BCC:
I'm here with Paul Colman and we're looking for the food room.

Paul Colman:
Exactly. We are.

BCC:
With the lure of KFC.

Paul Colman:
I'm usually vegetarian but I'm having a night off tonight.

BCC:
We've been down back alleys, dungeons…

Paul Colman:
Where's that food room? (After a brief discussion with a lady in the dark corridors in the belly of Mansfield COC we eventually find the food room.) Cold KFC…have a seat. What would you like to ask me about?

BCC:
Tell me about the shirt.

Paul Colman:
Well I bought this shirt in Hollywood. Just so I could say that.

BCC:
Really?

Paul Colman:
I did.

BCC:
Was it expensive?

Paul Colman:
I don't know how much it was. I've got plenty of money in my US account so I don't think of money when I'm over there.

BCC:
It's pretty snazzy.

Paul Colman:
Well I like it. You can have a feel.

BCC:
Oh it feels great.

Paul Colman:
You're not wrong. It's gorgeous. Yeah, okay, what else do you want to ask me about?

BCC:
Oh just about Brisbane - your thoughts on Brisbane?

Paul Colman:
Well I met my wife in Brisbane.

BCC:
And you got married in Brisbane.

Paul Colman:
Certainly did. And I kissed her first in Brisbane.

BCC:
Oh really, so Brisbane's one of those special places for you then.

Paul Colman:
Very special. My parents are pastoring a church up here so Brisbane's kind of like my second home. I love it.

BCC:
Good.

Paul Colman:
And I love the fact that… how many people came to see us play tonight?

Dave Gray
1008.

Paul Colman:
Wow. Our website will say 1500.

BCC:
I was on it today actually. It's a good website.P

aul Colman
It's good to have that many people together in one place. It's a good vibe, you know. Not just for the music but just so everyone feels like they're part of that experience. Cos it's not just about music. I mean, I'm trying to be a preacher, a singer, an entertainer and a story teller.

BCC:
Were there any highlights of the night for yourself?

Paul Colman:
A highlight for me tonight? I think most nights for me it's when you look out and you just see a thousand people with their hands up in the air. I just get a kick out of that. Cos we start off the night a little bit like rock stars with the lights and coming out to Moby and all that sort of stuff, but we end the night as a worship band. And I really like that transition. I think we're getting better at that. And that's good because it's nice to be in the spotlight, everybody loves that, but if you end up being the focus of the spotlight you just get sick of yourself. Don't matter who you are. Just because we're popular at the moment doesn't mean anything, we might not be in a year. But if you end up thinking you're the source of your own light, you dry up. Look at a guy like Greg Norman. He's just lost his pizzazz, that guy. I think he's just kind of lost it.

BCC:
He lost it years ago.

Paul Colman:
Yeah he just became focused on himself. He suddenly thought he was very special. And a lot of entertainers… I think people aren't made to be worshipped. They're just not designed to be worshipped and when you worship people it screws them up. So I gotta be honest with you, I don't…, when people are clapping at the end of songs and screaming, it doesn't really do anything for me at all.

BCC:
Yeah?

Paul Colman:
Nup. I just don't feel anything.

BCC:
Do you feel appreciation for the fact that you played the song well? People are respecting the fact that you've worked up some good songs?

Paul Colman:
No I don't feel any of that. I'm just kind of the leader of the fun. It's like a choir director or a PE teacher. You're the one leading the initiation of the evening but I don't feel a sense of accomplishment. I don't feel that. I mean when I'm connected with my wife and when I feel like God's in my life then that makes me feel great. But I don't really get a huge buzz from performing that much. I like it. It's what I do and it's the best job I've ever done but it doesn't really fulfil me like I thought it might.

BCC:
So what other jobs have you done?

Paul Colman:
I've been a school teacher, I've been a cleaner, I've been a dishwasher, I've been a cricket umpire.

BCC:
Were you a good cricket umpire?

Paul Colman:
Yep. I didn't take any crap. Can you imagine that?

BCC:
Did you get paid?

Paul Colman:
Indoor cricket. Yep got paid.

BCC:
Was there any bribing going on?

Paul Colman:
Oh bribes. None that I'm aware of.

