Strap's Aidan Moffatt.
Myself and the wonderfully talented Laura Groves aka Blue Roses are heading out on the road as a two piece version. We have altered some of the songs slightly to give them a new identity when it's her and i playing. For example, when we play 'Soldiers' its a bit of a slower more minimal affair with me playing piano rather than guitar etc. I won't say too much and spoil it for you but i'm really excited about it and very happy to be working with her. She's a great person with an amazing sense of humour so we get on like a house on fire. So yeah, come and check us out.

I have a lot of news regarding the video for next single 15 letters, but i'm going to have to save that for the next blog. It's very exciting! So i'll just leave you with a still from it:



Take care everyone and love you all!

xxPaul Mxx aka the lonely wolf

The Devil And I is officially relelased today!

Hi everyone.

It's been a long time coming but i am please to annouce that you are able to head to your local music retailer and pick up a copy of the album. It feels like forever since i got on that plane and headed out to my little hideaway in Sweden to record with Kris. So today is a good day.

Been really happy with press and stuff for it so far with the likes of Uncut, Q and clash magazine dishing out lovely reviews and just yesterday myself and the band recorded a session for Alex Zane's CTRL show which is due to be broadcast on Channel 4 on June 18th. Not sure what time yet but i'll keep you informed.

For you wireless lovers out there myself Jon and James are also going to be performing 'Keep Your Eyes On The Road' live on Clive Anderson's Loose Ends show on Radio 4 next week. I'm really looking forward to that as we are going to be in the studio with Simon Pegg! I love that guy and so im going to have to take a course in 'not being a dick' this week. Will be a hard course - my god, just look at all the possible innuendos from that last sentence.

I have also just announced a new batch of dates coming up over the coming months so see if you can make it to any of these shows. Some are full band and for a few of them i will be heading out as a two piece with none other than the beautifully talented Laura Groves aka Blue Roses. Here are the dates:


21 May LONDON, Stag and Dagger at The Spread Eagle

29 May SHEFFIELD, Bungalows and Bears

05 Jun LONDON, The Borderline w/ Aiden Moffat

18 Jun BRISTOL, Start The Bus w/ Little Boots

24 Jun LONDON, Union Chapel

25 Jun LONDON, Hyde Park, Hard Rock Calling Festival

02 Jun BOURNEMOUTH, 60 Million Postcards

20 Aug GLANUSK PARK, Green Man Festival

Anyway. I will have more news about the new video soon. All i can reveal right now is that im currently waiting for my Dad to arrive as he is going to be in it playing an older version of me!

Take care everyone and i hope you enjoy the album.

Love to you all

xxPaul Mxx

2 Weeks till judgement day!

Hello everyone.

So as you are all probably aware it is only 2 weeks until 'The Devil and I' hits record stores all over the UK and Europe.

So what better thing to be doing with your time than pre-ordering a copy on either CD or Vinyl?





If you fancy yourself a CD digipak then look no further than this link:

http://bellaunion.sandbag.uk.com/Store/DII-4186-1-lone+wolf++the+devil+and+i+cd+preorder.html

If it's the vinyl you so desire then click here:

http://bellaunion.sandbag.uk.com/Store/DII-4393-1-lone+wolf++the+devil+and+i+lp+preorder.html

You are also able to buy the limited 'Keep Your Eyes On The Road' 7" single here:

http://bellaunion.sandbag.uk.com/Store/DII-4485-9-lone+wolf++keep+your+eyes+on+the+road+7''.html

So there you go. The album has been received well by the press folks getting a couple of tasty 4 star reviews in Uncut and Q which is nice, and we just played an awesome gig at Live at Leeds.

Next stop. The album release! See you there! x

Keep Your Eyes On The Road - A very late, but proper thank you!

Hi everyone.

Rather than hitting you with the 2nd half of the tour blog so soon, i thought that on the eve of the first TV broadcast of the video for 'Keep Your Eyes On The Road' on MTV Rocks, i really need to dish out some serious thank you's to the people involved who travelled from all over to come and help out. Ash (Director) knows how much i appreciate his endless hours of work and what he has achieved with this video.

But it's so easy to get caught up in your own little world when making a video like this. It's safe to say that after my 45th hour of being pixelated i was more than ready to commit suicide if i had to spend to any more time on set. So my head was definitely spinning.

So i think it's time i properly thank every single extra. I don't even know if there has been a cast list released with all the extras' names, some of which were of my best friends, some i actually don't know! Im sure if Ash (the director) is reading this he may be able to comment if i have forgotten anyone.

So it's time i thank you all properly for your amazing work and let everyone else know who you are.

So the first extra is the pretty lady in the bed next to me in the 'bed' scene. This is no other than my wonderful other half Sofi Lundgren. For the record, after she slips out of shot it was actually her turning the cone and replacing all the glasses on the bedside table. That was by far my favourite scene to shoot becasue i basically had to lie down in my bed next to my lady for two hours. Now that was much nicer than sitting in a chair at an awkward angle for 6 hours!

