THIS WEEK:PAUL MOSLEY

Paul Mosley is a musician/composer & so much more based in London, Leeds and Hartlepool.

I first heard Paul’s new album ‘ A Chattering of Birds‘ a few weeks ago and was instantly smitten.It is truly a fantastic album & is full of glorious songs,I haven’t liked an album as much as this one in ages-Folkwit Records are on a mega roll atm,delivering some of the best folk/alt/pop music coming out of anywhere-period!

The world is full of delightful differing opinions on music (thank God) and my own opinion is that this album is at a Mercury prize level-there I said it,put that in your pipe and smoke it hehe.

I don’t think I’m alone by any means in seeing the work of Paul Mosley as very special indeed.

Though I have found great solace in variants of Folk & Americana in recent years since I first discovered Sufjan Stevens through THIS and the album from whence THIS came,it wasn’t always so.Music that had a lightness of touch with classical & folk elements mixed together would have once upon a time had me running for the hills,not so the work of Mr Mosley,which causes me now to go running at pace to hit play again & again (and again,for good measure you understand;).

A Chattering of Birds is alive with warm & toasty melody,brilliant & subtle instrumentation,gentle & poignant lyrics & at the centre of it all is Paul’s voice-and what a rich soulful voice.

Yes,there are echoes of the paths taken by Nick Drake,Andrew Bird and for me-Robert Palmer but it still has the very handy ability of sounding 100% Paul Mosley.

Put this album on in the car and I defy you to NOT become a calmer driver or passenger,all of a sudden there is no need to remonstrate with that idiot cutting you up on the roundabout or that fool overtaking you on the inside lane-the world suddenly becomes a stress free environment.

Aside from delivering recorded music Paul is also the composer in residence at The Carriage Work Theatre.

Paul’s Upcoming UK shows:-

July 4th: LONDON Thursday July 4th at St Pancras Old Church

July 17th: SCOOP FESTIVAL London Southbank

August 3rd : SCHNAPPS HOUSE Festival London

August 15th – 18th: GREENMAN FESTIVAL ‘Einsteins Garden’

Full details nearer the time at www.paulmosley.com

I cannot urge you enough to go and check out this man & his music at the earliest opportunity.

Ladies & Gentlemen,may I welcome you to Prick and Ding 50 and to the very special individual named Paul Mosley

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1.What are you up to at the moment?
Sorting through orders for my album and eating a very nice posh Soho kebab thing.

2. Favourite childhood memory?
Probably drawing or writing stories. I didn’t really get my head fully into music until 18+ and it all changed then. I was a bit of a  rubbish kid, I much prefer being a grown up.

3. Hero?
Asterix, or Oliver Postgate.

4. Villain?
I was vaguely scared of most things but I just remembered now being proper terrified of this book called ‘Communion’ in Seaton Carew library. It was about Alien abduction and had those classic skinny body, big head, almond eyes aliens on it. Just the sight of it made me nervous, I ended up never going back to that library and having to join the West Hartlepool one instead because of that bloody book – I was a very brave child obviously. Like Asterix.

5. What/who makes you laugh?
I’m quite jolly so lots of things but this week I have mostly been laughing at Old Jews Telling Jokes. That’s a Television program not just me going around being overly familiar with strangers on busses.

6. Describe what you do?
I do music I do. I make records and play gigs and write songs and sing them and I write scores for theatre and I sometimes produce other people records too. I love it, it’s great. On a different day I might have gone down that ‘It’s actually really tricky and a working musicians life is not what you might think’ type route to answer that but the sun is shining, people are ordering my album and I have a kebab so today it’s all great.

7. Who’s hair would you like to have for just one day?
I’m not sure I’d really feel much benefit from a one day hair swap but if I could keep it I’d have Richard Beckinsale’s hair from Rising Damp. I tired to have it when I was younger but I don’t have that natural kink.

8. Best musical experience to date
The thing I like best about doing music is not thinking about it, that ‘being in the moment’ thing. And sometimes that turns up in even otherwise fairly underwhelming gigs, so little moments lke that are my favourite bits. But my favourite experience of enjoying somebody else was probably – and this suprised me, I’m quite poppy usually – Dweezil Zappa & band doing ‘Zappa plays Zappa’ at the Roundhouse. Bloody amazing complex music that  still sounded and felt fantastic.

9. What artist inspires you?
Probably Nina Simone. I’ll never be anything like her but to strive for that level of skill and direct emotional clout has got to be a good thing.

10. What does Fresh On The Net mean to you?
Is it some kind of online greengrocers? … As an outsider artist I’m really grateful that it’s there giving that nod of encouragement to the people making good and interesting music. That boost can be enormously encouraging and makes a big difference to the artists who might feel like they are working towards nothing. Also the internet is quite large so it’s brilliant that somebody takes on the challenge of sifting through what’s out there and championing the good stuff.