2014 was a big year for singer/songwriter and Screaming Jets bassist, Paul Woseen. Not only did the Jets celebrate their 25thĀ Annivesary with a highly successful national tour but Paul also commenced a tour of his own, performing as a solo artist and released his first solo album, āBombidoā. Now, heās back again in 2015 and picking up that tour where he left off last year. I caught up with Paul recently to talk about the tour and the album. āThe tour has just restarted,ā he tells me. āAnd, so far, itās getting a good response from the audience. Thereās been a lot of interaction. I get a lot of banter and feedback from the crowd.ā
The album consists of both Screaming Jets songs and Paulās own original solo material. āThe Screaming Jets numbers are in their original format and the melody is predominantly the same but thereās a difference. Dave has his way of phrasing, you know. I produced the album myself and it was mixed and mastered by Scott Kingman (Jets guitarist) and recorded by Jim Blackfoot at Blackfoot Studios. Scotty mixed and mastered it and I wrote and played on it. Itās just me and my acoustic guitar.ā
Included on the album are some classic Screaming Jetsā songs, notably āHelping Handā, āFriend of MineāĀ and āOctober GreyāĀ all interpreted beautifully by Paul but the album also features some new material which is uniquely Paulās.
Paul says that the Screaming Jets 25thĀ Anniversary Tour was āawesomeā. āIt went really well. Lots of people came and we had a great response. It was just a good gig for everybody involved.ā Ā As one of the founding members of the Jets, he is justifiably proud of the bandās success and its longevity.
So, is he happier working as a solo artist or with the band?
āIām happy doing both,ā he replies. āAs long as Iām playing, thatās my happy place. Iāve done solo gigs pretty much my whole career anyway when Iām not playing with the band. Itās just something I do. But previously, I kept it pretty low key. I was just like the ādude in the pubā sort of guy but this time around, Iām telling everybody Iām doing it. Itās great. I get a mix of people that I see regularly at a Jets show and people that I havenāt seen before as well.ā
Paul is currently doing shows on the east coast and is booking more dates for February and March as we speak. And it seems that he will be kept pretty busy for the remainder of the year.
āThe loose plan,ā Paul reveals, āis that around the end of March, The Jets will go into the studio and record another album and then straight after that, I record another acoustic record of all new material. And then The Jets will do another tour as well⦠and then Iāll do another one.ā Sounds like the man never stops. Ā āIām no good when Iām not doing something,ā he admits.
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by Sharyn Hamey
Copyright © Sharyn Hamey 2015. All rights reserved
For more info on Paul’s ‘Bombido’ tour, clickĀ here
or visit Paul’s websiteĀ www.paulwoseen.com