About Pablo

Pablo is a name of at least four acts. 1) A pseudenym of Michael Hunter (aka Butch Cassidy Sound System), an established UK producer and musician. His album is called: "Turntable Technology", feat' Record Shop (2009, Soma Quality). As well as popular tracks on compilations, e.g. Do What You Gotta Do, very limited records have been released on: Guidance, Fenetik / Soma, Good Looking Records, Red Hook Recordings and Howlin' Records - which included Roll Call (aka "Roll Call :7am"). Hunter has also composed the music score to Grand Theft Auto IV including the theme "Soviet Connection". Also did the music for GTA San Andreas. Sites: MySpace and PablosLab.com (official) 2) An New York, USA acoustic alt-country / folk rock quintet of two sets of brothers and a wife: ex-Awek Paul Schalda (vocals, guitar), ex-The Realistics Will Schalda (keyboards), Paul's wife Maggie Schalda (vocals, keyboard), Michael Strandberg (guitar, bass, lap steel) and William Strandberg (drums). Their début album was "Half The Time" (Oct 2006, Curb Appeal) and their latest is "Here I Am" (11 Feb 2011, Unit Records). Paul has a ghost's voice, an old haunted soul that shivers its way up through his mouth to share its cracked-glasses view of the world with those of us lucky enough to listen. The band is the vehicle for that voice and the lives it's lived. Previously heard draped over the Pavement-influenced treble clang of outer-borough indie rock heroes Awek, Schalda's distinct and affecting vocals stand at the band's center, drawing chills from the tight economy of his lyrics and conveying something deeper than most words usually get across anyway. It's smart music that connects at gut level, a rare treasure in a crowded space. Clipped stories prop themselves up against solitary acoustic guitar, or find a full body in the stellar and spare accompaniment provided by brother Will and his varied keys, wife Maggie's harmonies and the Strandberg brothers' ample multi-instrumentation. The result is a sound singular enough to equally evoke Odetta Holmes and The Replacements - one that perked up the ears of KEXP's John Richards, on "John in the Morning", and landed them East Coast, USA support-slots, with: Matt Pond PA, Earlimart, Brendan Benson and Kevin Devine. Initially, they self-released an EP Sites: MySpace 3) A band whose line-up (for the recording of the first tape) is/was formed by: Pablo, Diógenes, Negão, Marco Túlio, Júnior e Ramiro. This first tape was recorded in a 4 channel Tascam, borrowed from Zero Stress Recordings. Sngs with folk tones, exploring to the max the limitations of the four channels. 4) A Zairean guitarist, who gained some international recognition when the late BBC Radio 1 DJ John Peel began playing his records in the early 1980s. The popularity of Pablo's records led to a a string of releases by African artists in the UK and helped spark the growth of the World Music boom. 5) A Minneapolis, MN based singer-songwriter also known as Pablo Jones whose CDs include Vulgar Modalities (1999) and Bitches And Machines (2001).