Brandon Paris

Paris was born Richard Lee on November 11, 1971 in Winnipeg, Manitoba and was raised in a strict, middle-class household. His family is mixed-race; his mother was from Singapore and his father from Trinidad & Tobago. After his father's business failed, his parents moved to British Columbia, leaving Paris and his brother to live with their grandmother while they finished high school in Winnipeg. During high school, Paris began struggling with depression, a condition he attributed to early-childhood sexual abuse by a neighbor. However, he excelled at art and music and, by age 13, he had attained his black belt in Taekwondo.

After graduating from high school in 1989, Paris studied Criminology with the intent of becoming a police officer but dropped out of college to start a T-shirt company called "Express Clothing". He started selling T-shirts out of the trunk of his car and the business flourished, to the point where the line was carried by some of Canada's largest clothing companies, however Paris was unable to keep up with production requirements and the company folded in its third year. This, combined with a break-up with a long-time girlfriend, led to a suicide attempt; when he recovered, he decided to join his parents in British Columbia.

Paris' father had formed a multimedia company in Surrey and Brandon joined the company, spending the next seven years as a digital video editor and animator. As the company grew, the effects of over-work, anxiety and the onset of Type 2 diabetes caused him to turn to medication and illicit drugs. By 1998, he had become addicted to Methamphetamine and MDMA. This led to a deep depression, but depression helped him re-discover his love for music, and find his voice. He started writing songs and singing at parties, and the encouragement received from his audiences helped him beat his addiction. Also at this time, the Fitness World chain used Paris in its advertisements as a 'success story'. In 1998, he legally changed his name, choosing 'Brandon' because his idol, martial artist Bruce Lee, had named his son Brandon, and 'Paris' because it was more marketable than 'Lee'.

In 1999 Paris moved to Long Beach, California, with $7,000 cash and hopes of putting together a band. He took vocal lessons and educated himself on the music industry but was not successful at establishing himself. He ran out of money and illegally obtained a green card, but he was caught and deported back to Canada. While working at a Vancouver nightclub, he learned how to play the guitar, wrote songs, and took vocal lessons with Patricia Dahlquist. He started writing and performing his own songs and spent two years producing a self-financed album. This album did not meet with success but, in 2002, Paris was approached by bass player Dave Devindisch,[1] who asked if he would be interested in recording a demo. Paris and Devindisch formed a two-man band and spent a year playing at local venues. In 2003, they met the Jamaican singer-songwriter DaGriff,[2] who joined the band; he was followed by guitarist Greg Ellis and former Doug and the Slugs members, drummer Chris Murray Driver and keyboardist Marc Gladstone.[3]

In 2005, Paris approached Vancouver record producers Troy Samson of Hipjoint Productions[4] (Moka Only, Kreesha Turner, Snoop Dogg), and Jeff Dawson[5] (State of Shock, Kelly Rowland, Daniel Powter, Marcy Playground), to rework six of the original recordings. The newly-named Brandon Paris Band was ready to shop its debut album "On My Own".

In January 2006, Brandon Paris Band signed a deal with Koch Entertainment just days after sending out the album to record labels across Canada, with many offers following. The album's first single, "Rewind and Start Again", was released on March 13, 2006 and was a huge success on commercial radio, climbing to the top 20 on the Canadian CHR charts (tracked by Radio & Records (Billboard Information Group)).[6] The album's second single, "Somebody to Hold", peaked at No. 53 on CHR (tracked by Radio & Records(Billboard Information Group)). A month later, in an attempt to get better results, Koch Entertainment released a third single, "Give Me a Reason", but it was not enough to push the album further. However, in 2007, the band was nominated for Best New Group or Solo Artist (CHR) by the Canadian Radio Music Awards.[7]

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  On My Own, Debut Album, 2006

CD cover of Brandon Paris Band's second album.

In 2007, Ellis and Devindisch were replaced by Bryan Jasper on guitar and Brian Sanheim on bass, and Paris starting writing songs for the band's second album, "Pocket Full of Holes". On this album, lyrics on every song are written by Brandon with two songs ("Masquerade" and "Twisted") co-written with Dagriff, one song ("Don't Fade") co-written with Marc Gladstone, and one song ("Voice Inside My Head") co-written with the entire band. All music was written by Bryan Jasper, with additions and changes by the rest of the band, except for "Don't Fade", "Voice Inside My Head" and "Never Get Enough".

From left: Brian Sanheim (bass), Brandon Paris, Chris Murray Driver, Marc Gladstone, Bryan Jasper & Dagriff, February 8, 2008

Additional credits include Jeff Dawson, Sheldon Zaharko[8] (Salteens, Billy Talent, Smugglers, New Pornographers, Barney Bentall, Ridley Bent), and Joao Carvalho (Hedley, Alexisonfire, Protest the Hero, David Usher, Matthew Good, Holly McNarland).[9]

"Pocket Full of Holes" was independently released in Canada on December 1, 2008. The album's first single, "Say Goodbye", mixed by Mike Fraser (AC/DC; Hedley) and mastered by Adam Ayan[10] (Rolling Stones; Linkin Park), received airplay across Canada, including reporting stations, digital stations and satellite. Its accompanying video[11] was directed, shot and edited by Pars on a $4.00 budget, and was very well received.

• 2006: On My Own (October 3, 2006) Canada

Brandon's pop/rock/reggae band, Brandon Paris Band, was nominated for Best New Group (CHR) in 2007 by the Canadian Radio Music Awards.[7]