Paul Carden – This Is War

Paul Carden, former frontman of one of Liam Gallagher’s favourite bands, The Black Velvets is back making music with his new band This Is War. He took time out from song writing to chat to me about this latest venture, how the band got together, and his appearance on The Voice.

Hi Paul, so let’s talk lockdown. How did you cope as such a creative person, did you have to look at news ways to stimulate your creativity?

‘’It didn’t really affect me, it was like a forced time when writers and poets go into the middle of nowhere to work, I kinda liked that and I got a lot of work done. A lot of work builds up you know, lots of different projects, so I was able to just sit back and make sure everything was perfect. The band itself though (This Is War) wasn’t formed at this point.’’

This Is War was formed in April, the album is already recorded so how has it been? It seems like quite the whirlwind! Did the members of the band know each other beforehand or are you all new coming together?

‘’Well I knew a couple of them and their background and stuff like that, but generally it was the first time of all meeting each other. Prior to that I’d been doing a lot of solo stuff and I’d been studying – I’m doing a Master’s Degree in Song Writing but then I got a call from the manager, Robbo (Stuart Robertson), asking if I was interested and saying come down. I jumped on it! I mean I haven’t played a gig for a long time as part of a band so I was really keen.

It was the Robbo that put the band together, he had been looking for a singer for ages; he had the rest of the band together but just hadn’t found a singer who was the right fit. He was round his friends and he was listening to The Black Velvets in the background and he was saying how he loved them and remembered them so his friend said well you are looking for a singer, why not get him? Now I’m really difficult to contact, I like to stay off-grid so it took him like three months to track me down and then that’s when he called me, so if it wasn’t his friend listening to The Black Velvets it may never have happened!

Were you keen to be part of a band again rather than a solo artist?

‘’Yeah, definitely. I suppose in a way it’s nice to have the company. You know to be able to bring a new song and listen to someone else’s views and get a different opinion. Obviously then I turn around and say my idea is correct (laughs).

Having been in Black Velvet how does this experience compare?

‘’I feel a lot more in control, I’m older and wiser and the band was just insane, like a mad whirlwind, we played three gigs and Alan Wills, The Corals manager, saw us play and literally from there we were signed to Universal Records in three months. It was quite difficult to adjust. With This Is War it’s more going along the right path, making sure everything is tight and everything is really well put-together. There’s a lot more wisdom behind this I suppose. We don’t have people choosing our clothes and making sure we wear the right stuff which is quite cool now that I am older.’’

You have toured with a lot of rock and roll royalty – were you able to learn much from that?

‘Well with The Who it was just insane – we weren’t actually signed at the point. I always remember our set list being next to The Who’s set list and it was just mad! Then half-way through the sound check, Roger Daltrey comes over and just starts watching us. He was right in front of me, staring right at me. No pressure! But back then I was showing off and that! I think that I would say the time between The Black Velvets and This Is War has been the biggest learning curve though really because you deal with the ups and downs and emotional stuff which all feeds in to being a songwriter. You know, when we were 21, what could we write about?

What made you decide to go and study and do your Master’s Degree?

‘’Well I’ve always wanted to perfect the art of being a songwriter; I’ve always had an ear for melodies and my favourite thing is to write songs and harmonise, more than playing, the song writing is the reason I’ve done this for so long. Once a song is written, I’m immediately on to the next one. I found that I didn’t have such a grasp of the lyrics, they didn’t come as easily to me as the rest of it so I thought I’d go and study it and see if I could learn something from the professionals and I did. It really did help, it was brilliant. I was exposed to all different styles of song writing, and studying in London is great for a musician, there’s always something going on.’’

Coming from Liverpool yourself, that seems to be the home of music rather than London?

‘’I mean I haven’t lived in Liverpool for a while, I’ve only just come back, I’ve moved around a bit so I feel as though I’m new to the City as well! I went into town and I was like, ‘where’s that shop gone, what’s happened to that pub?’ I didn’t recognise the streets so maybe I’ll write a song about that now I’m thinking about it!’’

Let’s talk about your time on The Voice – that seemed like a real curve ball to your career?

‘’I do tend to do random things without knowing I’m doing them! I got called up by my old A&R Manager at Vertigo Records. I was living with my mates at the time and I was sitting on my bed and the paint was falling from the ceiling – its mid-Summer and it’s snowing inside my bedroom! Anyway so he asked what I thought about doing The Voice and I just kinda looked around and thought you know I’m getting snowed on in the middle of Summer so why not? I mean I never thought that winning it would put me in a better position musically, it was literally just a case of why not?’’

How did you find the whole process of taking part?

‘’It was fun, it was a fun experience, the whole television thing was quite extreme, especially as it’s live TV, with the nerves and everything.’’

Do you get nervous before a performance?

‘’Yeah I always have, even now. I think that’s a good thing.’’

Moving on to This Is War, for anyone who hasn’t heard you yet, how would you describe the sound and who influences the band?

‘’Influences for us stem from the band Television, and we’re also trying to get some Talking Heads in there. I am only recently getting in Talking Heads, and I got into Television through the studying and as soon as I heard it I loved the sound – the Punk, American sound. I suppose there’s a bit of Stooges in there as well but then there’s the whole rock and roll element. It’s difficult to explain, we’ve got a song called ‘Exile Poet’, which has a Happy Mondays, kinda Manchester vibe to it. I wrote the lyrics for that while I was doing my Master’s Degree, it’s a bit of an homage to Bob Dylan who is a lyrical influence of mine. I like the combination of poppy tunes and deep meaningful lyrics.’’

What aspirations do you have for This Is War and how do you see the band progressing?

‘’I really want to tour again, I really miss touring, which sounds crazy ‘cos it’s sleeping in a tour bus but I sleep really well on the tour bus! It’s like sleeping in a coffin but a really comfy one! A tour is on the horizon but at the moment we’re doing all the background stuff and really enjoying writing songs and getting a back catalogue together. We’re experimenting with our sound, it’s definitely changing. It’s all about flexibility, as long as there is a core which connects all of the songs I think it’s good to experiment. We’ve got that solid musicianship which allows me as a writer to come up with different ideas. The Velvets was very much rock ‘n’ roll, kinda Glam Rock stuff, and I love that but we only did one album. I can’t imagine doing 3 ,4 ,5 albums like that. This is more up my street and I’m very proud of it.’’

Are you looking to continue your solo work alongside it or are all of your energies going into This Is War?

‘’I think that I’m meant to be in a band, it’s my happy place. We are always writing but we do have some gigs coming up – we’re playing Manchester on 12th November and then Liverpool in December. We’ve got half of the album recorded with Simon Jones from The Verve. Meeting him was really weird, I get nervous and even now I talk loads where I’m still nervous around him, I have to have a word with myself! So we just need to record the second half of the album now. We’re looking at releasing the new single just before Christmas. I’d love to write an actual Christmas song that wasn’t cheesy but I don’t think that’s possible.’’

You can catch This Is War live at R-Fest – https://g.co/kgs/LSndBE

Follow This Is War on Twitter: http://@thisiswartunes