Bio
Quirky Singer/ Songwriter Paolo Nutini was spotted by the major label, Atlantic records shortly after moving to London in 2005 aged 18. He dropped out of school aged 16 to tour with his friends band where he was playing as a support act and as their roadie. He began to chase a career in the music industry soon after this and was soon snatched up by his label with Atlantic records, http://www.atlanticrecords.com/paolonutini . He admits that he wasn’t entirely ready for what lay ahead at the time, “The first album there was a lot of angst. I was very naive. I thought I was on top of the whole thing but I really didn’t know what I was getting into.” His style has changed dramatically from his first album ‘These streets’, which was much more mellow and acoustic. His new album ‘Sunny Side Up’ with his band The Vipers, which was release on June 1st this year was a massive shock to his fans, as it’s another world away from his last album, it’s an eclectic mix of upbeat feel good music. "Musically where I'm at, I don't really have a genre or style that I feel a part of," explains Paolo. "I skip from Djhango Reinhart to Cab Calloway to Canned Heat. It's a bit of a random mish mash. I honestly wanted it all to come out, and not harness it, not manipulate it. I just wanted it to be organic.” He’s also been supporting Led Zeppelin on tour and has expressed how he wants Jimmy Page to produce his next album quoted saying, "You have all these people on your wish-list, and Jimmy Page is definitely on mine, getting someone that’s enthusiastic about your music is the main thing. It’s better to have someone like that produce your record than the trendy hit makers."
Paolo ‘s music has evolved somewhat with ‘Sunny Side Up’ it shows off an old soul within him, and how versatile he is as an artist. Just from looking at the album artworks you can see that a massive difference in character.
Out with the old and in with the new...
Paolo‘s music has evolved somewhat with ‘Sunny Side Up’ it shows off an old soul within him. He credits his grandfather for this who was desperate for Paolo to follow his talent for music, rather than a career as a footballer. Nutini’ influences include David Bowie, Damien Rice, Oasis, The Beatles, U2, Pink Floyd and Fleetwood Mac. He was also exposed to classic R&B stars like the Drifters and Ray Charles via his dad and an auntie's record collection, and this is all part of how and why he is as versatile an artist as he is. Just from looking at the album artworks you can see that a massive difference in character. The artwork from his ‘These Streets’ is smart, clean cut and introducing Paolo to the public. But through his new album he’s written more music from the heart which tell stories, and his many influences have shone through. His new musical style is much more vibrant and the album artwork seems to depict how he’s evolving as an artist. He’s changed and rearranged many aspects with his album and I feel it packs more fun into it, he no longer seems to be just making music, he seems like he’s enjoying it too! The Album cover is full of little parts of his album, whether they refer to lyrics or down the two fried eggs which are ‘sunny side up’. One of my favourite tracks from the album is ‘Pencil full of lead’, it’s such a carefree, optimistic, happy – go- lucky song as the lyrics show ‘ Two pairs of socks/ And a door with a lock/ I've got food in my belly and a/License for my telly/ and nothin's gonna bring me down’. The video’s fun and cheeky, with Paolo been played by a very cheeky plasticine character of himself. Although his music has progressed somewhat, his image has remained pretty much the same, he still sports jeans with a t-shirt and open shirt over the top the occasional leather jacket. It’s a relaxed look that suits him very well it gives off the persona that he’s content and comfortable with himself. I think this is good, because although his music’s changed direction, he’s not tried to change and fit in to the stereotypical genre dress code. He’s a singer/songwriter who seems to have flourished after the large number of female singer/songwriters all came on the scene a few years ago. Finding talent like this is rare, it’s often the case that people are either really good songwriters who sell their music for others to sing, or they have play and perform really well but get writers in so that they have some good material. Paolo’s music helps make people realise that his music is real and doesn’t need all the gimmicks that a lot of pop music uses nowadays.
