Rock Cub 40 chats with PAUL WOSEEN (Screaming Jets)

2014 was a big year for singer/songwriter and Screaming Jets bassist, Paul Woseen. Not only did the Jets celebrate their 25^th 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, ‘Bombido’. Now, he’s 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. “The tour has just restarted,” he tells me. “And, so far, it’s getting a good response from the audience. There’s been a lot of interaction. I get a lot of banter and feedback from the crowd.”

The album consists of both Screaming Jets songs and Paul’s own original solo material. “The Screaming Jets numbers are in their original format and the melody is predominantly the same but there’s 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. It’s just me and my acoustic guitar.”

Included on the album are some classic Screaming Jets’ songs, notably ‘Helping Hand’, ‘Friend of Mine’ and ‘October Grey’ all interpreted beautifully by Paul but the album also features some new material which is uniquely Paul’s.

Paul says that the Screaming Jets 25^th Anniversary Tour was ‘awesome’. “It went really well. Lots of people came and we had a great response. It was just a good gig for everybody involved.”  As one of the founding members of the Jets, he is justifiably proud of the band’s success and its longevity.

So, is he happier working as a solo artist or with the band?

“I’m happy doing both,” he replies. “As long as I’m playing, that’s my happy place. I’ve done solo gigs pretty much my whole career anyway when I’m not playing with the band. It’s just something I do. But previously, I kept it pretty low key. I was just like the ‘dude in the pub’ sort of guy but this time around, I’m telling everybody I’m doing it. It’s great. I get a mix of people that I see regularly at a Jets show and people that I haven’t seen before as well.”

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.

“The loose plan,” Paul reveals, “is 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 I’ll do another one.” Sounds like the man never stops.  “I’m no good when I’m not doing something,” he admits.

by Sharyn Hamey

Copyright © Sharyn Hamey 2015. All rights reserved

For more info on Paul’s ‘Bombido’ tour, click here

or visit Paul’s website www.paulwoseen.com