Thanks to the gang at "Klangwelt" for finding my music and writing this great little article. (translated from the German original):

"Paul E. Phonics' The Chameleon offers a round of fine music somewhere between wave and post-punk combining electronic beats with the depth of 80s dark wave. Anyone interested in this kind of music can listen to the full stream and download it for free.

It’s always worthwhile to have a look at Schallgrenzen blog. With The Chameleon, Paul E. Phonics has conjured up a tune that will appeal to fans of dark music and synth freaks alike. This description pretty much says it all:

Post-punk with electro sounds, serrating guitars and vocals straight out of the cold chamber.

Paul McCormick is the real name behind the alias Paul E. Phonics. Through his music he expresses his passion for post-punk, electronica, progressive rock, industrial and film scores. Something for Bauhaus fans maybe?

The Canadian has been living in Berlin since 2000 where he ended his search for new inspiration. Until 2009 he could be found playing in various bands or alone with his acoustic guitar in the smaller clubs around Berlin. But in 2009 he decided to start anew and equipped with guitar, keyboards, vocals and a laptop, he started his own label. After the release of the A Fragile Peace EP, he has followed up with the new single The Chameleon as a free download."  

January 26, 2012

Decided to get a few things cleaned up to start off the year right and that included the web presence. As you might have noticed here the homepage has a slightly new look and while updating some other sites I decided it was time to do something I should have done long ago. Yes, I finally did it! My Myspace has been deleted (although still waiting for their admin to put it out of its misery compeletly). And that's it. The end of an era. But in the end it was just a huge waste of time and effort and with all the coding problems and annoying popups that prevented actually being able to do quick updates, I had finally had enough.

It's quite a good feeling actually. And who knows? Maybe some other sites will be axed as the year goes on. Thoreau had the right idea: Simplify!

But for now I'll leave it at that and get back in the studio and make some new music. It's going to be a strange year with a lot of responsibilites outside of music taking up much of my time, but I am determined to keep things productive and I'm optimistic that it will be a good one.

All for now.

...the year, that is - not everything.

Yes, one last release for 2011 went out last Tuesday, "The Chameleon (New SkIn)" which is a remix (actually a completely overhauled version) of the title track of the E.P. I released a year ago. A first anniversary remix. Will this become a regular thing? Probably not. In fact, I'm not really into going back and dwelling on what I have done, I'd much rather push ahead and create new songs. But for some reason I had distinct ideas for a new version of this one and couldn't stop thinking about it. Therefore the remix. I might do it again some time, but I won't be making a habit of backtracking. Onwards and upwards!

The Radio Orphans were good enough to include the new single on their last podcast with a very enthusiastic introduction. Thanks guys! And for those of you in the German-speaking world, you can check out a great little blurb about it at OhFancy, a great alternative music blog.

And that's about it for 2011, but there's a lot to come in 2012. I just got some remixes of one of my new songs which I will let slip early in the new year. Very different stuff and very interesting. And I've been working on a remix of a friend's song which I hope to have finished before Christmas. It's up to him when it comes out but I don't think he'll sit on it too long so expect that one very early in the new year too.

Looking back it's been a very good year. There are a few things that got overlooked, but overall it was extremely productive and the new songs sitting on my proverbial shelf are a testament to that. When and how they will be released is still very much up in the air but it will be next year for sure. Live versions of a few are already on the Youtube channel if you want to get an idea of what to expect.

But for the next week it's time to face the usual year end/Christmas madness that seems to plague this crazy city and then off to the countryside for a bit of festive cheer with family and friends. Hope you are looking forward to something similar.

Happy holidays & have a good "slide" into the new year as they say here!

I've been pretty negligent with the blog entries lately and there is no excuse other than not feeling very inspired to write anything. That's not to say that there has been a complete lack of inspiration. There has been a lot going on in the studio getting new songs finished and I'm currently working on a couple of remixes of older tracks that will be the next releases. I've also been experimenting with some more low-key, semi-ambient stuff, all just sketches at the moment. Not sure how they will develop, maybe songs, maybe something else. We'll see.