We then have the three people who devoted 6 hours of thier time to film just 6 seconds of footage in the labyrinth style 'helping hands' scene. They were:

Soozy Creamcheese - That really is the only way i know her. I didn't wan't to put her real name as i like to think this one is! I dont really see her that often and so thats why it was particularly special she came and helped out on what has become one of my favourite scenes.

Jen Burdess - I speak more about later
Keith Smith - Ditto
The next set of extras you see are the people kindly hammering the nails into my coffin, and then mourning my death!

The first is Ali Aaron. A good pal of mine who i used to work with.
The second is none other than director Ashley Dean, followed by Marcus who owns the space we used to shoot this scene and maker of my coffin. He was wearing some awesome shades with his black suit and as he was shooting the scene we realised his head was out of shot and so the shades wouldnt get seen. So thats why if you look carefully, his head pops into shot for about 4 frames just so you can see the shades!

Next my upmost thanks goes out to my 8 humble backing dancers. Some of which travelled from as far as London just to come and be in this scene. They are the following:

Rob Wills - My best friend in the world for the past 16 years. He's the guy in the turquoise jumper. He suffered hours on the stinky megabus from London to come and shoot this scene and i can't thank him enough.

Lins Wilson - A lovely friend and bassist/cellist/synth player in the Lone Wolf live set up and also cellist in Grammatics. She's the red head in the plain dress (provided by Ash im sure she'll want me to say!)

Kelly Taft - Another highly cherished pal and girlfriend of my friend Wu who is going to be playing Bass for the next couple of Lone Wolf dates. Shes wearing a yellowish dress and has long blonde hair/glasses.

Danny North - Well what is there i can't say about this ace gent. Simply a top top man. If you have seen any photographs of me over the past few years, chances are they will have been taken by Danny. He's wearing the brownish striped shirt.

Chris Leeds & Jen Burdess - I met these two wonderful people randomly at a gig about 5 years ago and we became very good friends. They are sadly moving back to the USA for good in a couple of weeks, so it meant a lot to me they they were in this video. Going to miss them dearly. Chris is in the grey trousers and Jen is the red head with black rimmed glasses.

Keith Smith - An old friend who kindly drove me all over the country for pretty much nothing when i was first starting out. He is a man who i keep reminding i owe him about a thousand favours, but he never seems to cash them in. So here's another reminder Keith you GEM! Keith is the handsome dude in the blue shirt.

Elly Oracle - The way we met is about as bizarre as it gets. She provided me with a cage for my cat Lupin when she had a knee operation! ha ha. But Elly writes for a few different sites about gigs and happenings in the Leeds music scene and is one of the brightest and bubbly people i know. Elly is wearing a reddish dress with short dark hair.

After the 'dancing' part there are a few more people that pop up for the odd frame spinning around in a chair. One of them is Ash's Dad who was always helping out throughout the whole process, making nice food and generally being awesome. There was also one of Ash's friends called Rachel who makes an appearance.

Then for the final section where a sea of people seem to appear from my body there is a veritable banquet of Leeds faces there, but you may need to pause the vid and skip frames to catch them all! But they are everyone from the previous scene with added:

Jon Foulger - Ace friend and also a member of the Lone Wolf live troop.
Fran Rodgers - Another old friend who i love dearly. Phenomenal musician also.
Dan Howard - One of my best mates. was frontman of the now defunct Wintermute along with Dave Hemmings who is also in this scene, and also one of my best mates! Leeds is going to be a sad place when Dan moves away :(
Wu - who i mentioned earlier. He arrived in time to shoot this scene. Diamond geezer stangely a big fan of Darius Danesh.
Sofi Lundgren - The other half i mentioned earlier.

And i think that's it. I know it's a cliche, but i think it is quite obviously the truth when i say that without all of your help and patience this video could not have been completed to look the way it does. It's also a great document of all the ace people i know at this point in my life.

So basically - I thank you all!

Now if you weren't in the video, next time you watch it you need to try and spot everyone!

have fun!

http://vimeo.com/10001188

Transexuals and Alcohol - A recollection of the tour (Part 1)

Oh Wild Beasts. How i love you, you beautiful gentlemen.

As i write this blog, the gents are still on tour around mainland europe and aren't due to get back until April 21st after an almost incomprehendable string of dates that started in Australia back in January.

