We couldn’t wait to ask Paul the question for this month’s ‘You Gave
Me The Answer’. We genuinely had no idea what he might say and were very
intrigued to find out! Let's launch straight in…
Alexey in Russia asks: “What was the biggest - or one of the biggest - fears in your life and how did you overcome it?”
We spoke with Paul ahead of his Desert Trip performances to find out:
“Thank you for your question, Alexey. Biggest fears? When I was a kid it was just getting beaten up by a local gang. You know, that was a purely physical fear. Where I lived it was a hard estate and there were guys who if you saw them you would just go to the other side of the street. Because you knew they would just say, “Hey you, who you lookin’ at?” And there was no right answer! “You!” And they’re coming at you! “Not you!” And they’re coming at you! Performing, it was always the idea that the audience didn’t like you and you had to prove yourself. I think that’s why a lot of people get stage fright and get nervous. You think, “Oh my god, I’m gonna be terrible, they hate me, and it’s all terrible.” And so I think that was one of the earliest fears. I remember nearly giving it all up when we were doing a concert in Wembley - which was a Poll-Winners concert - in the really early days of The Beatles. And I remember feeling physically sick with a knot in my stomach thinking, “I should give this up, this is just too painful, what am I doing?” I got over it. And as you can see I didn’t give it up! So that’s two different kinds of fears.
PMc.com: "Do you still get stage fright now?"
Paul: "Not too bad. What I do is I always say to my promoter when a tour is coming up: “Put one show on sale and see how it goes.” And he’ll ring me back and say, “It’s sold out! Twenty minutes!” So I’ve got to assume that they like me. So it gives you a confidence and I think I can probably relax, they probably like me. And it means you can enjoy the show more."
“Thank you for your question, Alexey. Biggest fears? When I was a kid it was just getting beaten up by a local gang. You know, that was a purely physical fear. Where I lived it was a hard estate and there were guys who if you saw them you would just go to the other side of the street. Because you knew they would just say, “Hey you, who you lookin’ at?” And there was no right answer! “You!” And they’re coming at you! “Not you!” And they’re coming at you! Performing, it was always the idea that the audience didn’t like you and you had to prove yourself. I think that’s why a lot of people get stage fright and get nervous. You think, “Oh my god, I’m gonna be terrible, they hate me, and it’s all terrible.” And so I think that was one of the earliest fears. I remember nearly giving it all up when we were doing a concert in Wembley - which was a Poll-Winners concert - in the really early days of The Beatles. And I remember feeling physically sick with a knot in my stomach thinking, “I should give this up, this is just too painful, what am I doing?” I got over it. And as you can see I didn’t give it up! So that’s two different kinds of fears.
PMc.com: "Do you still get stage fright now?"
Paul: "Not too bad. What I do is I always say to my promoter when a tour is coming up: “Put one show on sale and see how it goes.” And he’ll ring me back and say, “It’s sold out! Twenty minutes!” So I’ve got to assume that they like me. So it gives you a confidence and I think I can probably relax, they probably like me. And it means you can enjoy the show more."
So there you have it, Paul had the same
fears as us when we were little! Having never played Wembley as one of
The Beatles, we’re not quite as sure we can relate to his performance
fear!
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