|
31st
January, 2005
WES
JAY
The
Rock Across Australia.com
Paul
Colman sits on the balcony of his suite at Woodlands Manor
in Melbourne.
With a halo of bright sunshine blurring his profile, the image
of this enigmatic Christian “pop star” seems perfect.
That is, until he makes a comment about the local weather.
But contrasts are part of Paul Colman. There’s aloofness
and directness. Shyness and contemplation. There’s posing
when the camera is clicking and slinking back into the lounge
when it isn’t.
He asks his publicist what interviews are scheduled for the
day. He has a radio and a magazine interview to do.
“Oh good, that’s easy,” Paul says putting
on an announcer’s voice. “What’s your favorite
color? What’s life like for you after pc3?” He
lifts his eyes to the ceiling. “Why doesn’t anyone
ask me rhetorical questions anymore?”
Paul’s playing out the ‘pop star’ role.
He is known not to be tolerant of interviewers who ask banal
questions. He likes to be acknowledged for his intelligence.
“File them in,” he says jokingly.
As the founder and front man of the Grammy-nominated Paul
Colman Trio pursues a solo career, Paul is preparing for his
Australian tour in February 2005.
The last time he toured Australia with the trio in 2004, the
group was winding up its world tour amid a flurry of headlines
that it was splitting up. Fans couldn’t believe it.
Journalists were granted interviews for strict 10 minutes
a time.
This time around, Colman seems relaxed and prepared to have
long chats over cups of coffee. He prefers a low key approach
anyway.
“I don’t subscribe to the idea that you have to
live in a cocoon. I don’t wear sunglasses. I don’t
have a bodyguard. I live a very normal life with a wife and
two children,” Colman says.
But living a ‘normal’ life is what pushed this
son of a preacher and stage singer to pursue ambitious musical
goals. Goals that would see this former school teacher and
his band burst onto the American scene in a big way as the
opening act for Third Day's Come Together Tour and
land a pair of number one radio hits while garnering both
fan and critical acclaim.
While the band is no longer touring together, Colman isn't
letting any grass grow under his feet.
2005 sees Colman release two solo albums.
The first, Let It Go, is his debut solo project for
Inpop Records. It features his current radio hit Gloria
(All God’s Children) which he co-wrote with Peter
Furler (Newsboys), James Ingram and Reuben Morgan (Hillsong).
The other is an acoustic independent album One Voice One
Guitar Vol. 2. This will be available throughout his
Australian and New Zealand tour.
Paul says his new songs are coming from a different place
than they ever have before.
“God has really been humbling me. He says, ‘Look,
I love you. I gave you the gifts you have, but don't you think
for a minute that those gifts make you anything special. They
are just a gift and a gift is something you don't deserve.
You just get it.'
“So I'm just trying to love God and love people as best
as I can. I'm trying to let the art come from that and not
let the art be the focus. I'm not sure I've really done that
before. I feel like I've been a guy who has used my gift to
manipulate and control rather than just to serve. So this
is a good time for me.
“It sounds cliché, and I've always tried to avoid
clichés, but I'm just trying to trust in God."
You can catch Paul Colman in concert throughout Australia
and New Zealand in February. For tour dates, visit
www.paulcolman.com/austour.htm
|