But today is a special day for me and has got me thinking about a lot of things and I suddenly feel the need to write a bit and get things out and sort out what's going on in my head. It was exactly five years ago today that my life took a very big turn and since then this day has become a time to celebrate and to remember why this drastic change happened. The whole story is kind of personal and I don't want to get into the details, but I will just say that on this day five years ago I left the darkness and headed for the light and things have got consistently better ever since. But it is an onging journey and sometimes a struggle and that is whay it is incredibly important not to forget everything that brought me to that point.

And I have a lot to be grateful for. Things have been going well this year even if I haven't quite done everything that I had planned to do. The last show was a real pleasure and a lot of fun and I am pleased with the performance considering it had been over a year since I last played live. I introduced some new songs that I have been working on in the studio which allowed me to gain a bit of perspective on them and helped with the final mixing. I also got a bit of video of the show, something I had wanted to do at previous shows but never managed to organize. I am working on doing this more often (I know I've said this before, but this time for real) and even though there probably won't be any more shows this year, I plan to make up for all that early in 2012.

The show was also a great chance to meet some interesting people and I have already had an offer to have some songs remixed. A flattering offer and I look forward to hearing the results.

So as the winter darkness sets in I am doing my best to stay motivated and positive, to keep things rolling even if that is only studio work for the time being. I'm looking forward to getting out and playing live again but for a little while longer this is where I'll be....

It's been a while but I'm finally motivated to bring things up to date here and what better way to do it than a few words about the latest release, the single "The Summer (That Never Was)".

I think the title says it all and it was inspired by a rather dreary, rainy summer, one of many that I have experienced since I moved to Berlin. There is something strange about the weather patterns here, the spring is often much better than the summer and there is often a period of a few weeks in early autumn which is more like summer than the season itself.

The interesting thing about this song is that it was actually inspired by and written during an awful summer several years ago. The original was a very simple arrangement, just acoustic guitar and vocals, a bit folky, almost like a country song. I have recently been revisiting some of my older songs and that is where the idea came to update this one and apply my new production techniques. The lyrics were adjusted a bit and of course the arrangement is much more complex, but other than that it is still the same song as it was written about 6 years ago. So I guess that is my big confession. This is not really a "new" single, but a new version of an old song that had a lot of meaning during the miserable summer months here.

It was this recording and others that kept me busy for the past few months and the good news is that this streak of manic creativity is not over. Many more songs are in the works, plus a couple remixes of older songs. The new ones feel different somehow, I can't quite put my finger on it, but they seem more refined than previous efforts and I feel that my production skills are entering a new phase. Not that I am dissatisfied with what has already been achieved, it's just nice to have that feeling that things are evolving and not stagnating. I don't know if this makes much sense, but you will get the idea when they are released.

And now it's time to get back in the studio and get to work!

P.S. The new single is also my first song to get a proper video.

Check it out here...

Special Thanks to Peter at "Schallgrenzen" for listening to the latest E.P. and publishing this great little article (translated from the original German):

"Paul E. Phonics - A canadian in berlin

Paul E. Phonics is the musical alter ego of Paul McCormick which has burrowed itself deeply into post-punk, electronica, progressive rock, industrial rock and film scores and from time to time pleases the world with new songs. Or brings it down depending on how you take it. Because the music isn’t exactly happy. It comes from Berlin and from complicated circumstances. “A Fragile Peace”. Twilight, gloom, a hint of light casts shadows, wafting guitar, noisy, reverberating vocals, dramatic. The Bitter End.

McCormick left his home in 2000 in search of new musical inspiritation. Like many others he ended up in Berlin. After years of playing in various bands or alone with his acoustic guitar, roaming the city, gigging in cafés and clubs, he decided in 2009 to try out a new idea. Guitar, keyboards, a laptop and his own label through which he releases his music and sells self-produced CDs and T shirts. It doesn’t get any more indie. The new EP “A Fragile Peace” is available as a free download through Bandcamp. CDs of other releases are available in the online shop."

And now for the final entry in the story behind the song series. I'm writing this one from the homeland (Canada) where I've been for the past few weeks. It's been a busy time which explains the delay in getting around to saying a few words about the title track of the latest e.P.

When I began working on this track it was basically just a framework of a melody and the lyrics wereN't even finished. At that time I couldN't have imagined it becoming the title track but as things developed I knew it had something special. I orginially planned for it to be more of a piano ballad but at some point i realized that acoustic guitar would be better and although it took a while to get it to fit in properly I'm very glad I followed through with the idea.

