Owen Paul to perform with British Electric Foundation at Rewind North 2017!

Photographs used with permission by Noble PR.

Ahead of Rewind North Festival 2017, Sarah caught up with singer-songwriter Owen Paul as he gets ready to perform onstage with the British Electric Foundation this Summer…

As soon as you speak to Owen, you cannot help but smile. His enthusiasm for music, for audiences around the world and for Rewind Festival radiates in every word of our conversation:

“The Rewind Festivals are brilliant. The audiences have grown up with the stuff from the eighties; whether its from their school years or the years after. They get to have a weekend away where they can relive their youth and it’s brilliant to be part of. I’m very much looking forward to it”.

Performing at Rewind North Festival as part of The British Electric Foundation (founded by Martyn Ware back in the early eighties), Owen explains how this incredible opportunity first arose:

“I had mutual friends of the guys from Heaven 17, so I’d never actually met Martyn Ware or Glenn Gregory. I was approached by Martyn to see if I would be interested in doing it and of course I was - They’re brilliant guys and brilliant musicians; creators of brilliant music. I’m one of about four or five guests, so for example there’ll be me, Glen Matlock, Peter Hook and Claudia Brucken. If you’ve seen it before, then you’ll know how it works. Everyone sings their most famous song, but the song has been treated in a kind of electronic style. Then we get to sing one other song, which is a surprise so I’m not going to tell you that one. Then we all get together for the finale and sing a song together, which is great, but I’m not going to tell you that song either! (Laughs)”

Intrigued by the surprise song Owen would be performing along with BEF, fans (including myself!) will have to wait until the day to find out what it will be:

“You’ve just got to wait until the moment. Everyone knows I’m going to sing ‘My Favourite Waste of Time’ of course, but there will be one other surprise song I perform as well!”

Discussing the iconic track ‘My Favourite Waste of Time’, it’s incredible to think that this beloved song celebrated its thirtieth anniversary last year, as Owen explains:

“For a long time I hadn’t even realised it was the song’s thirtieth anniversary [last year]. There were a few people I was working with who said we should do a new version for the thirtieth anniversary, but treat it using new recording techniques. We started off by doing a slightly slower, electronic version and then we were approached by an American company who had heard one of the new versions and said they’d love to do a few dance remixes. Then before I knew it, it was going up the American charts and then we got a Number One in January, which was awesome!”

Asking Owen how it feels to know that ‘My Favourite Waste of Time’ is still loved by fans across the world, he adds:

“You realise what the song means to everyone and that it was a big part of people’s lives. Then you get to do it at places like Rewind Festival and everybody dresses up for the occasion - it’s just such a brilliant thing to be part of and I’m very proud of the record”.

So what can audiences expect at Rewind Festival? Owen summed up the atmosphere perfectly:

“Fun, sing-along and an exciting day”

Owen Paul will perform as part of the British Electric Foundation at Rewind North Festival 2017, on Sunday 6th August 2017.

By Sarah O’ Hara