Paul & Price

Paul & Price的艺人档案

Paul and Price are really Jonathan Paul and Damir Price. If you see them work together in their 2nd floor studio on Hollywood Boulevard, abuzz with neighbors like Tool, David Fincher and Native Instruments, you might think the two have known each other all their lives. The truth is, they really just met a few years ago and their backgrounds could not be more different. While Jonathan was born and raised in Northern California, Damir grew up in the small Yugoslav town of Tuzla (now Bosnia) where he had strict piano and music lessons from the age of 6. "My dad was a saxophone player and it was the most exciting thing for me to see him perform". Damir decided to become a musician as well. "I knew I wanted to go to Berklee College of Music in Boston, but I didn't know how I would ever get there." Being involuntarily “welcomed” into the Yugoslav Communist Party at age 16 did not help. But after a year as an exchange student in Colorado Springs, his US host family convinced him to join the cast of 'Up With People' who he toured with for two years. "Yes, people make a lot of fun of me when I tell them that, but the truth is it was 'Up with people' experience that really got me into synthesizers and electronic music." In the end he was accepted into Berklee on a scholarship and studied Film Composition and Music Synthesis.


Jonathan on the other hand never had a single music lesson. Instead he grew up banging on drumsets and Dj’ing. Sometime in the early 90’s he moved to LA and studied Fine Art and Architecture at Parsons. As he juggled a busy schedule as a creative director for a fashion company, designing furniture, and working as an art director for an ad agency, Jonathan always managed to find free time to produce music and continue working as a DJ. "Music was always there, it was always a constant part of my life". Jonathan founded Terminal-3 and his music was played all over on LA’s KCRW, which perked the attention of Nic Harcourt and many ears in town and eventually got him the commercial representation. It was a mutual friend who finally introduced Jonathan and Damir in 2002. What was supposed to be a collaboration on one song ended up being a partnership for good. The two became Paul and Price and also founded redCola, a record label and music production house for commercials, movie trailers, film and TV.


"The partnership works so well because we are so different, " explains Damir. "We have a completely different approach to music. I come from the 'trained musician’s background' and Jonathan comes from the 'aesthetical, art director background'. Which usually results in him editing half of the stuff out of my songs."
"If I start writing a track on my own," says Jonathan, "after I consider it done, I give it to Damir to work on and vice-versa. That's the way it has worked best and we actually end up really enjoying what the adds or takes away from the track”. The end result is a unique blend of electronic, yet organic music.
"Yes, we do electronic music. But the expression is confusing nowadays. It just means, it's done electronically, but it doesn't necessarily sound electronic. I used to say I play the piano. Nowadays I say I play the computer. ", adds Damir. Even though most of the sounds they use are indeed digital, Paul and Price do collaborate with other musicians whenever they have chance. "L.A. has a vibrant music scene," says Jonathan, "and many amazing musicians from all over the world. Every time you record with a live musician or a singer they add their personality to the song which always makes it more colorful and gives it a whole new dimension."


Virgin Airlines liked the sound of Paul and Price so much they licensed a dozen songs for their radio and Internet campaign as well as for their in-flight radio program. Halle Berry, Longchamp, Nike and many others have licenced song or asked Paul & Price to compose songs for them. And the French record label Pschent lincluded"Little White Roses" on Stephane Pompougnac’s Hotel Costes series.