Paul Marazzi

Paul Marazzi
Paul Marazzi in Manila, July 2002
Background information
Birth name	Paul Thomas Leo Marazzi
Also known as	Funk a1
Born	(1975-01-24) 24 January 1975
Origin	Wanstead, London, United Kingdom
Genres	Funk, Dance, rock, pop
Occupation(s)	Musician, disc jockey
Instruments	Vocals, guitar
Years active	1997– present
Labels	Columbia Records Sony BMG 1998–2002 Major records 2006–present
Associated acts	A1 Snagsby Steps Hip Operations Rockwool Sari

Paul Thomas Leo Marazzi (born 24 January 1975 ) is a British musician, best known as an original member and founder of boy band A1.^[1]

Marazzi was the first to join A1, a British/Norwegian boy band whose first single, "Be the First to Believe", was released in 1999. Together with Marazzi were Britons Mark Read, Ben Adams and Norwegian Christian Ingebrigtsen. They were formed by band manager Tim Byrne, who also formed Steps, and signed to Columbia Records by A&R manager Fran de Takats. A1 won a BRIT Award for "British Breakthrough Act" in 2001. Their third album, Make It Good, featured a sound closer to traditional rock music, but was to be their last studio project with Marazzi.

In October 2002, Marazzi took a break from the band citing personal reasons. Marazzi never gave a proper explanation on why he left the band letting fans wonder why he really left the band.^[2] In 2005, he started a band called Snagsby. He left Snagsby on January 2009 to pursue a career as a club DJ in The George Hotel in Whitby.^[3]

Early life

Marazzi was born on 24 January 1975 in Wanstead, London to Ivan and Maria Marazzi. His father is Italian–Indian and his mother is English. He has an older sister named Shareen (b. 1971).

As a child, Marazzi used to sing Prince songs.

Marazzi went to Spain with his family and lived there until 2007. He recorded a demo for a German producer which led him to audition for A1 in 1997.^[4][5]

A1

Paul said that he originally auditioned for Steps, however, he was placed in a1 in 1997. He was then later joined by Christian Ingebrigtsen, Mark Read and Ben Adams.^[4] They released their first album Here We Come in late 1999. Two years after their first single release in the 2001 BRIT Awards, the band received the award for Best British Breakthrough. In 2002, few months after their appearance in the US soap The Young and The Restless, Paul then announced his departure from a1 with a statement that read: "After a lot of thought and deliberation, I have made the difficult choice to leave the band due to personal reasons." ^[2] In an interview on YouTube, Marazzi stated he left the band as he knew their Make It Good album was not that great, and that he might as well jump off the sinking ship.

Post A1

After a1, Paul hosted the Andy Cole Children's Foundation (now All Star Kids) on 26 April 2003 together with Jo Good.^[6] He turned down the offer to appear in I'm a Celebrity... Get Me out of Here! in 2004.^[3] In mid-2005, Paul was interviewed in Spain for Fame Games where he talked about the life being in a1. The interview was aired on 31 July 2006 and also played (partly) two of his unreleased songs namely If I Could Be King and Lifted. Marazzi also revealed that he will be touring Germany with Spencer Davis Group.^[7] Later that year, he started forming a soul/rock band in Sunderland, North East England. Ivan (his father) named the band Snagsby in 2006, and managed the band until 2007 when he left due to technical difficulties. Later in 2008, the band announced in their official MySpace that Marazzi was leaving Snagsby on January 2009. Marazzi then went to work for Ivan, in The George Hotel in Whitby as a club DJ.^[3]

In late 2011, Marazzi was rehearsing/recording with Nobby in his previous bands (Snagsby now known as Audio Tracer) studio in Sunderland and Paul has formed a new band called Blue Eyed Soul. His father announced the news to his fans on Facebook.^[8] Just recently, he just become a Patron for MACY (Music and Arts for Creative Youth).^[9]

In August 2009, A1 reunited as a trio in Norway for a TV show after Marazzi refused to rejoin the band. In 2013, he was invited to take part on The Big Reunion (series 2) with a1 but Marazzi refused again to rejoin the band and to meet up with A1 whether off or on camera to discuss why he left and/or to sort everything out. MarazzI made a tweet attacking the band prior to the series airing causing his fans to be nasty towards the band.

He later released a song called Eleven Years which states how he really feels about the band. The song was officially released on 25 March 2014 and is available on iTunes. Another song was planned to be released with an accompanying video and was already recorded, but Marazzi later shelved the idea as he prefers live singing.

On November 30, 2014, while a1 was performing in Newcastle for Big Reunion Boyband Tour, Paul tweeted to ask everyone to stop saying nasty things about his ex- bandmates. This would make people wonder if they have patched things up. With this tweet it is presumed that he just wanted a1 fans (old and new) to be quiet and to leave him alone.

Paul was working as a cabinet maker based in Northumberland and singing part-time with a wedding band called Hip Operations. Paul joined after his stint with the band for It's A Disco Night in late 2012. At the start of 2015, The Paul Marazzi Band was formed and are busy working all over the UK. He has recently worked with the Overtones, Damage, S Club, 5ive, Overtones to mention just a few. Paul is looking forward to continued success in 2016 and a better 2017.

Personal life

Marrazi is in a relationship with a woman that he refers to as his Sugar Mama. He became a father after the birth of his daughter in 2016.

Musical Influences

Paul is a huge fan of Prince.^[7] On the Official Website of Snagsby as well as on his Facebook page, he stated that he is a fan of Shakin' Stevens, Lenny Kravitz, Red Hot Chili Peppers, George Michael and Michael Jackson.^[7]

Discography

With A1

Albums

• Here We Come (1999)
• The A List (2000)
• Make It Good (2002)
• The Best of A1 (2004)
• A1 Greatest Hits (2009)

Singles

• "Be the First to Believe" (1999)
• "Summertime of Our Lives" (1999)
• "Ready or Not/Everytime" (1999)
• "Like a Rose" (2000)
• "Take on Me" (2000)
• "Same Old Brand New You" (2000)
• "No More" (2001)
• "Caught in the Middle" (2002)
• "Make It Good" (2002)
• "Nos Differences" (2002)

Solo (1–7 are unreleased) Songs

• If I Could Be King (2003/2005)^[7]
• Lifted (2005)^[7]
• Let It Out (Demo/Original Version – 2002)
• Soulfreak
• Cream Rising
• Guess What They Call It?
• Can't You See
• Eleven Years (featuring Rockwool Sari)^[10]

See also

• A1

References