INTERVIEW - Guitarist On Wheels releases new single “Turn Down”, plus what to expect for 2020

FRAZER; Hey Paul! Good to chat to you again; how’s things?

PAUL; Hey mate yea things are good thanks.

FRAZER; You’ve been keeping fairly busy this new year; we’re only 3 months in (just) and you’ve released a new single, you’ve been on radio, and your video blogs have really taken off. Just tell the viewers of Antix what it is you’ve been up to in your own words; you must be feeling quietly confident for a good year ahead!

PAUL; I’m definitely looking forward to 2020 and it’s been a really great start to this year. The vlogs are something new and although they are hard work I’m looking forward to them taking off a bit more. As usual it’ll be gigs galore this year and I’ll never complain at that.

FRAZER; Obviously you performed on Air107.2 recently, and performed a bunch of your originals, which I really enjoyed; but the one you released recently was called “Turn Down”; what caught my eye is how you got loads of people involved in the artwork; where’s the inspiration for this? And what’s the story?

PAUL; So myself and my girlfriend really enjoy watching a TV program called Catfish on MTV where they help people meet who they have been talking to online. Sometimes they are the person they say they are but more often than not they are someone different and have told many lies.
In series 7 they had some guest co-hosts as one of the main hosts had decided to leave.
During one of the episodes the girl said to the co-host that the person they were talking to always knew what to say and made her feel needed. The co-host replied with something along the lines of “but if you turn down the volume what’s left?” This made me think a lot about past relationships, friendships and conversations I have had with others. When someone stops talking do their actions meet what they’ve been saying? Some people’s don’t. A couple of days after watching this episode I was sat playing my guitar, half trying to write a song when the thought from that show came to my head and I found the start of the hook
“Turn down the volume
There’s nothing left for me”
I then ended up writing the track from this.
It’s one of my favourite songs to date and I spent a lot of time trying to get the sound right. This was also the first song I spent a lot of time working on the mixing and mastering.
I then decided to get my friends involved and asked people to send me a picture of them with their finger over their mouth as if telling someone to be quiet. I added all the pictures I got together and made the cover for the single using this!

FRAZER; That’s quite a story Paul - I really like that - it’s important there are songwriters out there who still write outside the box. I’m also really glad you’ve now mastered the track; when we first played it, it was a little quiet! But I must say it sounds great now!

PAUL; Thanks, I listened to your feedback on some of my other stuff and wanted to make my music better quality. Luckily I seem to have got this one reasonably close first time.

FRAZER; So we’re going to wrap things up for soon, but quickly, what can we expect from you in 2020? A birdy told me a collab album is on the cards?

PAUL; Ahh yes, I’ve been trying to work on a collab album with some awesome musicians and friends. I’m being slightly selfish in hoping to pick up some tips and tricks around song writing. I’m also planning to work on a another album but I’ll possibly release them as individual songs and then the entire album when it’s ready. I love writing and releasing music so if I can find a way to get it to people’s ears quicker then bonus!

FRAZER; Thanks a lot for chatting with me mate, and I’ll see you at a gig some time soon!

PAUL; Thanks mate see you very soon!