Media & Marketing
The Promotion on his new album has been publicised through different medias, he’s released 3 tracks from ‘Sunny side up’ so far, These have been Coming up easy, Candy and Pencil full of lead.Candy was released on May 18th making it onto radio one’s C list and radio twos A list, and it peaked at number 19 in the charts, he’s having much more success with his new single ‘Pencil full of lead’ which has peaked at number 2. Overall the album is doing well it even knocked Eminem’s comeback album ‘Relapse’ of the top spot in the UK album charts. He’s made appearances on Radio one’s live lounge and Children in Need further to the success he’s had and is continuing to have with the new album in the UK. Things didn’t go as well with his tour in the US as they did with his debut album in the states. Paolo believes this has a great deal to do with lack of promotion the album received this time, blaming it on the recession as labels cut back their expenditure. Nutini’s press release from Atlantic reveals that his single ‘Candy’ was to precede the new album and would be played for the first time at Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival in Indio, California on April 18th 2009, where he was supported by fellow Atlantic record’s artist Serena Ryder, who’s continuing to support him throughout the Pacific Northwest leg of his tour. ‘The album was produced by Paolo Nutini and Ethan Johns (Kings of Leon, Ryan Adams, Ray LaMontagne), 'Sunny Side Up' and sees Nutini continuing to mine his arresting brand of soulful modern pop.’ The videos for his new releases have had airtime on the music channels such as MTV and further exposure on music streaming websites such as YouTube and MUZU.TV.com, but there doesn’t seem to have been nearly as much coverage over his new album as there was to the previous for reasons that I touch on before. He’s followed the new format of distributing his singles and albums via downloads on iTunes and various other reputable download sites for a smaller fee than the prices of buying the actually CD’s, and has recently announced that he’s teamed up with Concert Live on his forthcoming UK tour where he will record an instantly available live album of each show. The album will be available straight after each show and will come as a deluxe 3-CD set featuring every song plus exclusive backstage photos of Paolo taken at his Blackpool show. People will also be given the opportunity to pre-order the bundle of Paolo’s forthcoming single 'Pencil Full Of Lead'. When bought alongside the live CD, which all together only costs £5. This bundle will include a CD single, Maxi CD, download and exclusive 7”. Paolo himself has agreed to sign one in ten of the 7” vinyls for random distribution amongst orders. This will increase the amount of people buying this bundle in a hope that they will win some signed merchandise. It seems a good incentive to me because it’s a win-win situation, people will get a bundle of goodies and it’s a bonus for the 10 people lucky enough to receive signed ones, as well increasing sales for Paolo and his label.
Quirky Singer/ Songwriter Paolo Nutini was spotted by the major label, Atlantic records shortly after moving to London in 2005 aged 18. He dropped out of school aged 16 to tour with his friends band where he was playing as a support act and as their roadie. He began to chase a career in the music industry soon after this and was soon snatched up by his label with Atlantic records, http://www.atlanticrecords.com/paolonutini . He admits that he wasn’t entirely ready for what lay ahead at the time, “The first album there was a lot of angst. I was very naive. I thought I was on top of the whole thing but I really didn’t know what I was getting into.” His style has changed dramatically from his first album ‘These streets’, which was much more mellow and acoustic. His new album ‘Sunny Side Up’ with his band The Vipers, which was release on June 1st this year was a massive shock to his fans, as it’s another world away from his last album, it’s an eclectic mix of upbeat feel good music. "Musically where I'm at, I don't really have a genre or style that I feel a part of," explains Paolo. "I skip from Djhango Reinhart to Cab Calloway to Canned Heat. It's a bit of a random mish mash. I honestly wanted it all to come out, and not harness it, not manipulate it. I just wanted it to be organic.” He’s also been supporting Led Zeppelin on tour and has expressed how he wants Jimmy Page to produce his next album quoted saying, "You have all these people on your wish-list, and Jimmy Page is definitely on mine, getting someone that’s enthusiastic about your music is the main thing. It’s better to have someone like that produce your record than the trendy hit makers."
Paolo ‘s music has evolved somewhat with ‘Sunny Side Up’ it shows off an old soul within him, and how versatile he is as an artist. Just from looking at the album artworks you can see that a massive difference in character.
Out with the old and in with the new...
