Paul Durham
Encyclopedia
Paul Durham is an American
musician
, and is the lead singer of rock band Black Lab
.
.
In 1990 Durham finished his degree and moved to Berkeley
. He supported himself as a substitute teacher in inner-city Oakland, California
. Almost immediately, he started recording demos with a bass player he'd met. The two began working with a producer and soon thereafter Durham formed an acoustic band named after himself. Demos were produced, gigs were played, people began responding to the music, but Durham did not find the project creatively satisfying and brought it to a halt.
Durham went electric, forming the band Black Lab, who released their debut album, Your Body Above Me
, on Geffen Records
in 1998. The album yielded the alternative singles "Wash it Away" and "Time Ago," and went on to sell over 120,000 copies. During this time the band contributed songs to the soundtracks for Can't Hardly Wait, Varsity Blues, Permanent Midnight and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
After a year of touring, their record label was folded into Universal Music. The band went back home and Durham started writing a new album. Over the next two years, Durham left his band, fired his manager and moved to LA. Durham wanted to control the sound around his voice, so he bought a computer and learned to use it. The resulting demos landed Durham with Epic records, as Durham began collaborating with accomplished guitarist, keyboard player and programmer Andy Ellis. Durham finished the second Black Lab album, See the Sun, adding electronic texture to the foundation of Durham's rock songs. Unfortunately, yet more record label troubles loomed for the band, so Durham split with the label to go the independent route. In 2005, See the Sun was finally released, nearly 8 years after the band's debut.
Durham and the band contributed tracks such as "This Blood" to the movie Blade: Trinity and "River of Joy" to the soundtrack to the 2006 movie, The Covenant. Black Lab also continues to produce music for television (MTV's Real World, What I Like About You, The Days, The Shield, Numbers and 6 Degrees) as well as film, such as the 2006 comedy The Benchwarmers and Lovewrecked. On January 16, 2007, the band's third album was released after five years in the making, followed by its second album of the year, Technologie, in June.
Durham continues to work in Los Angeles as a singer, songwriter, musician, engineer and producer, whilst remaining committed to Black Lab.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
musician
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
, and is the lead singer of rock band Black Lab
Black Lab
Black Lab is an alternative rock band founded in Berkeley, California and currently based in Los Angeles and Montana.They released one album on Geffen Records, entitled Your Body Above Me, and scored two rock radio hits in the US, "Wash It Away" in 1997 and "Time Ago" in 1998...
.
Biography
Born in Twin Falls, Idaho, Durham started his musical journey singing in LDS Church services and writing folk songs under the influence of Bob DylanBob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
.
In 1990 Durham finished his degree and moved to Berkeley
Berkeley, California
Berkeley is a city on the east shore of the San Francisco Bay in Northern California, United States. Its neighbors to the south are the cities of Oakland and Emeryville. To the north is the city of Albany and the unincorporated community of Kensington...
. He supported himself as a substitute teacher in inner-city Oakland, California
Oakland, California
Oakland is a major West Coast port city on San Francisco Bay in the U.S. state of California. It is the eighth-largest city in the state with a 2010 population of 390,724...
. Almost immediately, he started recording demos with a bass player he'd met. The two began working with a producer and soon thereafter Durham formed an acoustic band named after himself. Demos were produced, gigs were played, people began responding to the music, but Durham did not find the project creatively satisfying and brought it to a halt.
Durham went electric, forming the band Black Lab, who released their debut album, Your Body Above Me
Your Body Above Me
Your Body Above Me is the debut album by the alternative rock band Black Lab. Released on Geffen Records on October 21, 1997, it featured two US radio hits, "Wash it Away" and "Time Ago." The album was also simultaneously released as a three-sided vinyl LP with a press of the album artwork on the...
, on Geffen Records
Geffen Records
Geffen Records is an American record label, owned by Universal Music Group, and operated as one third of UMG's Interscope-Geffen-A&M label group.-Beginnings:...
in 1998. The album yielded the alternative singles "Wash it Away" and "Time Ago," and went on to sell over 120,000 copies. During this time the band contributed songs to the soundtracks for Can't Hardly Wait, Varsity Blues, Permanent Midnight and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
After a year of touring, their record label was folded into Universal Music. The band went back home and Durham started writing a new album. Over the next two years, Durham left his band, fired his manager and moved to LA. Durham wanted to control the sound around his voice, so he bought a computer and learned to use it. The resulting demos landed Durham with Epic records, as Durham began collaborating with accomplished guitarist, keyboard player and programmer Andy Ellis. Durham finished the second Black Lab album, See the Sun, adding electronic texture to the foundation of Durham's rock songs. Unfortunately, yet more record label troubles loomed for the band, so Durham split with the label to go the independent route. In 2005, See the Sun was finally released, nearly 8 years after the band's debut.
Durham and the band contributed tracks such as "This Blood" to the movie Blade: Trinity and "River of Joy" to the soundtrack to the 2006 movie, The Covenant. Black Lab also continues to produce music for television (MTV's Real World, What I Like About You, The Days, The Shield, Numbers and 6 Degrees) as well as film, such as the 2006 comedy The Benchwarmers and Lovewrecked. On January 16, 2007, the band's third album was released after five years in the making, followed by its second album of the year, Technologie, in June.
Durham continues to work in Los Angeles as a singer, songwriter, musician, engineer and producer, whilst remaining committed to Black Lab.
Albums
- 1998: Your Body Above MeYour Body Above MeYour Body Above Me is the debut album by the alternative rock band Black Lab. Released on Geffen Records on October 21, 1997, it featured two US radio hits, "Wash it Away" and "Time Ago." The album was also simultaneously released as a three-sided vinyl LP with a press of the album artwork on the...
