Paul Draper (musician)

Paul Draper grew up on Garmoyle Road in Wavertree, Liverpool before moving with his family to Connah's Quay, Deeside. Draper described it as "the absolute nothing of Great Britain", adding "Deeside is just the bit where the Welsh people really aren't Welsh because they were infiltrated by the English in the Fifties and Sixties. It's where everyone from Liverpool ended up. Basically, just after the war, Liverpool had 800,000 people; now it's got 390,000 people, and the missing 400,000 all live in Deeside. It's a horrible, horrible place. In Liverpool, if you're 15 and you pick up an acoustic guitar in school and play a song, then people would listen. But in my school when I tried to take in a guitar, I was just a poof and a queer, and that was that".[2]

Draper attended St Richard Gwyn Catholic High School, Flint and Thames Polytechnic (now University of Greenwich) where he formed Grind with Steve Heaton and drummer Carlton Hibbert[3][4] who regularly played around London and released one 12" single before splitting.

Draper returned home to study at Wrexham Art College before forming Mansun with bassist Stove King, and guitarist Dominic Chad.[5] The band signed to Parlophone and released three studio albums before splitting in 2003 whilst recording their fourth.

The band's debut album, Attack of the Grey Lantern, was released in the UK on 15 February 1997 and was released in Japan 9 days prior to the UK release with bonus tracks. The album spent a total of 19 weeks on the UK Albums Chart, peaking at number one.[6]

Mansun's second album, Six, was released in the UK in September 1998 and peaked at number 6.

Little Kix, Mansun's third album, was released in the UK in August 2000 and peaked at number 12.

In 2004, Draper compiled Mansun's aborted fourth album recordings for release in the Kleptomania box set.

On 16 May 2006, Draper announced that he had been diagnosed with cancer during fourth album sessions at Rockfield Studios. After a blister appeared on his left hand middle finger that kept bleeding, Draper visited a local doctor who took a sample of tissue from the finger. He was informed that it was a malignant tumour known as a "Bowenoid Malignancy", and responded positively to five cycles of chemotherapy. However, he was unable to play for several months after the tumour was cut out and his finger swelled up following treatment.[7][8][9]

29 August 2020 saw Kscope officially release The Dead Flowers Reject as a standalone Mansun album (previously only made available as a bootleg and later as part of the reissued Six deluxe 4-disc set). It was pressed as a limited edition 180g white vinyl for RSD 2020.[10]

As a young man, Draper cited The Beatles as his favourite band and referenced Abbey Road as an influence with the song structures of their 1969 album (in particular tracks like 'She's So Heavy') - "It wasn't standard verse chorus, verse chorus and that really interested me". He also listened to his sister's copy of Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon to which he affectionately described as "odd". Prince is his all time number one artist with Purple Rain being a particular favourite . "There is real elements of progressive rock in that" says Draper. Attack of the Grey Lantern and Six would later come to reflect these influences.[11] In 2018 he said "If you put my Dad's and my sisters' record collections together, well, I reckon that's how you get Mansun".[12] Further influential and favourites bands were revealed by Draper in an early 2019 interview with GuitarGuitar - "Abba, Prince, The Beatles, Bee Gees, Kate Bush, Motown, Bowie, Depeche Mode are up there as my faves but I like all good songwriters and musicians, I’ve got a wide taste. I really love Dolly Parton and a lot of old school country."[13]

In October 2005, "Alone in My Room", a single by Skin (Skunk Anansie), co-written and co-produced by Draper, was released; his first involvement in any musical project since Kleptomania.

He worked on a version of the 2006 Ibiza anthem "Exceeder" by the Dutch DJ Mason, which was uploaded to his MySpace page, and in 2009 produced and appeared on a track by The Joy Formidable, which was made available as a free download from the band's official website.

Draper performed a version of Mansun's "Wide Open Space" at London Astoria's last ever gig before it closed on 14 January 2009 with My Vitriol.[14] The two acts had toured together previously in 2000, along with King Adora.

In October 2013, Draper stated that he was considering releasing material from his abandoned unrecorded solo album Spooky Action at a Distance, which only existed in demo form, if there was enough interest.[15] After a petition was set up on Facebook,[16] he responded that he was going to give the idea of releasing solo material some "very serious consideration".

