Five Minutes With Michael Paynter

1.Growing Up

I grew up in a really musical house. Mum and Dad used to teach me and my sister four-part harmony to James Taylor tunes. I guess I learnt from an early age that music was a way of release – to remove your thoughts from your head, onto paper. It was freeing.

2.Inspirations

Elvis Presley, for his complete embodiment of what music entertainment is about and his innovation. John Farnham for his longevity and mastery. Ryan Tedder for his ability to seemly swap between production, writing and performing. Prince because he’s Prince.

3.Your Band

It’s just me, although I have an awesome team around me in Leigh Fisher on drums, Nathan Goble on bass and Michael DeLorenzis on guitar. This album [Weary Stars]I produced and mixed myself. It was a labour of love.

4.The Music You Make

I run and own a production company, MSquared Productions, with the guitarist from my band, Michael DeLorenzis. Together we produce and write songs for a lot of Aussie artists (including Imogen Brough, Masketta Fall, Rachel Costanzo and more) and we’ve also just kick-started a management arm. We also produced my album from start to finish. I’m currently on tour playing in the band with Icehouse and also promoting my own solo shows around the country to promote my new album, Weary Stars.

5.Music, Right Here, Right Now

It’s an interesting time to be a recording artist in the music industry at the moment. With the world very quickly moving into online and digital, the whole game is changing. YouTube is providing a world stage for all artists and the age-old opinion of ‘needing to be signed to a major label’ is not quite as apparent.

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