Polly Paulusma // Drowned In Sound

Bio

Polly Paulusma (pronounced pauls-mah) is a singer-songwriter currently gigging around London, singing her own songs and attracting attention from the capital's discerning audiences. She was Ben & Jason's "sweet backing vocalist" (Time Out) on their 2001 album Ten Songs About You (Go!Beat/Polydor). As well as having a memorable voice, she's an accomplished songwriter; her strong melodies, complex lyrics and energetic guitar style are a hallmark of the songs which have been turning heads across London since summer 2001 at venues like The Kashmir, The Borderline and Upstairs at the Garage, among others. She started writing songs at the age of 10, and has written well over 100 since then. She has also co-written 'Under Your Wheels' with Ben & Jason's Jason Hazeley.

Since the autumn of 2000 Polly has accumulated a large collection of new songs and developed a moving live set which she performs either solo or with various combinations of bands - sometimes with strings (Marina Alexander on viola and Vicky Matthews on cello), or sometimes with a full band (Bob Knight on drums, Beth Symmons on double bass/bass). For up-to-date information on live performances, visit the 'gigs' page of her website here

To hear a performance with just strings, visit the Virtually Acoustic Club (VAC) website here and look for a gig there in August 2001. For a solo gig, see the performance there in December 2001. She sings, plays guitar (and sometimes piano) and arranges the strings parts herself.

She has collaborated with Ben Parker (Ben & Jason), Marina Alexander (viola), Jonathan De'Ath (drums), Andy Waterworth (double bass), Vicky Matthews (cello), Beth Symmons (electronc bass/double bass) and Gareth Batterbee (trumpet) on two demo recordings. For more information visit the 'songs' page of the website at www.pollypaulusma.com.

Other collaborations include working with Adem Ilhan from Fridge on a new recording of the song 'Two Stars' and a live performance at Tate Britain in central London, and with Adem and Gorodisch (aka Stephen Cracknell) on a reinterpretation and live performance of the soundtrack to the cult 1970s movie The Wicker Man at the ICA.

Influences include: Alanis Morrissette, Barenaked Ladies, The Beatles, Ben & Jason, Beth Orton, Bob Dylan, Carole King, Count Basie, Coldplay, Crowded House, David Gray, Del Amitri, Dr Robert, Duke Ellington, Eddi Reader, Ed Harcourt, Eels, Elton John, Fats Waller, Joni Mitchell, Kirsty Macoll, Lisa Loeb, Neil Finn, Nick Drake, Paul McCartney, Sheryl Crow, Shelby Lynne, Sparklehorse, Sting, Suzanne Vega, Van Morrison, and countless others.