On 5 May 2014, the debut single "What Goes Around" by The Anchoress was released. A collaboration between Draper and singer-songwriter Catherine AD (Catherine Anne Davies), the duo have recorded an album's worth of material with Draper having co-written several of the songs and co-produced the whole album.[17] A follow up to the single is due for release on 20 October in the form of EP "One For Sorrow".[18] In 2017, Davies reciprocally co-wrote 5 tracks on Draper's solo album Spooky Action.[19]

Draper's first solo song "Feeling My Heart Run Slow" was premiered at a Mansun convention held at The Live Rooms in Chester on 23 August 2014. Recorded especially to play at the convention, Draper with the help of musicians from The Anchoress sessions, recorded five songs from his unrecorded solo album with a view to completing a whole album's worth.[20]

Draper announced his first solo single would be released via monthly subscription service 'The Too Pure Singles Club' in April 2016. It was announced that the official release of his EP One would be on Kscope on 10 June 2016.[21][22]

On 25 November 2016, Draper released EP Two featuring lead track "Friends Make The Worst Enemies", which was met with more praise - "A sprightly, electro-infused solo single" - NME, Tracks of the Week" ...a significant step back into the spotlight from a generally underappreciated talent." - Prog Magazine and "...an unmistakable voice and an ear for utterly addictive melody whatever the musical setting." - Louder Than War.[23] His full length album, Spooky Action, was released on 11 August 2017.[24] With huge fan support, the album was nominated for Album of the Year at the annual Progressive Music Awards.[25] Spooky Action emerged to rave reviews and Top 20 chart success with the response so strong that the singer/guitarist's label, Kscope, decided to embark on a major Mansun reissue campaign.[26]

EP Three was released as a digital download only on 16 March 2018 featuring a reworked single version of "Jealousy Is a Powerful Emotion" backed with acoustic versions of "Jealousy Is a Powerful Emotion" and "Things People Want". A Public Service Broadcasting remix of "Friends Make the Worst Enemies" completed the EP.

Ben Sink/ Paul Draper Band / Steven Wilson

Draper undertook his first sell-out UK solo tour in September 2017 including a triumphant headline show at London's Scala which was recorded for the Live at Scala album and subsequently released on 16 February 2018.[27] The gigs were Draper's first live shows since Mansun stopped touring in 2002 featuring tracks from his debut solo album Spooky Action, his solo EPs along with Mansun's Attack of the Grey Lantern and Little Kix.[28]

A second solo tour in February/March 2018 saw Draper ambitiously take on doubleheader style gigs in which he performed his solo material and after a short interval, a second set playing Mansun's debut album Attack of the Grey Lantern in its entirety.[29] The tour[30] was a huge success (even overcoming the chilling "Beast from fhe East" weather and an aborted performance in Nottingham for which Draper issued a press release apologising the following day).[31] The tour reached its conclusion in London in early March and set a blueprint for future planned "full band" doubleheader tours.

In April 2018, Draper toured the US as support to Steven Wilson, his first dates in the US since Mansun toured in 1997.[32] On 8 June 2018 to celebrate the 21st anniversary of the release of Attack of the Grey Lantern. Kscope released an anniversary deluxe edition. This included a 4-disc deluxe book with a specially written introduction from Draper and previously unheard rarities and outtakes that Draper compiled from the writing and recording sessions.[33] The album re-charted at #28 in the UK album chart.

Following the solo US tour supporting Steven Wilson; Draper toured the UK in November 2018, playing an acoustic set with guitarist Ben Sink. Kscope also announced a new vinyl release, Paul Draper - Attack of the Grey Lantern - Live at the Ritz, recorded in Manchester on 1 March 2018. The show was recorded by Ronnie Stone who produced the original Mansun debut album, and mixed by Paul "PDub" Walton.[34][35]

In January 2019, Draper with guitarist Ben Sink supported Steven Wilson on Wilson's headline French tour.[36] They also visited Japan and China for dates in Tokyo, Osaka, Guangdong, Beijing and Shanghai in March 2019.[37]

Draper & Sink also embarked on a short promo tour in March 2019 to support the deluxe reissue of Mansun's cult classic album Six, where they played a series of promo gigs in independent UK record stores. Fans were also treated to a meet and greet and given the opportunity to have memorabilia personally signed.

Paul Draper - Lead Vocals, Rhythm Guitar

Ben Sink - Lead Guitar (2017–present)

Beau Barnard - Bass Guitar (2017–present)

Jon Barnett[38] - Drums (2017–present)

Christina Hizon - Keyboards, Backing Vocals (2017)

Catherine Anne Davies - Keyboards, Vocals (2017)

March 2020 saw Draper invited to officially open Birmingham's newest live music venue, The Grey Lantern. Alan Barley and partner Karen Ansley decided on a career change with plans to showcase up and coming musicians.[39]

As a firm supporter of grassroots music, Draper said "I'm genuinely gobsmacked about this but it's a real honour that I’ve been invited and I'm going to officially open Birmingham's newest grassroots Live Music Venue ‘The Grey Lantern’ named after Mansun album Attack Of The Grey Lantern. What an honour!"[40]

Draper is currently working on the follow-up to Spooky Action entitled Cult Leader Tactics, due for release in 2021. Draper has also revealed to his fans via the social media app Instagram that he is working on a future release of Mansun's 1998 concert at the Brixton Academy.

It is now confirmed this concert has been painstakingly restored for sound and picture quality and will be released via Kscope as a highlight to the ultimate Mansun box set Closed for Business due out in November 2020.[41]

In an exclusive interview with Italian music magazine OndaRock, Draper discusses Cult Leader Tactics in more depth and future tour plans currently on hold due to COVID-19.[42]