BCC:
No bookies?

Paul Colman:
No. No it's funny I saw this interview with Richie Benaud the other day and he goes 'yes, yes, for, um, most of my life I've been trying to learn how to win a cricket game then I just realised some bastards have spent the whole of their lives trying to work out how to lose one.' I thought that was classic.

I'm a vegetarian. This is sensational. I haven't had greasy, fatty meat like this for so long.

BCC:
So Paul can I ask you what you do when you're not performing?

Paul Colman:
Yeah you can.

BCC:
Okay Paul, what do you do when you're not performing?

Paul Colman:
I spend time with my wife, I spend time with my friends and family, I play golf.

BCC:
Are you any good?

Paul Colman:
Yep.

BCC:
Putt-putt or the real thing?

Paul Colman:
I love putt-putt and I love the real thing too. That's my most serious hobby.

BCC:
Do you have a handicap?

Paul Colman:
Yep.

BCC:
What is it?

Paul Colman:
My personality. Just spending time with people's probably what I do when I'm not performing. And I spend a lot of time planning and working hard at what we do. Meeting with people…

BCC:
I suppose it's a full time job anyway.

Paul Colman:
Yeah, but see these people in this room. These three guys I met a few years ago, and music might be the catalyst of why I'm seeing them again, but I don't need music in my relationship with these guys to catch up with them. (Music people from Brisbane.) Okay we haven't caught up majorly but it's like we're all working for the same thing. We're all working for Jesus and working with him and with each other. And just because we received the applause and my name as three quarters of the band's title, it doesn't make me feel any better about myself.

BCC:
I thought the Grant Norsworthy Trio would be a good name for the next album.

Paul Colman:
Yeah it would except that focusing around a bass player's not going to sell much though. Especially when he doesn't write that many songs. But really, when it comes down to it, this is what we're going to experience in heaven. There's no stars, and it's kind of like I spent my whole life wanting to be recognised and wanting to be famous and now if I get any of that adulation it just makes me sick, I hate it. I don't feel it, like I don't feel that from people. I just feel that they like the music, they come along and they just want to say hello. But not for a minute do I think…

BCC:
So you don't mind being interviewed?

Paul Colman:
No. It's just a good conversation.

BCC:
Just making sure.

Paul Colman:
Not at all. I mean I invited you down here right? I'd rather preach than sing anyway. I don't get asked to preach much but I think I'm going to bit by bit. I'd rather do that. Do want to ask me any more questions? I like talking about myself.

BCC:
What do you think about working with Adam Lester?

Paul Colman:
It's great.

BCC:
What's he like? Is he a bit of a snob? I interviewed him before and… no, just kidding, he's very nice.

Paul Colman:
He's a very typical muso. I'm not a typical muso cos I'd rather talk to people before and after the gig than do the gig. I'd rather do the interviews and not the record. But Adam's like a typical muso in that when he's on stage that's like his release and his catharsis and that whole thing and so he's generally very shy, and often shy people can come across a bit snobby. And some people are really snobby but he's not, but I can understand why he might come across a bit that way.

BCC:
No I was joking, I seriously was joking.

Paul Colman:
No but I've heard someone say that before.

BCC:
Woopsadaisy. No he was the first person I interview and he was really nice.

Paul Colman:
When you get him one-on-one he's totally fine.

BCC:
But put him in a group…?

Paul Colman:
He either goes really quiet or he goes totally psycho. And he's one of the funniest people I've ever met in my life. On the tour bus we have laughed so hard at him. He's so funny. So it's been good. I mean, our whole band's based around friendship not music so it sort of comes pretty naturally to have people around just hanging out. So there you go. I don't think I'm that much interesting past that point. That's about all I've got to say.

BCC:
And quickly what colour's your toothbrush?

Paul Colman:
It's blue and white. What colour's yours?

BCC:
I think it's purple and white…red and white perhaps.

Paul Colman:
That's a little bit effeminate - purple. The dentist - that's a very intimate job.

BCC:
Have you had any funny experiences in the dental chair?

Paul Colman:
Last time I went to the dentist - I've got this unbelievable dentist - he's so cool that I wrote a song about him. His name's John… (to be continued… perhaps)