The title had been the working title from the start and I saw no reason to change the theme which deals with those kinds of relationships we all have with certain people that are somewhat volatile and a bit unpredictable due to their intensity.  They are the toughest relationships but often the most rewarding especially when they achieve this state of "A Fragile Peace". We never know how long this peace will last but we try to enjoy it while it's there and get it back when it gets lost in a flurry of emotion and passion.

even though it was the title track i decided to end the e.p. with it as a sort of uplifting exit and I find after the other darker and more turbulent songs it is a (somewhat) optimistic way to leave off.  Hope you do too...

The next song in the "story behind the song" series is "The Bitter End".  A Demo for this one was out there for a while but like "Non-Dogmatic" i knew it needed some work.  The Arrangement was simplified a bit by removing a guitar part that wasn't really working for me and the lyrics were adjusted to create real verses instead of the non-descript vocals that were on the demo. In the end this all made it more of a "song" rather than a rambling piece of music and I think it was a big improvement.

The orginal demo also maintained a fairly negative perspective throughout and I didn't feel right about that. so with some alterations in the lyrics at the very end I changed it into a more affirmative declaration with the addition of "Hell No! You will not break me!" and "There will be no bitter end!", definitely more in line with my state of mind at the moment and hopefully a bit more uplifting for the listener.

The Basic idea is simple and deals with the fact that throughout our lives we have to deal with people who would like to lead us to some kind of Bitter end, that we constantly have to deal with clashing egos and interests, that there are forces working against us in our pursuit of "happiness" and self-fullfilment.  But if you stay strong and focused you can overcome all of this...

And with that we are another step further from that dark place where the E.P. began.  Stay tuned for the final chapter coming soon.

And on to track 2 from the "A Fragile Peace" E.P., this time "non-Dogmatic". This one was actually written over a year ago and a demo was online for a while but i knew that it needed some polishing and this e.p. was a good opportunity to do that.  I redid the main synth lines and the vocals and tweaked a lot of the percussion to make it a bit punchier.  the arrangement was also adjusted to make it a bit tighter with shorter instrumental intervals between the vocals. All in all I think it is a much better version than the original demo.

The general theme is identifying people and institutions for what they truly are, getting past the facade and in some cases the lies and finding out that their agendas aren't necessarily in your best interests. Once you've done that you can basically say "Screw you, I'm not buying it!" It is a bit of a statement about my feelings towards certain kinds of organized religion, education systems and other things that have a huge impact on the development of young people while they're trying to figure out their own values and ways of thinking about things. It is basically a call for everyone to think for themselves a bit and not take everything at face value.

And it is the first step out of that "Dark place" where the e.p. and the story begins. The next step is track 3 and the story behind that one is coming soon so stay tuned.

According to the running order of the new e.P. that I intended this one is the opening track. as i mentioned before, the "story" starts in a dark place during a personal breakdown leaving the protagonist with his back "against the wall", nowhere left to run, nowhere left to hide, time to face the demons. the other person involved is someone very close to the protagonist, someone who cares deeply but has also reached the limits of tolerance and sympathy and must accept defeat.

This is somewhat autobiographical but i won't go into the details. it doesn't refer to one specific incident but is a symbolic depiction of a few moments I've had in my life and i think there are many out there who can relate to this. whether your "bottom" is high or low, I think almost everyone has moments where they feel that they have reached the end of their rope, that they can't go on, at least not the way they have been. and it is an easy out to find others to blame for our personal failures, to pass the buck so to speak. but once we've done that too many times we soon find that there isn't anyone left and it's time face the truth.

Muscially this one changed quite a bit during the recording process and it is the first time for trying out some genuine harmonies with the vocals as opposed to singing over a spoken word kind of thing. I'm quite pleased with the results and will be looking for opportunities to do this kind of thing with other songs in the future.

Another thing that became apparent during the mixing phase was that I kept thinking that the song reminded me of another song but I couldn't quite put my finger on it. Once I started sharing it with people I noticed a pattern developing and it finally clicked. It definitely was not a concious thing (and the song is different enough that i don't expect any copyright lawsuits) but I noticed this video popping up on certain sites just after i sent out the finished song.

Maybe you've listened closely and already guessed...Bauhaus and "Bela lugosi's dead"...