For a couple of weeks i was the lucky gent who got to be tour support. On this occasion it was Lone Wolf by name and by nature. I left the band at home crying and waving handkerchiefs as i set of with the beasts in our sleeper bus. Here's what happened:

Portsmouth

First date of the tour and i hadn't played live solo for nearly a year. So i believe the term 'bricking it' came out a few times. Met Erland and The Carnival (other support band) and we seemed to hit it off straight away. Another great set of guys. I actually cannot remember too much of this gig as i know i pushed it a little too hard on the first night due to my excitement. I woke up the next day fully clothed in my hotel room with half a bottle of Budvar in my hand... You do the math.

London

KOKO! Possibly my favourite venue in the UK. A friend of mine (Lee Vincent of PABH) and i got to interview Steve Albini and watch Shellac there a couple of years back, and i was just as in awe of the venue at my gig on march 4th as i was back then. I had one of my favourite gigs ever. The crowd simply rocked. My amp did decide to die onstage at the beginning of 'Keep your Eyes On The Road' and so i got to use Simon Tong's cool vintage Wem amp in replacement which smoothed over the situation.
Wild Beasts played an incredible show to a sell out audience. I won't be forgetting that one.

Warwick

Of all places. Who would have thought that this would have been such a great venue/gig. But besides the gig, the most important thing for us was that after a couple of well earned days rest with our girlfriends, this was the first night on the sleeper bus and we were all giddy about it. Our driver Gee turned out to be a gem. A proper mackem with an obsession with the word 'fisting' and his most perculiar of catchphrases that i have still yet to quite understand the meaning of: "If In doubt...fart". Go figure...

Bournemouth

60 Million Postcards. The decor kind of rang a homely bell for me and thats because it's owned by the same folks who own Leeds' 'Nation Of Shopkeepers'. I got to have a nice afternoon sitting by the sea writing lyrics and listening to Gee snoring in his bunk. Strange how a Mackem snoring can be so comforting.
Gig was a strange one as the room is kinda wierd, but i enjoyed it a lot. I also enjoyed playing footie with Benny (beasts) whilst having the luxury of crew packing the bus for us!

Norwich

We spent a couple of days in this glorious town. The first half of the day off consisted of Hayden and I trying to follow his iphone to a hotel that actually wasn't there. Then when we did eventually find it, thay lady behind the counter wouldn't let us upstairs to our day room (where Benny was currently checked in and showering)for fear that we might - in her words - beat him up!
We spent most of it hanging out in nice cafes and having a well earned rest. On the evening we all messed our minds up by going to see Shutter Island. Great movie.
I just remember us walking back not saying a word.
The gig the next day was absolutely awesome. I loved it. Once again the crowd were excellent.
Highlight of the evening? Being told by a transexual man i was really cute and he wanted all of us to come back to his house for a party where apparently there were 'loads of maids and everything'! ha ha. I politely declined that offer, although in hindsight i think we all wanted to at least poke our heads round the door to see what we were missing! Im sure we were all conjuring up different images of what this party looked like!
We settled for our own party on the bus that night. There weren't any maids.

I'll let you digest all that before i tell you about the rest of the tour. Maybe tomorrow. Take care all.

xxPaul Mxx

Welcome

Hi everyone.

I decided to reach far outside the realms of myspace, facebook, and twitter to find a place where i can actually talk to you personally.

The 'official' Lone Wolf website is under construction but in the meantime i will be blogging here to let you know what i'm up to.

This is an absolute joy to be honest. Sometimes i have so much to tell you and i simply cannot fit it into a restriction of 140 characters, and i end up sending about 5 tweets just to say 'tonights gig was excellent!'. But seeing as i just did it in 27 characters, i don't know if it would be an improvement to Twitter to give you more letters, or a lesson that i need to stop rambling. Talking of which....

So "What the hell is going on Lone Wolf?" i hear you cry...

Well after your amazing response to the video for 'Keep Your Eyes On The Road', my friend and super director Ashley Dean is currently hard at work on the new video for the next single. Although i'm tempted to reveal everything about this i feel like i should keep it under wraps somewhat for the time being. This is my first post after all and so i can't tell you EVERYTHING!? What i can reveal is that it is going to be amazing. If you follow brokenpixelchat on twitter you will get to see photos from the set almost every day.

But what i can tell you is that after my solo tour with Wild Beasts, im happy that the full band is now going back into rehearsals for our forthcoming Live At Leeds appearance. Seeing as the band is such a god damn supergroup, I have to swap members every now and then. On this occasion the very selfish Lins Wilson of Grammatics fame has other engagements and so we will be bringing in the talents of one of the most treasured faces of Leeds, my good friend Wu, former frontman of the now defunct 'This Et Al'. I think this will be Wu's first time on stage since the demise of This Et Al, So we are still managing to keep our supergroup status.

We are going to be playing at Leeds' most amazing Brudenell Social Club at 6pm on May 1st which will be our first Leeds appearance since we supported Shearwater back in Feb.

So anyway, I could bombard you with a ton of news, but for the time being i'll let you make yourselves comfortable.

Speak soon

xxPaul Mxx