Paul Robert Thomas, Song Lyricist /Producer
PRS CAE 00497904008
My name is Paul Robert Thomas (a.k.a. Paul Thomas a.k.a. ‘Paul Lyricist’) & I am a song lyricist (try saying that after a few beers:) and producer! I was born & grew up in North London with Camden Town, Swiss Cottage, Primrose Hill & Regents Park as my playgrounds. I have some Welsh blood in me too as my mother & grand mother were from Wales.
My musical & lyrical roots are drawn from English Folk, American Folk & Blues, Christian/Gospel with influences from English nursery rhymes and church hymns.
I am always writing song lyrics and I believe that the act of creation, in this instance creating songs, is a gift from God!
I have worked with, worked for and met many famous people from The Queen to Presidents and I’m really not easily impressed by titles, what matters most is who you are, not what you are or what title you hide behind! I will consider working with any artist as long as they are honest, polite and considerate and can make good music (except any music that promotes violence and death). These are the main traits I look for in a song collaboration, and I work with artists from all over the globe irrespective of race, gender or religious views. I will only work with people who have manners and are looking to share 50/50, I detest and have no time for those many in the ‘music world’ who are looking to make a ‘fast buck’ on the back of someone else!
My main music site is at https://www.paullyrics.com where you can see examples of my song collaborations and work and also see details of official releases which include over 40 released albums to date.
I am an ‘Independent artist’ although I am attached to different record labels and publishers with previous releases but I am still classed as being an ‘Independent artist’.
I am on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/
on Bandcamp at https://lespaulsthepauls.
on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/
Twitter ‘X’ at https://twitter.com/
Thanks for agreeing to this interview Paul, it’s been a while since we spoke to you and it’s a chance to catch up
Paul: Yes it has been and quite a while, and a lot of water has flowed under the bridge since then
I heard a new song of yours playing called ‘Oh Babe’ that is one of the most catchiest songs that I’ve heard in a long time
Paul: Yeah, it’s a good song based on traditional music, and it’s one of a number, actually from about 40 new songs that I’ve recently released over 4 Country albums in the past months – ‘Country Girl’, ‘Country Boy’, ‘Another Country Boy’ and my latest called ‘Country Side’, that is my favorite.
We’ve interviewed you before, so why this sudden shift to Country music?
Paul: Well, everything comes full circle some say, Dylan did it and released his Country album Nashville Skyline in the darkest days at the height of the Vietnam War. I thought that now the time was right to try to bring some light, happiness, love and some tongue-in-cheek humour into this dark world, a dark world where our kids are being sucked into the black hole by the ‘wonders of the internet’ – watch ‘Adolescence’ on Netflix to try to understand the sea our kids are swimming in, and don’t forget the obvious – that our children are our future!
Can you tell us something about the recording process for your songs?
Paul: It’s much the same, I write the lyrics and then give them to someone else to compose and perform the music, although for these last 4 Country albums it was different as after the song’s music had been composed, a friend of mine that has many music connections would contact studios that had available musicians to call upon and they would record the songs
And you are shown as the producer?
Paul: Yeah, I would give specific instructions on how I wanted the songs to pan out and in some cases which artist I wanted the song to sound similar to, and then I would approve or disapprove the songs when they were finished and would then ask the studio to make changes here and there, these studios can do almost anything music-wise you know?
I’ve heard your name mentioned here and there by some artists that ‘you’re the guy to go to for lyrics-wise’ and that ‘you’ve worked with many known artists on songs’?
Paul: I don’t really talk about that kind of stuff, I mean I am bound to legal contracts and I don’t break secrecy clauses or whatever, I couldn’t afford to do so anyway
So what’s next song wise for you?
Paul: Well, I’m still writing as part of ‘Les Paul’s’ (The Paul’s) and we’re working on finishing off the 3rd album in the trilogy of The Chelsea Hotel series of albums that focuses on those famous artists that have stayed at the famous New York hotel down the years. It’s a way to eulogize many of them as they were a part of our lives, as this and future generations will not know who they were or appreciate the impact that some of them had on our lives, albeit that their music lives on. I somewhat despair when I hear that many of this younger generation have never heard of The Beatles let alone Janis Joplin or David Bowie, or even Bob Dylan, and he’s still alive and touring!
Thanks so much Paul and anything else you would like to add?
Paul: I’m trying to get as many of my lyrics turned into songs as my health is deteriorating as I suffer from Spinal Stenosis and I’ve got to do as much as I can while I am still able to.
I’m sorry to hear that Paul, is there anything alse?
Paul: Sure, that is if your readers aren’t familiar with the work I do then it’s all on my web-site at www.paullyrics.com, where beside the songs and music videos, they can find out about my meeting Andy Warhol, they can read the letters to me from the late great Robert Johnson’s grandson and from Buckingham Palace too, also about my project with Dylan’s unreleased lyrics and they can also read about my racial discrimination battle and court victory over the London police force, and much much more.
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