Cult artist Paul Roland, long hailed as the "Godfather of Steampunk" has re-issued his album, Bates Motel, led by new single, Tortured by the Daughter of Fu Manchu. We asked him the BIG questions . . .
With a career spanning more than four decades, Paul has released over 20 albums and his songs have been described as "vivid vignettes populated by Victorian villains, haunted inventors, and supernatural figures".
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Originally penned for surviving members of The Velvet Underground - including Nico, Sterling Morrison, and Mo Tucker, who had agreed to collaborate on Roland's late 80s album Danse Macabre - the songs on Bates Motel reveal "a transatlantic psych-pop sensibility, now rediscovered through a fresh 2025 lens".
Tell us three things about yourself . . .
I've loved words and telling stories since I was a child so as soon as I discovered music at the age of 14, I found a means of telling stories through songs.
I’ve had paranormal experiences since childhood - specifically out-of-body experiences which led me to a lifelong exploration of their significance. I’ve also taught meditation and Kabbalah and written dozens of books on esoteric subjects (ghosts, angels, meditation, past life regression etc).
I’ve used some of my personal psychic experiences in my songs, my non-fiction books and my (as yet) unpublished novels. I'm planning to share my experiences in a regular series of interviews on Instagram @psychpopguru.
How would you describe your music?
A potent blend of baroque pop, psych, goth rock and dark acoustic songs often with literate lyrics set in Victorian, Edwardian or Regency England and frequently with themes of the supernatural. Someone described me as 'the male Kate Bush’ and I think that’s a pretty accurate comparison.
Who are your musical inspirations?
My earliest influence was Marc Bolan of T-Rex but more his acoustic Tyrannosaurus Rex period with the Tolkeinesque fantasy poetic word play and exotic instrumentation. But there’s also echoes of composer Michael Nyman, the medieval fantasy of the first King Crimson album as well as a dash of Hawkwind and the Velvet Underground, for whom I wrote some songs back in the mid-80s.
What was the first gig you ever went to?
T-Rex in 1975 when they were sadly well past their prime but just to be in the presence of a musical hero made a profound and lasting impression.
What was the first record you ever bought?
Green River by Creedence Clearwater Revival. I had no idea who they were or what they sounded like but I immediately discovered how to write songs because I could clearly hear the simple chord changes behind the melody. "Oh, I thought to my 14-year-old self, so that’s how it’s done!"
What’s your favourite song right now?
Too many to list and I’m adding new songs to my mental jukebox all the time, but I still love all the songs that have ever moved me. I don’t fall out of love with music. If forced to choose, I’d probably go for Sonne by the German neu metal band Rammstein – it’s tough but tender at the same time and that’s a difficult feat to pull off without sounding contrived.
Favourite lyric of all time?
Probably a couple of lines from Bolan’s Cat Black, The Wizard’s Hat - although complete hippy trippy nonsense it’s still strangely moving: ‘We of the wind must rejoice and speak, And kiss all our star browed brothers on the cheek.’
If you could only listen to one song for the rest of your life, what would it be?
Oddly enough it’s San Francisco (Be Sure To Wear Some Flowers In Your Hair by Scott McKenzie as it’s a time machine that takes me back to a simpler time of innocence and hope. Something we seem to have lost or squandered.
Where can people find your music/more information?
Alan Corr
