Interview: Paul Steel
Monday, June 9th, 2008
What does Todd Rundgren’s A True Wizard, A True Star, Prince’s Lovesexy, and Paul Steel’s April & I have in common?Glorious studio bombast. Song suites. Total record production mastery. All three albums are the sound of an artist at the top of his studio game.
Except Paul Steel’s album isn’t a pinnacle.
It’s a debut.
And it was recorded as a mostly one-man-band effort when he was eighteen years old.
His followup album, Moon Rock, is, for the moment, doing the unfortunate record company shuffle. But April & I — praised by such musical heavyweights as Sean O’Hagan, Van Dyke Parks, and Wondermints — is available now, and it recently found a home on iTunes.
In the following interview, this virtuoso of hyperactive overdubbed pop assures us that — despite having written lyrics to the contrary — he’s not on crack. It’s always good to clear that up. 
Jeff: What’s in your home studio?
Paul: It’s my bedroom, so a bed and a wardrobe! Got a desktop PC and monitors hooked up to a rack of preamps and FX. A MIDI keyboard and drum pads for programming. A percussion box full of bells, shakers, scrapers, whistles, and other useless nonsense. A Wagner U47 mic. I like to collect instruments, so I have a cupboard containing my banjo, ukulele, electric sitar, Quattro de Puerto Rico, mandolin, baby accordion, lap steel, and melodica. I keep my favourite guitar and bass with the monsters under the bed.
On the back of the “April & I” CD package is a note which says that there were additional vocals by “The Little Tiny Bill Symphonic Choir.” What is that?
A few years ago, when I had started recording the tracks for April & I, I was invited to a party at the other end of town. So I took my laptop and microphone along and recorded a gang vocal for a song called Honkin’ (On My Crackpipe). I recorded loads and loads of shouting, inhaling, and some crack-addicted Aberdonian slang.
After the party, at about 3am, a bunch of us headed up the road. One person was dressed as Spiderman and another had a guitar. We found an old alcoholic lady in the street who joined us and penned the Little Tiny Bill song with us. If you type in “Little Tiny Bill” in YouTube you might be able to find it somewhere. So the backing vocalists in Honkin’ (On My Crackpipe) ended up being the Little Tiny Bill Symphonic Choir.
Where did you get the idea to do such an (amazing) extended ending for “I Gave Her My Number?” (It’s one of my favorite endings to a pop song.)I was always knocked out by the coda to God Only Knows by Brian Wilson. I wanted to do something similar with interwoven counter melodies and stuff.
Why do you think you’re attracted to fantastical song subject matter instead of the autobiographical?
It’s a lot less specific. I can write about anything I want, and still put a lot of myself and my personality into it.
Do you ever see your songs becoming more autobiographical?
One day I would definitely like to. I think I want to live a bit more and find a way of translating my thoughts and emotions into standard music notation.
Has anyone expressed concern for your well-being after hearing “Honkin’ (On My Crackpipe)?”
Yes, my mother. Everyone asks, “Do you take crack then?” I say yes, but of course I don’t. I don’t know anyone who does either. It’s part of the story where “I” get corrupted. I am a little bit concerned that kids might listen to it and grow up to be addicts.
Well, frankly, that’s something which made me a bit hesitant about contacting you to do an interview! But then I figured, there’s no way you could’ve had the focus to make such an intricately-produced record by yourself if you were indeed a crackhead.
Ha ha, I am a fool to myself. I’ll leave the crack for my hardcore techno phase.
There’s still one lyric I still can’t make out on the song “April.” The words say something about “fear and regret” and “like the time my dad caught me trying on”… What is the whole line you’re singing there?
I can’t say without relistening to it, but it’s “like the time when my dad caught my trying on old womens clothing”… Don’t ask!
Do you think it’s possible to make a more extreme pop production than “April & I?” If so, is that a place you’d want to go?
Yes. Yes. I’m obsessed with a Japanese electro-pop artist, Cornelius. April & I’s production pales in comparison to the crazy shit he gets up to! He uses guitars and drum samples in a really insane and creative way that I’m certain could be applied to pop music in a tasteful way. It sounds like it takes a lot of work and attention to detail, though!
I would definitely like to explore more extreme production ideas and techniques, but I’m also keen to master more traditional styles. It’s all educational!
“April & I” leaves me with the impression that you must have an endless supply of ideas. Do you ever experience writer’s block? If so, how do you get past it?
I do get a lot of ideas and write a lot of songs, but I find it difficult to identify which ones are good and which ones are terrible. I’ve been on complete bummers for months just because of a lack of confidence. When I get any writer’s block, I turn into a bit of a workaholic and try to compensate by writing or recording lots of music. But I think it’s a lot more sensible to take break or try writing with other people. Try something different.
Could you rank these in order of importance, and explain your top and bottom choices? Arrangement, audio engineering, harmonic structure, lyrics, melody, production, rhythm, solos.
What have you been listening to lately?
Lots of sunshine pop bands like The Association, The Free Design, and Millennium. A friend of mine turned me onto Todd Rundgren’s A Wizard. A True Star and I can’t get enough of it… It’s insane.
Did you hear “A Wizard…” before you did “April & I?” Because I thought for sure you were making references to it, with the “Then she shot at me” sound effect and the arrow sounds in “Zen Archer.”
Weirdly enough, no. I was on the phone to a producer friend of mine, Charlie Francis, telling him what I was working on and that it was a continuous piece of music. He mentioned that album, and I bought it a few days after I finished April. I wish I had heard it beforehand cause Todd Rundgren used lots of different interesting ways of linking up the tracks that I would’ve liked to employ in my stuff. I’ve only really gotten into it recently. International Feel is one of my favourite tracks ever!
There isn’t a week that goes by that I forget to listen to The Beach Boys or The Super Furry Animals. My friend Ralph told me to “only study greatness,” so I don’t listen to the radio or watch any music television or anything. Most new music is written to be talked about, not listened to.
What’s next for Paul Steel?
I’ve just got out of the record deal that has been holding Moon Rock back for the last nine months, so we’re going to be making plans for the release of it soon. We’re getting a animated film made for April & I using ten different animators and filmmakers. It’s looking amazing so far.
That sounds terrific. What are you going to do with it?
I’m hoping it will get into film festivals. The guys making the film are doing things that I think will really blow peoples minds, and they’re all so different. We’re thinking about doing a re-release of April & I with a DVD and maybe a live performance… Maybe.
Anything else?
I’m playing bass for a Brighton band called Stars and Sons. I’ve just finished a song called Ocean that I wrote with Beach Boys collaborator Stephen Kalinich. It’s on my MySpace right now. I’m also doing a project with Nick Littlemore, out of Australian electro band Pnau. Of course, I’m still writing and recording and making plans for myself!
10 things that inspire Paul Steel