Musician Paul hopes to be ‘Next Brit Thing’

Nineteen-year-old Paul will be amongst 13 lucky finalists from across Great Britain and Northern Ireland who will perform and compete to be crowned Next BRIT Thing in front of an audience of thousands at the final event on Monday 5th March 2012 at the IndigO2 in Greenwich, London.

Launched in Summer 2011, Next BRIT Thing - www.nextbritthing.com - looked for young musicians in any genre to share their performances, compete in online charts and perform live. Next BRIT Thing offers young people the opportunity to engage with the music industry, develop their music talent and enjoy the shared experience of being part of a national event.

There are three awards up for grabs – General (covering Pop, Rock, Urban, Folk and Jazz), Classical and an additional award for Composition sponsored by PRS for Music.

Next BRIT Thing has been organised by the BPI, with the support of the record industry and the sponsorship of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and the Department for Education. It has brought together all elements of the industry including artists, labels, industry bodies including the Performing Rights Society and the Music Industries Association and sponsors, Peavey and Roland.

The finalists will represent their region at the national final to be held at the IndigO2 in London on Monday 5th March 2012, where a session at Abbey Road recording studios awaits the winner, with a performance at the Royal Albert Hall for the winner of the classical section. In addition, winners will share £10,000 of instruments from Roland UK.

The last 12 months have seen Paul come from nowhere, to end up almost everywhere. Fuelled by generous radio play and lots of live performances, his popularity has grown.

His dynamic live show, usually as an energetic three piece, was aptly described by one BBC music journalist as “piano pounding intensity and softly tinkling melancholia”.

The highlight of his 2010 live circuit was supporting one of his first musical inspirations, Duke Special, at a low key show in Belfast. The following day Paul played at Glasgowbury Festival 2010.

His original, melodic piano led songs have been heavily featured on BBC Radio 1 ‘Introducing’ Northern Ireland and BBC Radio Ulster ‘Across The Line’ program. In addition Paul recorded several sessions for radio broadcast and made his television debut in November for BBC 2 Northern Ireland program ‘Blas Ceoil’.

Now, searching for a larger sound Paul has started a band under the name Hologram with more details coming soon.