Paul Banks (singer)

Paul Banks
Banks in 2015
Background information
Birth name	Paul Julian Banks
Also known as	Julian Plenti DJ Fancypants
Born	(1978-05-03) 3 May 1978 Clacton-on-Sea, Essex, England
Origin	Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, United States
Genres	Indie rock post-punk revival hip hop art pop
Occupation(s)	Musician singer songwriter DJ
Instruments	Vocals guitar piano drums bass guitar
Years active	1997–present
Labels	Matador Soft Limit Warner Bros. Capitol EMI
Associated acts	Interpol Banks & Steelz No Planes in Space Chad Hugo RZA
Website	bankspaulbanks.com
Notable instruments
Gibson Les Paul Custom Fender Jaguar Gibson Flying V Gibson ES-175

Paul Julian Banks (born 3 May 1978) is an English-American musician, singer, songwriter, and DJ. He is best known as the lead vocalist, lyricist, and guitarist of the rock band Interpol. Banks released an album named Julian Plenti is... Skyscraper in August 2009 under the name Julian Plenti. His solo material is now recorded under his real name. As a singer, Banks' voice lies in the baritone range.^[1]

Early life

Banks was born in Clacton-on-Sea, Essex.^[2] His family left England when he was three years old, moving to Bloomfield Hills, Michigan,^[2] and then to Spain. His father was later transferred to Mexico, where Banks finished high school at the American School Foundation,^[3] where he was involved in theatre productions, and played the lead role in the musical South Pacific. He speaks both Castilian Spanish and Mexican Spanish fluently.

After high school, Banks attended New York University where he studied English and Comparative Literature,^[4] and after graduating, he worked at magazines such as Gotham and Interview. Banks later took a job in data entry,^[5] and then in a café,^[6] in order to devote more of his time to music. Banks was inspired to become a musician by Nirvana.^[7]

Interpol

Banks joined the band in the summer of 1997 when he ran into Daniel Kessler, whom he had met on a study abroad program in Paris. When asked to join Interpol, Banks initially refused, but after listening to the type of music they were writing, he joined.

Banks' voice, singing style, and lyrics have been strongly compared to, most notably, Ian Curtis of Joy Division. Banks has said that he does not try to emulate his greatest influences because he thinks he cannot live up to them, saying "I would never try to sing like Frank Black or Kurt Cobain because you just can't do it".^[8]

Since the recording of the newest Interpol album, El Pintor, Banks has assumed bass duties; in the new music video for the song "All The Rage Back Home" Banks can be seen playing a Fender Precision Bass.

Solo project

Banks released a solo album under the name Julian Plenti on 4 August 2009 entitled Julian Plenti Is... Skyscraper. Banks claims to have multiple solo projects and monikers in mind. He released a five song EP entitled Julian Plenti Lives... on 26 June 2012.^[9][10] His second full-length studio album, Banks was announced on 6 August 2012^[11][12] and was released on 22 October 2012.

• Julian Plenti Is... Skyscraper (2009)
• Julian Plenti Lives... (2012)
• Banks (2012)

In addition to the full-length albums, Banks self-released a mixtape^[13] entitled Everybody on My Dick Like They Supposed to Be in 2013, which included contributions by Talib Kweli, El-P, High Prizm and Mike G^[14]

Other projects

In June 2016, Paul Banks and RZA announced a joint album Anything But Words as "Banks and Steelz",^[15] with guest appearances by Kool Keith, Ghostface Killah, Method Man, Masta Killa and Florence Welch.^[15] Two singles were planned: "Love + War" and "Giant".^[15]

Instruments

During Interpol's early years, Banks typically played a black Les Paul Custom guitar. He then started using a Fender Jaguar and a Gibson Flying V (for a time with the word "breasts" spelled out in white tape on it)^[16][17] for songs from Our Love to Admire and his Les Paul for songs from Antics and Turn on the Bright Lights, although some songs like "Obstacle 1" were played with Banks' Fender Jaguar because of the impracticality of switching and songs like "Mammoth" were recorded using his Les Paul for the same reason.

Banks did use his Fender Jaguar as his primary guitar for the end leg of the Our Love to Admire tour and was also seen using a Gibson ES-135 for songs such as "Not Even Jail", but since the 2010 tour leg, he has not been since using the Jaguar or Gibson ES-135 and has only been since using his traditional Les Paul, though the Flying V can be seen in the music video for "Barricade" with the tape no longer present. His Gibson ES-135 was his primary guitar during his live performances as his alter ego Julian Plenti. Recently, during live shows of his solo work, he has been playing a Fender Stratocaster with two humbucker pickups and a middle position single coil possibly so he doesn't have to change guitars between songs for the diverse sounds on his solo records. In the studio, Banks has been seen using a black Fender Precision Bass with a maple fretboard.

His pedalboard includes:

• BOSS TU-2
• Z.Vex Super Duper 2 in 1
• EHX Micro POG
• MXR Micro Amp
• MXR Bass Octave Deluxe
• Way Huge Swollen Pickle
• Ibanez TS9DX
• BOSS DN-2
• 2 MXR Carbon Copy Analog Delay (one set at higher repeats)

His pedalboard on the Julian Plenti tour:

• BOSS TU-2
• Way Huge Aqua-Puss
• BOSS DN-2
• EHX POG 2
• Blackstar HT Dual Tube Distortion
• MXR Carbon Copy

Since Antics (2004) he uses two Fender Pro Reverb amplifiers.

Personal life

In contrast to Interpol's smooth and melancholic sound, Banks has been a fan of hip hop music since he was in seventh grade.^[18] He has worked as a hip-hop DJ under the pseudonym DJ Fancypants.^[18]

In an October 2012 interview, former supermodel Helena Christensen described Banks as her boyfriend.^[19]Since his early teens, Banks has carried a bug trapped in amber in his pocket; for luck.

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Paul Banks.

• Interpol
• Paul Banks
• Julian Plenti
• Julian Plenti on Vimeo