Paul Kendall
| Paul Kendall | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Paul Kendall |
| Also known as | PK, Piquet |
| Born | 18 November 1954 |
| Genres | Electronica, electroacoustic music, avant-garde |
| Occupation(s) | Sound engineer, Composer, Mixer, Record producer |
| Labels | EMI, Mute Records, Ici, d'ailleurs... , Parallel Series, Cat Werk Imprint, Ant-Zen |
| Associated acts | The Digital Intervention Recoil, Olivia Louvel |
Paul Kendall is a composer, producer and visual artist, primarily known as a sound engineer, mixer, mainly through his extensive career at Mute Records and his collaborations with Alan Wilder of Recoil.
Born in 1954, falling between the two moments of hippy and punk found himself stuck firmly in glam. The early years were informed by the space race and the otherworldly sound of joe meek. Never really a musician it was always the tape-recorder that held the allure. The ability to transform sound was more pleasureable than creating music except for an occasioanl flurry of cracked notes from a saxophone. In 1973 York University gave the opportunity to experiment with the VCS3 synth and tape manipulation. This illuminating period was tragically short as maths’ students were expected to produce solutions to problems and not create sonic wastelands. The 9 months of York were sufficient however to realise where the future could eventually lie. Returning to London a regular job was the only possibility for a working class boy. There followed nine and one half years in Barclays Bank. Always a square peg in the round hole of oblivion in the banking industry it did however provide a stable background to follow forays into music, cinema and theatre. Eventually with 2 friends they set up a small demo recording studio in Covent Garden which would give much needed first hand experience of recording techniques.
With the death of his mother in 1984 the possibility of leaving Barclays became a reality and coincided with the first affordable multitrack recorders. A home 16 track studio was set up, and with the nascent MIDI in place, composition could again be considered. During this period his first wife had become a member of Fad Gadget so an introduction was made with Daniel Miller, head of Mute Records. This led to working for Daniel in his newly established Worldwide International studio and the start of a long collaboration with many of the Mute artists, Renegade Soundwave, Barry Adamson, Nitzer Ebb, Wire, Depeche Mode and eventually Recoil. A swift learning period coincided with the expansion of Mute which would start a series of associated labels, most notably Blast First, giving exposure to artists such as Sonic Youth, Big Black and Butthole Surfers.
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