Paolo‘s music has evolved somewhat with ‘Sunny Side Up’ it shows off an old soul within him. He credits his grandfather for this who was desperate for Paolo to follow his talent for music, rather than a career as a footballer. Nutini’ influences include David Bowie, Damien Rice, Oasis, The Beatles, U2, Pink Floyd and Fleetwood Mac. He was also exposed to classic R&B stars like the Drifters and Ray Charles via his dad and an auntie's record collection, and this is all part of how and why he is as versatile an artist as he is. Just from looking at the album artworks you can see that a massive difference in character. The artwork from his ‘These Streets’ is smart, clean cut and introducing Paolo to the public. But through his new album he’s written more music from the heart which tell stories, and his many influences have shone through. His new musical style is much more vibrant and the album artwork seems to depict how he’s evolving as an artist. He’s changed and rearranged many aspects with his album and I feel it packs more fun into it, he no longer seems to be just making music, he seems like he’s enjoying it too! The Album cover is full of little parts of his album, whether they refer to lyrics or down the two fried eggs which are ‘sunny side up’. One of my favourite tracks from the album is ‘Pencil full of lead’, it’s such a carefree, optimistic, happy – go- lucky song as the lyrics show ‘ Two pairs of socks/ And a door with a lock/ I've got food in my belly and a/License for my telly/ and nothin's gonna bring me down’. The video’s fun and cheeky, with Paolo been played by a very cheeky plasticine character of himself. Although his music has progressed somewhat, his image has remained pretty much the same, he still sports jeans with a t-shirt and open shirt over the top the occasional leather jacket. It’s a relaxed look that suits him very well it gives off the persona that he’s content and comfortable with himself. I think this is good, because although his music’s changed direction, he’s not tried to change and fit in to the stereotypical genre dress code. He’s a singer/songwriter who seems to have flourished after the large number of female singer/songwriters all came on the scene a few years ago. Finding talent like this is rare, it’s often the case that people are either really good songwriters who sell their music for others to sing, or they have play and perform really well but get writers in so that they have some good material. Paolo’s music helps make people realise that his music is real and doesn’t need all the gimmicks that a lot of pop music uses nowadays.
Media & Marketing
The Promotion on his new album has been publicised through different medias, he’s released 3 tracks from ‘Sunny side up’ so far, These have been Coming up easy, Candy and Pencil full of lead.Candy was released on May 18th making it onto radio one’s C list and radio twos A list, and it peaked at number 19 in the charts, he’s having much more success with his new single ‘Pencil full of lead’ which has peaked at number 2. Overall the album is doing well it even knocked Eminem’s comeback album ‘Relapse’ of the top spot in the UK album charts. He’s made appearances on Radio one’s live lounge and Children in Need further to the success he’s had and is continuing to have with the new album in the UK. Things didn’t go as well with his tour in the US as they did with his debut album in the states. Paolo believes this has a great deal to do with lack of promotion the album received this time, blaming it on the recession as labels cut back their expenditure. Nutini’s press release from Atlantic reveals that his single ‘Candy’ was to precede the new album and would be played for the first time at Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival in Indio, California on April 18th 2009, where he was supported by fellow Atlantic record’s artist Serena Ryder, who’s continuing to support him throughout the Pacific Northwest leg of his tour. ‘The album was produced by Paolo Nutini and Ethan Johns (Kings of Leon, Ryan Adams, Ray LaMontagne), 'Sunny Side Up' and sees Nutini continuing to mine his arresting brand of soulful modern pop.’ The videos for his new releases have had airtime on the music channels such as MTV and further exposure on music streaming websites such as YouTube and MUZU.TV.com, but there doesn’t seem to have been nearly as much coverage over his new album as there was to the previous for reasons that I touch on before. He’s followed the new format of distributing his singles and albums via downloads on iTunes and various other reputable download sites for a smaller fee than the prices of buying the actually CD’s, and has recently announced that he’s teamed up with Concert Live on his forthcoming UK tour where he will record an instantly available live album of each show. The album will be available straight after each show and will come as a deluxe 3-CD set featuring every song plus exclusive backstage photos of Paolo taken at his Blackpool show. People will also be given the opportunity to pre-order the bundle of Paolo’s forthcoming single 'Pencil Full Of Lead'. When bought alongside the live CD, which all together only costs £5. This bundle will include a CD single, Maxi CD, download and exclusive 7”. Paolo himself has agreed to sign one in ten of the 7” vinyls for random distribution amongst orders. This will increase the amount of people buying this bundle in a hope that they will win some signed merchandise. It seems a good incentive to me because it’s a win-win situation, people will get a bundle of goodies and it’s a bonus for the 10 people lucky enough to receive signed ones, as well increasing sales for Paolo and his label.
References
10/11/09: Paolo Nutini’s official website, http://www.paolonutini.com/about/10/11/09: Paolo Nutini - My London, Sylvia Mulder, ES Magazine, 24.07.09
10/11/09: http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/lifestyle/article-23723404-paolo-nutini---my-london.do
5/12/09: http://www.NME.com/new/paolo- Nutini/47746
5/12/09: http://www.atlanticrecords.com/pressreleases/article/?pressId=8a0af8122040e2dc0120811a51ce4a1e
6/12/09http: //www.last.fm/music/Paolo+Nutini
