Paul Weller
Paul Weller
John William "Paul" Weller, Jr.is an English singer, songwriter and musician. Weller achieved fame with the punk rock/new wave/mod revival band The Jam. He had further success with the blue-eyed soul music of The Style Council, before establishing himself as a solo artist in 1991...
NationalityEnglish
ProfessionMusician
Date of Birth25 May 1958
council further jam less obviously pick playing
In the '90s, I think I rediscovered my guitar. The Jam was obviously very guitar-based, but in the Style Council I just got really disillusioned with playing the guitar. The further it went on, the less and less I played, to a point where I couldn't pick it up any more.
evaporates facet side
There is a shy side to me that evaporates when I play on stage, and I like that. I think it's another facet of my character, and I need to do that.
fully people sensitive side station though tube written
I've always had self-belief, though my sensitive side has never been fully appreciated. For every 'Down in the Tube Station at Midnight,' I've written an 'English Rose.' People forget.
above authors body flash great ideas incredibly leave means music painters pop supposed wanna work
When I'm dead, I wanna leave a body of work, like authors or great painters do. I don't wanna get ideas above my station, but why shouldn't this be comparable? Pop music was supposed to be a flash in the pan, but here we are 50 years later, and it means something to us, and it always will do. It's incredibly important.
bit course keel relevant until
Of course I'm proud of what I've done, but I'm interested in what's next. I want to be relevant now, in 2012. I've done my bit for the past. I've only ever been about what's next, really, and I'll be that way until I keel over.
gets looking time work
There was a time in my 40s where I thought, oh, it's all over - not just work, but I'm never going to feel young again, I'm always going to feel like I know what's going to happen, I'll know what to expect. Looking back I don't know if that was a midlife crisis, I don't know - but I don't feel that now. There's possibilities. It gets better.
dressed hang kid nice time
I come from a time when every kid dressed up. Everybody. If you didn't, you wouldn't be able to hang out. It was very tribal. There's nice things in that. It's culture; it's roots for me.
album bit course finished taken time
I hear an album so many times during the course of making it that when I've just finished it, I don't want to hear it again. After you've taken a little bit of time away from it, you can come back to it, which can be scary. I'm happy with 'Sonik Kicks,' man.
few john kept
I kept the first Rickenbacker I ever got, a little short-scale John Lennon-type model. And I've got a couple of 12-string models, which are really nice, and I've got a Pete Townshend model, which Pete gave me a few years ago. But that's about it.
aspects came far felt music positive stardom time
There were aspects of stardom I didn't like, which were of no consequence, really, but the positive things far outweighed the negative. By the time I came to write 'Setting Sons,' I felt my writing was more like prose, set to music.
afford africa blow death million starving stop technology weaponry
We can't stop a baby in Africa from starving to death... but we can afford enough technology and weaponry to blow the world up a million times over.
attached
I am aware of the words 'national treasure' being attached to me occasionally. It just makes me feel old.
alone imagine music playing time
I didn't imagine getting to 50, let alone still be playing music. When I was 18, I thought it'd all be over by the time I was 21.
course great passes
Getting to No. 1 makes everyone feel better; of course it does. But it's swings and roundabouts with these things. Sometimes you make a great record, and it clicks with people. And other times it passes them by; there's nothing you can do. It's still the same record.