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Paul Bonrud interviewed by Juha Harjula for melodic.net, August 2004
Whats your...
1. Favorite artist/band of all time?
Paul Bonrud: Journey
2. Favorite album of all time?
Paul Bonrud: Journey - Escape
3. Favorite song of all time?
Paul Bonrud: This is really tough and darn near impossible- how about Otis Redding "Sittin’ On The Dock Of the Bay". If I was picking a Journey song it might be "Stone In Love".
4. Favorite producer of all time?
Paul Bonrud: Keith Olsen of course! Besides Keith, I’d have to say Mutt Lang. I really love the Def Leppard albums he produced.
5. Favorite singer of all time?
Paul Bonrud: Steve Perry/Lou Gramm
If you had to choose...
1. One artist to do a duett with?
Paul Bonrud: Steve Perry but I’d just let him do the singing by himself. ;-)
2. One artist to write and/or produce a song for?
Paul Bonrud: Steve Perry - I think I’m seeing a trend forming here!
3. The studio or playing live
Paul Bonrud: I love them both equally. I’m an intensely creative person so maybe the studio but there’s nothing better than playing live and putting a smile on people’s faces.
4. To write a jingle for Coca Cola for 100.000$ or to do a charity gig for free
Paul Bonrud: I’d write the jingle for $100k so I could afford to play more charity gigs for free!
Just pick one
1. The 60s or the 80s
Paul Bonrud: 80’s
2. Number one on Billboard or a grammy
Paul Bonrud: Grammy
3. Vinyl or CD
Paul Bonrud: CD
4. Internet or Papermagazines
Paul Bonrud: Internet
5. Europe or USA
Paul Bonrud: USA
What do you think of...
1. Commercial radio-channells
Paul Bonrud: Way too homogenized - especially in the US. There are just a couple of companies with a monopoly on the industry and they are ruining radio and killing off musical diversity. Thank God for the internet. We’re in the middle of a huge music industry shake-down.
2. Major Record-labels
Paul Bonrud: They’re in trouble. They really missed the boat with Napster when they had a one-stop shopping spot. They should have capitalized on that and they would have successfully made the transition to a great internet music market. Apple’s new service is the right idea and Microsoft and other companies will be entering the industry soon as well. Unfortunately, there’s way too much free song swapping going on and the major labels were too late to change their business models so they’re in a real pickle. I think they can still turn it around if they charge a little less per download and a little less for their CD’s too. Price the stuff right and people will buy it. I personally prefer buying a tangible CD with the artwork and everything…maybe I’m old school but I really prefer that experience to downloading a song off the internet. Still, the internet is here to stay and all of the music industry needs to find a way to embrace it and profit from it…without ripping off the consumer.
3. Stylists
Paul Bonrud: Some people need them more than others. I might just be a person who needs one! LOL!!!
4. Promo-tours
Paul Bonrud: Promoting an album is very important. The internet helps a lot. For example, I’m able to answer these interview questions for Scandinavia while I’m at home in Washington State still dripping wet after having been diving in Puget Sound this afternoon (I saw an octopus too!) I’ve been doing phone interviews, email interviews, and radio interviews / shows for the past few weeks and will probably continue doing so for at least another month. I enjoy doing it since it helps people learn more about me and my art but I would much rather be playing my guitar and writing songs for the next Bonrud CD!
5. Being on tour for 5 months
Paul Bonrud: I love playing live but I am not a party animal and while I like to travel, I also like being at home with my dog and girlfriend. I’ve never been on a long tour but if I did, I’d want to have breaks in the middle of the tour so that I could return to some semblance of normalcy.
Please tell us a little about...
1. How you got signed
Paul Bonrud: I financed the entire CD myself and at first I wasn’t even thinking about signing with a record label. It wasn’t until after I started to work with Keith Olsen that I decided to pursue a label deal. I sent a 13 song CD off to a few record labels who I thought would do the best job promoting the material. I was immediately offered a record deal by several of them and in the end, I decided Serafino at Frontiers Records was the right choice.
2. How you like playing live
Paul Bonrud: I love playing live! I love making people happy and entertaining them. Playing live is all about the rush of instant gratification and the excitement of emotional energy.
3. How your latest album have been recieved
Paul Bonrud: While I’ve played on other people’s CDs, this is my first CD. So far it has been received very well.
4. your nearest plans
Paul Bonrud: Finish promoting the Bonrud CD and then get together with the guys and start developing some of my new songs. I have 6 songs currently in the writing phase.
5. your musical dreams
Paul Bonrud: I’m already living my dream but if I dared to wish for more, it would be for more people to hear my music and enjoy it. I also hope to be able to record many more CDs in the future. Music truly is my greatest passion.
and finally
1. please mention 5 cds that are spinning in the Cd-player for the moment
Paul Bonrud:
Nickelback "The Long Road"
Foreigner (anthology I believe)
The Darkness "Permission To Land"
Waltham "Permission To Build" (how do you like those similar album titles?)
and the new Mickey Thomas "Over The Edge" CD.
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