Paul Dempsey

Paul Dempsey, the Australian singer and songwriter, reveals how thoroughly the American recordings forwarded by a pen pal in Washington, D.C., shaped his approach. Fronting Something for Kate, whose lineup includes drummer Clint Hyndman, a school acquaintance from Mornington, and bassist Julian Carroll, he delivers an engaging fusion of poetic lyrics, forceful vocals, and roots-tinged arrangements. Their debut album, Elsewhere for Eight Minutes, appeared in 1996 under the supervision of American producer Brian Paulson, previously credited with sessions for Archers of Loaf, Superchunk, Uncle Tupelo, and Wilco. The son of an Irish mother who performed professionally and a father who died when Dempsey was still too young to remember, he found early motivation in his grandmother’s piano playing. Although he first explored keyboards, by age eight he had shifted to guitar and later taught himself drums.