Paul Haig
| Paul Haig | |
|---|---|
| Born | 4 September 1960 |
| Origin | Edinburgh, Scotland |
| Genres | Rock, alternative rock, synthpop |
| Occupation(s) | Singer-songwriter guitarist |
| Instruments | Guitar vocals |
| Years active | 1979–present |
| Labels | Les Disques Du Crepuscule, Operation Twilight, Circa, Rhythm of Life, LTM |
| Associated acts | Josef K |
| Website | paulhaig |
Paul Haig (born 1960) is a Scottish indie musician, singer and songwriter. He was originally a member of 1980s post-punk band Josef K who were signed to the Postcard record label. Other bands on Postcard at the same time were Orange Juice, Aztec Camera and the Go-Betweens.
Between 1979 and 1981 Josef K recorded five singles and an album (The Only Fun in Town) with Haig on lead vocals, before splitting in August 1981; their final Scottish date was in Glasgow. The break-up was due to a combination of too-great expectations, too-small financial returns, Haig's dislike of touring, and disagreements over future direction. The following year Haig told Johnny Waller in Sounds: "I was pretty depressed for a week because it was the end of an era, but after that I was really happy that we'd split, because I could get on with everything I wanted to do. I've lost a lot of the ideals I had in Josef K. About not wanting to be commercially successful, suffering for your art and all that. I want to be signed to a major and make a great record that will get radio airplay and be a big hit, then make my own money from that. I don't mind being manipulated to a certain extent to get what I want, but in time I want to control everything."
With Postcard disintegrating in the wake of the Josef K split, Haig signed with stylish Belgian independent label Les Disques Du Crépuscule for mainstream solo releases, and also adopted the moniker Rhythm of Life Organization (RoL) for a variety of side-projects. These included two interim singles on Edinburgh independent Rational, run by manager Allan Campbell. The first of these, Soon, was a collaboration with fellow Edinburgh musician Stephen Harrison (formerly of Metropak), while the second, Uncle Sam, saw Haig guesting on a record by artist Sebastian Horsley. Exploring territory first charted by Public Image Limited and Heaven 17 in their BEF guise, both singles appeared as Rhythm of Life, this anonymity reflecting Haig's avowed dislike of personal publicity. Also via Rational, he released a limited edition (700 copies) cassette-only set of home-recorded electronica titled Drama, featuring Franz Kafka texts set to music, as well as a deconstruction of Josef K's Forever Drone.
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