Paul Kendall

The Space Age

Born in 1954, falling between the two moments of hippy and punk found himself stuck firmly in glam. The early years were informed by the space race and the otherworldly sound of joe meek. Never really a musician it was always the tape-recorder that held the allure. The ability to transform sound was more pleasureable than creating music except for an occasioanl flurry of cracked notes from a saxophone. In 1973 York University gave the opportunity to experiment with the VCS3 synth and tape manipulation. This illuminating period was tragically short as maths’ students were expected to produce solutions to problems and not create sonic wastelands. The 9 months of York were sufficient however to realise where the future could eventually lie. Returning to London a regular job was the only possibility for a working class boy. There followed nine and one half years in Barclays Bank. Always a square peg in the round hole of oblivion in the banking industry it did however provide a stable background to follow forays into music, cinema and theatre. Eventually with 2 friends they set up a small demo recording studio in Covent Garden which would give much needed first hand experience of recording techniques.

The Mute Years

With the death of his mother in 1984 the possibility of leaving Barclays became a reality and coincided with the first affordable multitrack recorders. A home 16 track studio was set up, and with the nascent MIDI in place, composition could again be considered. During this period his first wife had become a member of Fad Gadget so an introduction was made with Daniel Miller, head of Mute Records. This led to working for Daniel in his newly established Worldwide International studio and the start of a long collaboration with many of the Mute artists, Renegade Soundwave, I Start Counting, Barry Adamson, Nitzer Ebb, Wire, Depeche Mode, and eventually Recoil. A swift learning period coincided with the expansion of Mute which would start a series of associated labels, most notably Blast First, giving exposure to artists such as Sonic Youth, Big Black and Butthole Surfers.

The Digital Age

Christmas 1990 saw the single most important event since the use of the first multitrack, he acquired his first Apple Mac computer and Sound Designer software from Digidesign. certainly one of the first people in the UK to use this digital system it opened up endless possibilities of ordering and controlling sound and set the die for the future.

Paul Kendall set up The Parallel Series, a sub-label of Mute. The four Parallel Series releases were:

Then in 2003, another Parallel Series was released through French label Ici, d'ailleurs... and their electronic division 0101

On Returning

Kendall returned to England in 2007 after 5 years in Paris. This coincided with the release of Recoil's 'subHuman' and Kendall was to work closely with Alan Wilder in the preparation of 'Selected' leading to his first experience of touring. "A Strange Hour" with Alan and Paul was presented throughout Europe, Russia, North, Central, and South America between February 2010 to November 2011.

Sussex Releases

Oratory

Pro Tools lectures for students of Gateway School of Music at Mute Studio
Member of jury for Qwartz Electronic Music Awards 2004
Music industry lecture at University of San Francisco with Professor Andrew Goodwin 2010
Various Q&A with Alan Wilder of Recoil during the 'Selected' Tour in Lodz, Manchester, Berlin 2011
Paul Kendall shows us his 10 favourite studio tools