Meet Paul Stafford

 

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Paul Stafford. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Paul below.

Hi Paul, thank you so much for opening up with us about some important, but sometimes personal topics. One that really matters to us is overcoming Imposter Syndrome because we’ve seen how so many people are held back in life because of this and so we’d really appreciate hearing about how you overcame Imposter Syndrome.

To be honest, overcoming imposter syndrome is a process that never feels quite finished. I think initially, the best way to overcome it was to get better at what we do as musicians, so we started doing this thing that we called instru-gym – where we basically practiced our instruments every day at the same time for an hour, basically just working out. We’d always been a bit unstructured about it before, going through phases where we’d play lots and phases where we wouldn’t practice enough. As soon as we started to practice daily, even when we were busy or when we maybe didn’t feel like it, we started feeling a bit more like professional musicians. And then every time we climbed up on stage, that imposter syndrome noise was quieter, plus we were putting in tidier performances thanks to being so well drilled, and that also helps build confidence.

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?

I’m one half of the alt-indie rock do PHWOAR and I’m on guitar and vocals. Hels (drums and vocals) and I have been working on this project for about five years now, but have really started to push it to the next level in 2025. We released an EP back in April called ‘Flowers Through the Concrete,’ which had some excellent reviews in the UK, US, Germany and Canada especially. Right now, we’re about to head back into the studio to record a couple more tracks and have just announced our debut UK tour – The PHWOAR Tour – where we’ll be playing all over the country at some amazing venues, such as Exchange in Bristol, this October. We’re so excited about it (although we’re generally both quite excitable people) because it feels like a big next step in the trajectory of any band.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

Great question. I’d say perseverance, passion and resilience are crucial. Primarily because the importance of these three qualities never goes away. You need them there at the beginning and we need them just as much now.
Without perseverance, I’d have quit a million times. There are times where I don’t want to write a song because I’m afraid it won’t be better than what I’ve already done. I’d probably never write again without perseverance.
Similarly, when we play an amazing show, everything feels perfect with the world and we love what we do. But those (increasingly infrequent, luckily) bad shows are a cruel reality check, letting us know where our limitations lie. Without resilience and perseverance, I’d definitely have thrown in the towel. But luckily also, the passion for writing and making music is what ultimately makes me want to push through the tough times, makes me want to keep working on the new website or keep reaching out to venues to book shows, even when there’s a seemingly insurmountable workload ahead.

How would you spend the next decade if you somehow knew that it was your last?

I’d always live like this, to be fair. You can do a lot in a decade. But I’ll tell you one thing I’d drop in an instant: social media. It really doesn’t even come close to the lived experience. I would keep doing exactly what I’m doing and keep writing songs, playing live shows and meeting people who love music. There’s nothing greater than feeling part of a community of people who live and breath and are their truest selves, rather than hiding behind web aliases, trying to win pointless arguments or curate a version of their life for others to see that doesn’t really exist. Nothing beats the lived experience. A decade of lived experiences outweighs a lifetime lived only online for me.

Contact Info:

Image Credits

The noodles and face-pushing images are credited to myself, Paul Stafford. The rest are credited to Waes Kay (all usage rights lie with us), please.

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