Paul Draper

Paul Draper
Paul standing outside Abbey Road Studios
Background information
Birth name	Paul Edward Draper
Born	(1970-09-26) September 26, 1970 in Liverpool, England
Musician information
Genre(s)	Rock, Alternative, Britpop, Funk
Occupation(s)	Multi-talentless Musician, Rhythm/Lead Guitar, Record producer, Studio Engineer
Instrument(s)	Vocals, Guitar, Piano, Synthesizer, Keyboard, Programming, Bass Guitar, Drums, Mellotron
Years active	Grind 1991 (1991)–1991 Mansun 1995 (1995)–2003 Solo Career/Producer 2004 (2004)–Present
Label(s)	Sci-Fi Hi-Fi Parlophone EMI
Associated acts	Grind * The Anchoress * Spooky Action at a Distance
Notable instrument(s)
Rickenbacker 325, Fender Telecaster, Gibson Les Paul
Website(s)
Mansun Web-site http://www.mansun.co.uk Paul Draper Facebook http://www.facebook.com/pauldraperofficial Twitter https://twitter.com/PaulDraper Instagram https://instagram.com/pauldraper1970

Biography

Draper grew up on Garmoyle Road in Wavertree, Liverpool before moving with his family to Connah's Quay, Deeside, which Draper described as "the absolute nothing of Great Britain", adding "It's a horrible, horrible place. In Liverpool, if you're 15 and you pick up an acoustic guitar in school and play a song, then people would listen. But in my school when I tried to take in a guitar, I was just a poof and a queer, and that was that"

Early Days

Draper attended St Richard Gwyn Catholic High School, Flint and Thames Polytechnic (now University of Greenwich) where he formed Grind in 1991 with Steve Heaton and drummer Carlton Hibbert who regularly played around London and released one 12" single titled Thoughts/A Dying Man before splitting.

Musical Inspiration

• The Beatles and Paul McCartney
• Prince
• David Bowie

Paul stated in an interview with Louder Than War that his favourite top album of all time is Revolver by The Beatles.

	This is my Number 1 album of all time and again; it’s a coming together of stuff. For a start, it’s got 14 really short sharp tracks on it. It’s got a brilliant opening track in “Taxman” and a brilliant closing track in “Tomorrow Never Knows” – so a fantastic top and tail to the album and it’s just so varied
—Paul Draper Louder Than War

The Mansun Years

On 16 May 2006, Draper announced that he had been diagnosed with cancer during fourth album sessions at Rockfield Studios. After a blister appeared on his left hand middle finger that kept bleeding, Draper visited a local doctor who took a sample of tissue from the finger. He was informed that it was a malignant tumour known as a "Bowenoid Malignancy", and responded positively to five cycles of chemotherapy. However, he was unable to play for several months after the tumour was cut out and his finger swelled up following treatment

Life after Mansun

Paul has always been interested in the Studio Engineering side of things, so after Mansun disbanded he pursued a career as a Studio Engineer/Record Producer.

To date below is a list of Artists/Bands that Paul was collaborated, produced work worked with:

• 'Skin' from Skunk Anansie
• Catherine Anne Davies / The Anchoress
• Paul Oakenfold
• The Joy Formidable
• Menace Beach

Solo Projects

Paul had been working on his own solo projects either during and after Mansun, he shelved his solo project and removed himself on social networks in order to refocus and concentrate on his career as working as a Studio Engineer and Record Producer.

The Resurrection of his long awaited Solo album

In 2013 a facebook petition was created asking Paul to rethink his own solo project, it gained huge support in a small amount of time and this plus the letters and messages he recieved during a Menace Beach live session at the BBC, persuaded Paul to resurrect his solo works. For the full run down on Spooky Action check out the Spooky Action at a Distance dedicated page.

References

• Biographical information sourced from original wiki.org pages - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Draper_%28musician%29