Paul Janz

Born into the family of a Mennonite Minister, Paul Janz's family moved from Three Hills, Alberta, to Switzerland when Janz was four. He started singing gospel music in the church choir and by age ten was writing arrangements for a gospel quartet and performing in front of huge crowds. Because of the fairly conservative nature of his family, listening to popular music was frowned upon, so Janz had to resort to listening to Radio Luxembourg - when he could get it to come in - and the Elvis 45s his brother would smuggle into the house. At age 13 he discovered the trumpet and began performing on the street with the local Salvation Army. After graduating from high school he attended the prestigious Conservatory of Music in Basel, where he studied opera, practiced five hours a day, and was soon in the studio arranging and conducting with members of the Basel Symphony.

While attending the Conservatory, his interest in writing arrangements for gospel music led to the formation of his first band, Deliverance, a Christian-oriented English rock group with six strong vocalists. In the ten years of their existence, they released three successful albums, reached #1 in Germany and #56 on the Billboard charts (with "Leavin' L.A." in 1979.). In the last year they were together they signed with Global Records who licensed them to a number of different labels worldwide. A solo single recorded by Janz eventually went to Number One in Germany but he was advised not to record an album by his attorney. Meanwhile, although selling well, Deliverance was having financial problems trying to tour and finally, with a stymied solo career and monetary difficulties, Janz decided to pack it in and return to Canada in 1980.

At first, Janz had trouble leaving his European past behind and quickly became frustrated with the way his songwriting was going; he was on the verge of calling it quits when he got work as a commercial jingles singer (he's the voice of "Way to go - Chevy!") and enrolled at Simon Fraser University to study philosophy. That same year he had sent some demo tapes to various labels around the country and, in the middle of his jingles work and going to university, an obscure label came forward and offered him recording time. If he could come up with a few more songs, they might consider recording an album. Cramming studio time into an already full schedule, Janz sang and played every instrument himself, but it was worth his effort - the demo album caught the ears of most of the major labels, and eventually he got concrete offers from both CBS and A & M. He'd already signed with A & M, though, by the time the CBS offer came through.

The first album, 'High Strung' (1985), received strong critical praise and produced the hit single "I Go To Pieces"; he also received a Juno Award for Most Promising Male Vocalist. Towards the end of 1985 Michael Godin, vice-president of A&M, left his job at the label and took over Janz's management. But with the cost of touring so high, Janz decided not to go on the road and 'High Strung' failed to sell as well as the reviewers predicted.

So, Godin put Janz in his home studio in Mission, BC, for a year and a half, and he emerged in 1987 with his second album, 'Electricity'. Although initial reaction to 'Electricity' was disappointing and it was almost on the verge of disappearing, the label decided to release "Believe In Me" as a final single. The song took on a life of its own and ended up winning PROCAN and CMPA awards, and resparked interest in the album. Because of the success of the song, A & M US sat up and took notice, and made a strong commitment to support the next album.

Recorded in Los Angeles and Vancouver with producer Bill Drescher (the Bangles, Rick Springfield), 'Romantic Renegade' was released in 1990 and rode high on the radio play of "Every Little Tear". Janz was finally able to tour nationally with an opening slot for Melissa Etheridge. Still, the album hardly lived up to the sales grosses of A & M's other Canadian male Bryan Adams. They cut him loose and Janz spent the next two years looking for a musical home.

Enter Attic Records' Brian Allen who inked a deal with Janz for exclusive worldwide rights to an undisclosed amount of albums starting with 1992's 'Trust'. Not to be one-upped, A & M rallied back with a Janz 'best of' called 'Presence' which helped put the biggest spotlight on Janz's career yet.

'Trust' was recorded in Janz's home studio in Mission, BC and the material was inspired by Janz's fact finding mission to Brazil with MuchMusic on the famine crisis in that country. The album spawned two hit singles in "Wind Me Up" and "Amazon Rain" which still get major airplay on Adult Contemporary stations in Canada.

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