Ok so the bio hasn’t been updated in about 2 years now and so much has happened since. The professionals will tell you that the worst thing you can do is write your own bio. I’m hoping that the years I’ve spent in music journalism will pay off and save the day but it’s probably best that I at least get you to proof-read this puppy before I send it off to the press.
Without further adieu, please let me know what you think and post a comment on my website;
THE NEW BIO
There is some debate over when Christien Paul first discovered his love for music. His father would say “He was crawling into my cabinet where I kept my harmonicas and blow melodies at the age of two…” whereas his Mother would say “He was banging on my piano as soon as he could reach the piano keys, just a few months before his fourth birthday.”
Needless to say, Christien was blessed with a home of music enthusiasts and had acquire a room full of band gear by the time he had reached high school. It was during these golden years that Christien grew as a frontman in a band called notwithstanding (nws) sharing the stage with such bands as Alexisonfire, Wheels On The Bus, The Fullblast and many other Canadian rock bands.
CP said: “I remember reading the thank you notes on the liner notes of the first official Alexisonfire release; NWS (RIP). It killed me, I thought my days of writing were over. The band (nws) wasn’t working out and I had never performed without a band. I had already been through two very promising bands with ties to with Sum 41 and Not By Choice… it was happening all over again so I decided to quit being an artist and became a producer.”
Throughout his college years studying Business Management Christien started a recording company called Nautical Progressions producing demos, epk videos, and websites for independent artists. In his final year he was hired as a score composer for a student film entitled “Wooditis” winning “Best Film” at the U of T film awards. The theme song was called “Indigo Children” written as an instrumental on piano with electronic drums and a string section.
Having established himself as a composer, Christien was later hired to compose music for TV Commercials such as the MUCK Film festival hosted by the Royal Alexandre Theater and the Mixed Martial Arts Expo presented by the Fight Network. After Runnymede had still not come to fruition but Christien was still in fact writing music.
After graduation, Christien launched EPKhosting.com, an accredited music blog covering independent artists in a live concert setting with candid interviews as EPK videos. This was where Christien found his inspiration for his return to the stage, while he was filming Canada’s best performers. Christien explains, “As a music journalist I was able to meet just about anyone I wanted and I studied the best of the best. Like Bruce Lee, I adopted elements of the arts/artists that inspired me and began making my own blend. But it wasn’t until I had my heart broken that I really began to write lyrics again.”
In the summer of 2008 Christien lost his first love and coped with the pain of the break-up by writing love letters in the form of songs. The first three songs recorded were Do You, Cuba and I Am Ready. They were posted online and within a few weeks Christien was back on stage and before he knew it, he was booked to perform at Canadian Music Week, Canada’s biggest music festival. After performing at Canadian Music Week Christien managed to book himself a tour across France and Holland for a total of 22 performances in 32 days.
Christien explains, “A friend of mine recommended I go back-packing through Europe as a member of CouchSurfing.com which is a community of travellers that put each other up for the night. The expectation is that you’ll return the favour when they come to your town. To find gigs I surfed through MySpace to find artists I could open for in the cities I wanted to play. If I landed a gig I would then search CouchSurfing.com for a place to stay in that area. Everything was going as planned which scared me all the more… I ended up tattooing the kangi character for “courage” on the inside of my leg to commit myself to going through with it.”
Only 100 copies of a 5 song EP were made for the tour featuring two songs which were later dropped “The Veil” and “Forgive”. During the tour Christien wrote 3 more songs, the first of which was Remember Me in Caen, Normandie France. Minou was written while alone in Paris and Maybe was written in Amsterdam the night before Christien’s interview on the morning show at Amsterdam FM. “I never fell asleep that night… I was on a cot in a dorm hallway right in front of the washroom. It’s no wonder I feel like falling asleep every time I hear that song.” says Christien.
Upon his return to Canada, Christien was ready to record his debut album entitled Standing Still but knew that this time he’d need some help. So with the relationship he had established through Canadian Music Week, Christien found Metalworks Studios and met Lake Curry. Together, the album was produced over the course of a year and released in the fall of 2011.
“This album is a chapter of my life, a chapter that was 6 years long with my first love. They say it takes half the length of time of the relationship to get over it, so I spent 3 years producing this record. Throughout the relationship I felt stuck, like I was standing still watching my peers pass me by in flying colours. In the first 6 months of our breakup I’d say I’ve accomplished more with my music than the previous 6 years. I remember watching an interview with Marylin Manson and he said this “the world’s greatest music comes from a dark place”. These songs are composed what I would like to think of as letters to this girl… a girl for which I was standing still.”
