Some of you may know Paul Greene as a former Olympic runner; others may know him as one-half of “Hirst & Greene”, his musical collaboration with former Midnight Oil drummer, Rob Hirst. However, Greene is also an accomplished solo performer in his own right. Paul plays a Maton EM425-12 string acoustic guitar. We were fortunate enough to chat to Paul after he’d recently finished up a run of shows down the east coast of Australia.

What inspired you to play guitar?
Ahh, well my Mum was a guitar teacher and used to entertain me from a very young age by singing to me. She decided to send me off to guitar lessons when I was eleven years old. In the beginning I wasn’t particularly into it, but I happened to have this girlfriend whose brothers were all in a band, and one day I got to sing with them. It was the first time I’d seen a guy play electric guitar and I was pretty inspired by it. Then I started playing in bands as a bass player, because no one ever wanted to play bass! Then I got sick of bands and started playing solo. I originally began playing guitar to back myself as a vocalist. I studied Jazz for a little while, but I’ve always been more interested in holding down a rhythm and being a rhythm guitarist, and keeping the timing down. This is why I guess I click so well with Hirsty, who’s a drummer and very much a rhythmical guitarist as well.

Who are your musical influences?
One of my favourite songwriters is Randy Newman, who is probably the cleverest songwriter I’ve come across. Earlier on stuff that I got from my parents was the Beatles and James Taylor and Joni Mitchell. At the moment I reckon Ani Difranco would have to be one of the greatest guitarist in my view, she has the most distinctive style and doesn’t sound like anyone else. It’s very unique and borrows from all different genres.

What turned you on to playing Maton?
The first guitar I ever bought was a Maton, and it was sheerly (sic) because it was the best guitar in the shop. I’ve traveled all over the world, tried lots of different guitars, and Maton guitars have always felt the best to play and sound great! I use two Maton 12-strings that I do two hundred odd shows a year with. My first six string was a Maton which I bought back in 1986, but it was stolen about ten years ago.

Do people comment on your Maton guitars?
They do, yeah all the time especially on the Maton 12 strings. I don’t have a Maton six string a the moment but Rob Hirst does. The 12 string suits my style of playing I guess.

Do you use any effects when playing live?
No I don’t use any effects because I’m very much into enhancing the natural sound of the acoustic to get the best tone. I run it through a Sunrise pre-amp and then a Tech 21 Sans-amp acoustic DI. One channel runs to the PA and the second channel to a Fender Junior Pro through a tremolo volume pedal. The amp sound I go for is a deep rumbley sound. I leave all the treble to the acoustic and get all the warmth out of the tube amp.

What was the best gig you’ve been to?
Hmmm, one of the best gigs I saw was Pre-Shrunk…two bass players! I really enjoyed their music, they went from rock through to electronic kind of dance music. That was quite a while ago now. They were incredible; I never thought they interpreted quite as well onto CD as good as they did live.

Best gig you have played?
I actually tend to like the smaller pub gigs, not a particular one but it just sort of happens from time to time. Like places I play at regularly like the Excelsior in Glebe in Sydney, or in towns that I’ve been to a few times where people seem to really like my music. Wagga is one that’s really good, down at Foster too. My favourite gigs are the ones that are just small places, and people tend to forget they are in public and are just having a great time. I really like playing to Melbourne crowds because they challenge the performer a little more.

Where do you see yourself in five years?
Well I’m kind of at a bit of a cross roads at the moment. I’m working on my fourth album and I’m a bit torn between that independent thing and also the possibility of signing record deals or getting people outside to work with it. My gut tells me to stay independent but at the same time it’s really hard to be able to do what I want in the studio. I want to make an album that I don’t have to compromise anything on, you know, like I’ve got all the time in the world to mix it and take all the care with the sound. But the reality is if I’m funding it myself I have to watch the budget really closely. But in answer to your question I’ll be writing, recording and playing lots of gigs. How many people are at those gigs, I’ve no idea! I’ll be doing that in twenty-five years.

Do you find maybe you are getting a lot more interest now that you are playing with Rob Hirst or was the interest already there from major record labels?
Well Rob has an impeccable credibility, and he’s known as one of the best musicians in the country, he’s definitely one of the most successful and I’ve absolutely no delusions of thinking that that hasn’t helped me. The fact that he wants to work with me is a great honour and I’m sure any other musician would love to have the opportunity to work with him at the level that we have. I’ve been out there and touring and playing gigs to lots of people and I’ve survived very much on a word of mouth level, selling my cd’s mostly at gigs which doesn’t really register on the ARIA charts or anything like that. I guess playing with Rob is the first time I’ve really popped up on the industry side of things; we’re with ABC records now. But I’ve still been out there working really hard on my solo thing.

Do you and Rob have plans to keep playing together for a while or is this just a side project for both of you?
Well we both have other projects but its all just music. We had a break for a bit and today is the first time I’ve seen Rob for a while. We’re looking at getting together next week and starting to demo some new songs. He actually just started working on another book, which will keep him very busy. I love writing and working with other people and as long as we’re both still enjoying it then I wouldn’t see why we would keep writing and working together.