Paul Marazzi

Paul Marazzi (born Paul Thomas Leo Marazzi, 24 January 1975) is a British musician, the oldest member of A1.^[1]

Marazzi was the first to join A1, a British/Norwegian boy band whose first single, "Be the First to Believe", was released in 1999. Together with Marazzi were Britons Mark Read, Ben Adams and Norwegian Christian Ingebrigtsen. They were formed by band manager Tim Byrne, who also formed Steps, and signed to Columbia Records by A&R manager Fran de Takats. A1 won a BRIT Award for "British Breakthrough Act" in 2001. Their third album, Make It Good, featured a sound closer to traditional rock music, but was to be their last studio project with Marazzi.

In October 2002, Marazzi took a break from the band citing personal reasons.^[2] In 2005, he started a band called Snagsby. He left Snagsby on January 2009 to pursue a career as a club DJ in The George Hotel in Whitby.^[3]

Early life

Paul was born on January 24, 1975 in Wanstead, London to Ivan and Maria Marazzi. He has an older sister named Shareen who is four years older than he is. As a child, Paul used to sing Prince songs. He went to Spain with his family and lived there until 2007. He recorded a demo for a German producer which led him to audition for a1 in 1997.^[4][5]

A1

Paul said that he originally auditioned for Steps, however, he was placed in a1 in 1997. He was then later joined by Christian Ingebrigtsen, Mark Read and Ben Adams.^[4] They released their first album Here We Come in late 1999. Two years after their first single release in the 2001 BRIT Awards, the band received the award for Best British Breakthrough. In 2002, few months after their appearance in the US soap The Young and The Restless, Paul then announced his departure from a1 with a statement that read: "After a lot of thought and deliberation, I have made the difficult choice to leave the band due to personal reasons."^[2]

Post A1

After a1, Paul hosted the Andy Cole Children's Foundation (now All Star Kids) on April 26, 2003 together with Jo Good.^[6] He turned down the offer to appear in I'm a Celebrity... Get Me out of Here! in 2004.^[3] In mid-2005, Paul was interviewed in Spain for Fame Games where he talked about the life being in a1 and even promoted Ben Adams' first single called "Sorry" which was released in May 2005. The interview was aired on July 31, 2006 and also played (partly) two of his unreleased songs namely If I Could Be King and Lifted.^[7] Later that year, he started forming a soul/rock band in Sunderland, North East England. Ivan (his father) named the band Snagsby in 2006, and managed the band until 2007 when he left due to technical difficulties. Later in 2008, the band announced in their official MySpace that Marazzi was leaving Snagsby on January 2009. Marazzi then went to work for Ivan, in The George Hotel in Whitby as a club DJ.^[3]

Marazzi is now currently rehearsing/recording with Nobby in his previous bands (Snagsby now known as Audio Tracer) studio in Sunderland and Paul has formed a new band called Blue Eyed Soul. His father announced the news to his fans in Facebook.^[8] Just recently, he just become a Patron for MACY (Music and Arts for Creative Youth).^[9]

Musical Influences

Paul is a huge fan of Prince.^[7] On the Official Website of Snagsby as well as on his Facebook page, he stated that he is a fan of Shakin' Stevens, Lenny Kravitz, Red Hot Chili Peppers, George Michael and Michael Jackson.^[7]

Discography

With A1

Albums

• Here We Come (1999)
• The A List (2000)
• Make It Good (2002)
• The Best of A1 (2004)
• A1 Greatest Hits (2009)

Singles

• "Be the First to Believe" (1999)
• "Summertime of Our Lives" (1999)
• "Ready or Not/Everytime" (1999)
• "Like a Rose" (2000)
• "Take on Me" (2000)
• "Same Old Brand New You" (2000)
• "No More" (2001)
• "Caught in the Middle" (2002)
• "Make It Good" (2002)
• "Nos Differences" (2002)

Solo (unreleased) Songs

• If I Could Be King (2003/2005)^[7]
• Lifted (2005)^[7]
• Let It Out (Demo/Original Version - 2002)
• Soulfreak
• Cream Rising
• Guess What They Call It?
• Can't You See

See also

• A1

References