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Paul helps to mix it all up
FOR ten years Paul's Halls have been providing a place for up and coming Cumbernauld bands to rehearse and record.
Owner, Paul Devlin, set up the business after noticing an empty unit next to the garage where he worked as a panel beater.
Paul (38), said: "I noticed the empty space for let and thought that it could make a great rehearsal space for bands. So, despite knowing absolutely nothing about the music industry, I decided to take on the lease and transform the space into a place that bands could practice."
Growing up in Easterhouse, Paul's older brother was in a band and faced the dilema of where to play that would give them the space that they needed without running the risk of getting a skelp around the ear for making too much noise.
Paul continued: "I really knew nothing about the music industry other than that my brother had needed somewhere to practice and so used to slip the school janitor a fiver to let them use the assembly hall."
"I thought that all bands must have the problem of finding a space and so had the idea of starting a business offering a room and equiptment to practice with. I thought this was my own original idea, little did I know that there are rehearsal studios all over the country." laughs Paul.
"So really Paul's Halls is my idea of what a recording studio should be - I didn't use any other as a template."
"We started out with one room in 1999 then added on to lease until we are now up to four rehearsal rooms and a recording studio."
Paul's Halls is the only facility of it's kind in North Lanarkshire and has bands from all over central Scotland travelling to use the state of the art equiptment.
"We used to advertise but now we get enough work through word of mouth that we don't need to. The music industry in Scotland is pretty small so all the bands know each other and talk so we are lucky in that way."
Bands that have used the Halls on Glencryan Road include Falkirk up-and-comers The Ray Summers, Cumbernauld indie boys Kaleidoscope Eyes and darlings of the Scottish music scene, The Dykeenies.
Paul said: "The Dykeenies were actually the first band to use the Halls, well three of the members anyway, when they were around 13 years old. They are one of the hardest working bands around and as soon as they came into the studio I knew that they would be going places."
"There have been a lot of talented bands that have used the facilities but unless they have the dedication and drive then they simply aren't going to make it."
Despite putting in the hours for his business venture, in the ten years that the Halls has been running Paul has yet to pay himself a wage from the business.
"People think that I'm making a fortune from the business but that really couldn't be further from the truth," said Paul.
"The studio is busy but there are so many overheads and people to be paid that I don't see any of the money that comes in, it all goes straight back out again."
"This is really a labour of love, I feel like I'm making a difference to the Scottish music scene by providing this service but there is no big money making."
"Some of the bands that come in think I drive an Aston Martin and rub shoulders with Simon Cowell but really it's been ten years of very hard work and no wage at the end of the week."
"With the job comes lots of perks though, I get to spend time with my kids during the day then at night get to indulge in my passion of recording live music. I genuinely love my job, and not a lot of people get to say that, do they?"
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Weather for Cumbernauld
Sunday 05 February 2012
Today
Light showers
Temperature: 0 C to 7 C
Wind Speed: 13 mph
Wind direction: South west
Tomorrow
Sunny spells
Temperature: -2 C to 5 C
Wind Speed: 6 mph
Wind direction: North east
