Born in Croydon in 1994, Gareth Paul grew up with a vocal talent that wouldn’t find external acknowledgment until his late teens. He became a dedicated swimmer, competing to a high level in London and eventually moving on to becoming a swimming teacher, something he was able to swiftly excel in. But it was his creativity that continued to permeate his mentality; raw and unfocused, his first attempt to channel it was through studying drama at high school and sixth form.
In 2012, aged 18, Gareth was introduced via his childhood friend Aron Dowdell (aka A.D.)to Tim ‘Latent’ Plant. At this point, Latent was working primarily with youth groups on his project ‘Latent Music Group’, aimed at providing young people with opportunities to experience making music and recording in studios. Aron knew of Gareth’s creativity and largely hidden singing aptitude, and also of Latent’s plans to gather a roster of talent to launch his record label. After one audition, welcoming Gareth into the fold was a no-brainer for Latent, and as Will-Powerz became involved via his friendship with Gareth, the course was set for the launch of Latent’s Records.
Between this period in late 2012 and the year that passed until the record label’s launch, Gareth spent a lot of time learning about songwriting and recording with Latent and Will-Powerz. With the latter he worked on several collaborations, some of which have now been released (such as ‘Only The Good’ and ‘Watching Me’). From Latent, Gareth began the process of selecting instrumentals from the producer’s large back catalogue to use for putting together a debut EP. From the record label’s launch in late 2013, work on what would become ‘Ladies and Gentlemen’ was well and truly underway.
Through his work with Latent and Will-Powerz, Gareth gained the experience to hone the skills required to write and record successfully. The majority of ‘Ladies and Gentlemen’ was written collaboratively with Will-Powerz (hence Will’s heavy presence as a featured artist throughout). Gareth learnt how to interpret an instrumental, how to relate his thoughts and experiences musically, and how to construct a song with the right balance of intelligent lyrics and emotional content. The culmination of these lessons thus far is the first single release from ‘Ladies and Gentlemen’ entitled ‘Live In Me’ – the first song to be written entirely by Gareth Paul. Soulful and poignant, the song is an emotional recollection of a dream that had a powerful impact on Gareth’s life, and has received fantastic responses from fans across social media outlets.
With the release date of ‘Ladies and Gentlemen’ set as September 28th 2014, Gareth is in the opening chapter of his time as a skilled and talented recording artist and songwriter. As Latent’s Records marches towards its bright horizons, Gareth is guaranteed to be an outstanding member of the parade, and the Croydon native is set to become a feature of the flourishing UK indie music revolution in the near future.
LINKS:
http://soundcloud.com/gareth-paul
http://twitter.com/gareth_paul1
http://www.latentsrecords.com
http://latentsrecords.bandcamp.com/
