Paul Banks (musician)
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This article is about the former lead guitarist with UK band Shed Seven; for the guitarist with the US band Interpol see Paul Banks
| Paul Banks | |
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| Born | 6 July, 1973 |
| Genre(s) | Britpop Indie Rock |
| Affiliation(s) | Shed Seven The Rising Albion |
| Label(s) | Polydor 1993 –1999 |
| Years active | 1986 – Present |
Paul Banks, (born July 6,1973 in York, England) is a musician and songwriter who was lead guitarist with Britpop band Shed Seven from 1993 – 1999. He currently plays keyboards and guitar in the York based indie band, Albion.
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[edit] Professional career
Paul Banks formed his first band with schoolfriend Rick Witter in 1986, while still in his teens, and went on to play in other local bands, including Brockley Haven, with Witter, Tom Gladwin and John Leach.
[edit] Shed Seven
Banks joined Witter, Gladwin and John’s brother, drummer Alan Leach in Shed Seven just before they gained their first record deal with Polydor in 1993, replacing Joe Johnson as their lead guitarist. He spent the next six years recording and touring with the band. Banks became known for his distinctive, dramatic riffs and catchy tunes, and from 1993 – 1999 he co-wrote many of the band's most popular songs, with fourteen consecutive hits in the UK including “Chasing Rainbows”, "Going for Gold” and “She Left Me on Friday”. The band's third album Let it Ride with all music composed by Banks to Witter's lyrics, spawned four singles which all reached the Top 40 of the UK Charts.
In 1999 the record company asked Banks to write a new lead single for Shed Seven’s Greatest Hits Album Going for Gold. The song, “Disco Down”, later became a top 20 hit but Banks was becoming increasingly unhappy with the lack of originality in the music he was expected to write and perform. In an interview in 2002 he said:
I spent about two weeks, and I wrote a song called "Disco Down", that was just complete to a formula. "Right, that'll do, there's your single." And the record company creamed themselves when they heard it. It was like, "I can't do this any more." I was writing it, and I could see the video, and I could see the front cover of the single, and it was just complete formula. There was no soul in it... [1]
Going For Gold - The Greatest Hits reached #7 in the UK album charts, but by the time Shed Seven finally left Polydor in 1999, Banks had already decided to leave the band.
The last straw was the Greatest Hits album….I can honestly say that I sold myself short for the last six months...I thought it was better to just stop it and move on. [2]
[edit] Subsequent career
After parting with Shed Seven somewhat acrimoniously later that year, officially due to "musical differences", Banks returned to York and formed The Rising with David McKellar (of The 88's on vocals), Rob "Maxi" Maxfield (of Audioweb/Ian Brown on drums and programming) and Stuart Fletcher (of Seahorses/Rick Witter & The Dukes on bass). He also spent a short time in The Yards with Chris Helme and Stuart Fletcher, as well as working as a freelance film-maker and music tutor, teaching guitar/bass and songwriting at his studio in Pocklington, York.
Since late 2006 Banks has been writing and recording new material in York with his latest band Albion, whose other members are Alistair Griffin (vocals), Walter Leybourne (drums) and Paul 'Foda' Fothergill (bass).