- 2003: I Feel FineI Feel Fine (album)I Feel Fine is an EP by the alternative rock band Black Lab. Four of the six tracks on this album would later be released on their second LP, See the Sun, and a fifth, "Perfect Girl", was re-recorded for the See the Sun album...
- 2004: Ten Million Years - Songs from the Nineteen NinetiesTen Million Years - Songs from the Nineteen NinetiesTen Million Years - Songs from the Nineteen Nineties is an album by alternative rock artist Paul Durham. Self-released in 2004, it features eleven songs recorded in the early 1990's with his band Durham, and four alternate versions of songs that would later be released on his major-label band Black...
- 2005: See the SunSee the Sun (Black Lab album)See the Sun is the second LP by the American alternative rock band Black Lab. The album was released eight years after their debut, Your Body Above Me...
- 2006: Cake or DeathCake or Death (album)Cake or Death is a self-titled LP by a group formed as a side project by Paul Durham . Durham produced the album, performed as one of the lead vocalists, and co-wrote many of the lyrics.-Track listing:# "Whiplash"# "Rise"...
- 2006: Your Body Above Me - The Directors CutYour Body Above MeYour Body Above Me is the debut album by the alternative rock band Black Lab. Released on Geffen Records on October 21, 1997, it featured two US radio hits, "Wash it Away" and "Time Ago." The album was also simultaneously released as a three-sided vinyl LP with a press of the album artwork on the...
- 2007: Passion Leaves a TracePassion Leaves a TracePassion Leaves a Trace is the third LP by the American alternative rock band Black Lab. The album featured the track "Mine Again," which, as part of the "Bum Rush the Charts" program peaked at #11 on the U.S. rock chart...
- 2007: TechnologieTechnologieTechnologie is the second album released in 2007 by the alternative rock band Black Lab. It consists of several new tracks, remixes of some songs that appeared on the album See the Sun, a song that previously had been released on the soundtrack to Blade: Trinity and a cover of the theme song to...
- 2008: Mirror Ball Associates: Covers, Vol. 1
- 2009: Stray Palace EP
- 2010: Two StrangersTwo StrangersTwo Strangers is the fourth LP by the American alternative rock band Black Lab. The album was released on October 19, 2010, under the Blacklabworld.com label.- CD :# "This Ship Goes Down Deep"# "Something You Don’t Know"# "Bound"# "Start A Fire"...
Soundtracks
- The BenchwarmersThe BenchwarmersThe Benchwarmers is a 2006 American sports-comedy film directed by Dennis Dugan. It stars Rob Schneider, Jon Heder, and David Spade. It is produced by Revolution Studios and Happy Madison Productions and distributed by Columbia Pictures.-Plot:...
: "Good" - Blade: TrinityBlade: TrinityBlade: Trinity is a 2004 American superhero vampire action film, written and directed by David S. Goyer, who also wrote the screenplays to the first two Blade films...
: "This Blood" - Buffy the Vampire SlayerBuffy the Vampire Slayer: The AlbumBuffy the Vampire Slayer: The Album is a soundtrack album featuring music from the Buffy the Vampire Slayer TV series.The album is made up mostly of tracks by little-known artists, though some better known ones, such as Garbage and Alison Krauss, are also featured. A small part of the television...
: "Keep Myself Awake" - Can't Hardly WaitCan't Hardly WaitCan't Hardly Wait is a 1998 American teen comedy film written and directed by Deborah Kaplan and Harry Elfont. It stars Ethan Embry, Charlie Korsmo, Lauren Ambrose, Peter Facinelli, Seth Green, and Jennifer Love Hewitt, and is notable for a number of "before-they-were-famous" appearances by various...
: "Tell Me What to Say" - The CovenantThe Covenant (film)The Covenant is a 2006 American action supernatural thriller written by J. S. Cardone, directed by Renny Harlin, and starring Steven Strait, Taylor Kitsch, Toby Hemingway, Chace Crawford, Sebastian Stan, Laura Ramsey, and Jessica Lucas...
: "River of Joy" (in trailer) - LovewreckedLovewreckedLove Wrecked is a 2005 romantic comedy film directed by Randal Kleiser and starring Amanda Bynes. It was originally produced as a feature film by Media 8 Entertainment, but ended up as an ABC Family television film...
: "Broken Heart", "Weightless", "Perfect Girl" and "Lonely Boy" - Permanent MidnightPermanent MidnightPermanent Midnight is a 1998 biographical romantic comedy-drama film directed by David Veloz starring Ben Stiller. The film is based on Jerry Stahl's autobiographical book of the same name, and tells the story of Stahl's rise from a small-time television writer to his success as a comedy writer...
: "Horses" - The ShieldThe ShieldThe Shield is an American television drama series starring Michael Chiklis which premiered on March 12, 2002 on FX in the United States and concluded on November 25, 2008 after seven seasons...
: "This Night" (Season 6 promo) - Spider-ManSpider-Man (film)Spider-Man is a 2002 American superhero film, the first in the Spider-Man film series based on the fictional Marvel Comics character Spider-Man. It was directed by Sam Raimi and written by David Koepp...
: "Learn to Crawl" - Varsity BluesVarsity Blues (film)Varsity Blues is a 1999 American drama/sport film directed by Brian Robbins that follows a small-town high school football team and their overbearing coach through a tumultuous season. The players must deal with the pressures of adolescence and their football obsessed community while having their...
:"Black Eye"