SoundClick artist: Paul Mcilwaine - Producer, guitarist and songwriter based in Northern Ireland.

Independent music maker from Northern Ireland. Playing guitar, bass, mandolin, banjo and a little keyboards ... I enjoy writing original music and sharing with the Soundclick and Soundcloud communities.

I have several albums available under my own name and as a co-writer with other artists. My music has been used professionally and published commercially.

Always writing.....

Do you play live?

I play live occasionally as the guitarist with Rhythm Revue around the Belfast area. We don't play on a regular basis, only when the spirit moves us, we are al busy people these days.

How, do you think, does the internet (or mp3) change the music industry?

There is so much free music available through the Internet and other sources these days .... which is good for the consumer, but not so good for musicians. Generally though its good ... I play and record because I love music these days as I earn a good living elsewhere.

Would you sign a record contract with a major label?

I've been signed to record labels back in the Seventies and Eighties (Phonogram, Mercury, Back Door and Good Vibrations) it is a big buzz when they pay a lot of attention to you especially in the early days.

Band History:

I've been involved in the music biz from the late seventies when I got caught up in the punk boom around the Belfast scene playing in bands The Detonators, The Tearjerkers and Etc Etc .. check out www.tearjerkers.co.uk for all the gory details. I toured extensively in the UK and Ireland and was a professional musician from 1977 to 1981.

I later developed and interest in jazz and joined the Bob Dawson big band for a couple of years before forming my own small group Blue Rhythm.

By the mid eighties I developed a strong Christian faith and played exclusively in church.

In 2002 I started getting interested in making secular music again and travelled to Sheffield, England for a reunion of The Detonators 25 years after we first formed. Since then I have built a small home studio and record and write my own material again.

I have also archived a lot of my early recordings especially The Tearjerkers as there is still an international interest in this group especially in Japan, France and Italy.

Your influences?

To many to mention ... a fair few Soundclick artists rock my little world. Check out my friends here on the Click.

Favorite spot?

London, Barcelona, Majorca, sandy beaches and wide open spaces. I hope to buy a boat in the near future and sail to my favourite places and discover a few new ones.

Equipment used:

Fenders mostly- Telecasters X2 and Stratocaster, Gibson Les Paul, Takamine NP15 and Peavey Amps. I endorse Republic and Recording King Acoustic guitars and paly a RG - 01 O- style resonator.

I record using a Mac and Logic Pro Studio 8 and sometimes Adobe's Audition on a Windows PC also with either a Behringer or Yamaha's MD8 mixer. Mics are usually Rode or Sure.

Anything else...?

Please get in touch if you would like to collaborate on songs and such.