Paul Draper (musician)
| Paul Draper | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Paul Edward Draper |
| Born |
26 September 1970 Liverpool, England |
| Genres | Alternative rock, indie rock, Britpop, progressive rock |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, singer-songwriter, record producer |
| Instruments | Vocals, guitar, keyboards, piano, synthesizers, bass |
| Years active | 1995–present |
| Labels | Kscope (Link), Too Pure (Link) |
| Associated acts | Mansun, Grind, The Anchoress |
Paul Edward Draper (born 26 September 1970, in Liverpool) is an English singer-songwriter, musician and record producer, formerly the frontman of the rock band Mansun.
Draper grew up on Garmoyle Road in Wavertree, Liverpool before moving with his family to Connah's Quay, Deeside, which Draper described as "the absolute nothing of Great Britain", adding "Deeside is just the bit where the Welsh people really aren't Welsh because they were infiltrated by the English in the Fifties and Sixties. It's where everyone from Liverpool ended up. Basically, just after the war, Liverpool had 800,000 people; now it's got 390,000 people, and the missing 400,000 all live in Deeside. It's a horrible, horrible place. In Liverpool, if you're 15 and you pick up an acoustic guitar in school and play a song, then people would listen. But in my school when I tried to take in a guitar, I was just a poof and a queer, and that was that".
Draper attended St Richard Gwyn Catholic High School, Flint and Thames Polytechnic (now University of Greenwich) where he formed Grind with Steve Heaton and drummer Carlton Hibbert who regularly played around London and released one 12" single before splitting. Draper returned home to study at Wrexham Art College before forming Mansun with bassist Stove King, and guitarist Dominic Chad. The band signed to Parlophone and released three studio albums before splitting in 2003 whilst recording their fourth. In 2004, Draper compiled Mansun's aborted fourth album recordings for release in the Kleptomania box set.
On 16 May 2006, Draper announced that he had been diagnosed with cancer during fourth album sessions at Rockfield Studios. After a blister appeared on his left hand middle finger that kept bleeding, Draper visited a local doctor who took a sample of tissue from the finger. He was informed that it was a malignant tumour known as a "Bowenoid Malignancy", and responded positively to five cycles of chemotherapy. However, he was unable to play for several months after the tumour was cut out and his finger swelled up following treatment.
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