Biography
Hello, my name is Paul Eberth. I am from Heidelberg, Germany, 25 years old, a drummer and happily obsessed with music! I have been connected to music all my life; starting from a very young age when I was listening to all the different genres my family introduced me to. Now, I am creating my own musical pieces. The opportunity to learn about making music and playing an instrument came to me often, but altough I skipped the first few ones until I found my passion for playing the drums.
It all began with a tape of Led Zeppelin when I was six years old, which my father handed to me.
What an introduction to music! Especially Bonham was someone my father made me interested in.
From this moment on, I always preferred paying attention to instrumental performances instead of
listening for vocals or lyrics.
Along with that, my father introduced me to Fusion Jazz. Brand X, Return To Forever, Billy
Cobham and Mahavishnu Orchestra are the ones I remember the most.
In school I kept listening to the vinyls of my father, but I did not make music myself. His collection contained many different genres. Jazz, World Music, Funk, Latin, Pop, Blues and Psychedelic Rock were presented to me regularly. But somehow I was never interested in touching the drum set, which collected dust in the cellar.
As life took me to middle school I found out that music has an identity giving quality to it.
Therefore I started developing my own musical taste.
My older sister became my role model, because she was already involved into teenager lifestyles
and the corresponding music. Suddenly I found myself enjoying Pop-Punk, Alternative Rock and
later on: Metalcore.
During this time my neighbour played an important role in teaching me about old school Metal
and Rock. He showed me the sound of Metallica and AC/DC.
Around this time I picked up the drum sticks.
But my passion for drumming started without them.
It was at my uncle‘s birthday party. He is a lover of African culture and its musical tradition. This evening he had organized a drum circle with djembes and other percussion instruments. I was asked to join. I had no clue
of djembes or drumming itself, but as soon as I made the first stroke I felt comfortable. This felt really easy to me! Now the dust-collecting drum set in the cellar became attracting to me too. About a year later I
took my first drum lesson, a few months before my 15th birthday.
I passionatley spent a lot of time in the practice room. My main inspiration came from the thought
of becoming as good as all the fusion players I had listened to. So I can say, this early influence of
instrumental madness really shaped my playing.
Luckily, I had an excellent teacher. His concept of teaching involved rudimental practice, as much
as playing on the kit. I was taught well in both disciplines and as Jonathan moved out, I was left
with a solid foundation of knowledge and skill.
Meanwhile I founded my first cover band with good friends of my sister. We mostly played Rock, Pop-Punk and Classic Rock. All together we had about 3 gigs. As we found out that our musical visions did not work well with each other, we decided to go our separate ways.
Afterwards, I have been asked to audition for a student’s band at my school. Despite my young age, I could convince them with skill and passion. We mainly played covers. Unfortunately, we ended our sessions due to all the other members graduating. All these experiences gave me a solid foundation in rehearsing with bands, gigging, my role in a band, song structures and drumming in general.
This was the first time in my life I really identified as a musician.
Then I switched schools. In the following years I concentrated on catching up social skills and took
a deep dive into painting and drawing, which were talents I have always had and developed over the
years. At this time my original plan was to become a designer or something similiar, not a musician.
Practice became secondary and not really goal-oriented.
Musically, it led to me being interested in more genres than before. Reggae, Ambient Music,
Techno, House and Progressive Rock were added to my list.
School ended with a work and travel trip to New Zealand. A memorable time, especially in terms of taking responsibility and living in another country.
When I returned from New Zealand, my plans to become a designer had not changed, so I decided to start an apprenticeship as carpenter. Why that? Well, my father recommended that I learn a trade before going to university.. Because in case of failure or inability to get a job, I would have a backup. So I did. This took me to Heidelberg.
But what this time actually was about, was not carpentry. I made a lot of friends in Mannheim and got involved into its music scene. A really big one, led by the Popakademie Baden-Württemberg. So I picked up the sticks again and took a seat in a regular bar jam session.
This way I found out that improvisation is one of the most creative ways to express yourself in music. To this day, I see it as the purest form of expression in any art form. Once again I became a founding member of a band; a band most important to me, even until now. „Minnow“ is our name and we have been part of the Bandsupport Program Mannheim, which cooperates with the Popakademie Baden-Württemberg and its teachers.
We released an album and 3 singles in the last two years, played about 35 gigs and are playing exclusively our own music. These are experiences I would never want to miss because they showed me the beauty of being a musician again. After having found out that carpentry is not for me, I decided to finally become a professional musician.
Curriculum Vitae
About Me
Date and place of birth | 17.12.1995, Dernbach |
| Civil status | Single |
| Nationality | German |
School Career
| 10.2019 – 08.2020 | 2 semester study at the University of Heidelberg Major courses: Musical Science & Philosophy |
| 09.2016 – 07.2019 | Visited Erhardt-Schott-Schule Schwetzingen Completed vocational school education as carpenter |
| 08.2012 – 06.2015 | Tilemannschule Limburg: completed A-Levels |
| 08.2006 – 06.2012 | Mons-Tabor-Gymnasium: completed high-school diploma |
| 08.2002 – 07.2006 | Elementary school Kastanienschule Welschneudorf |
Employment Career
| 06.2020 – 08.2020 | Private care assistant for Kai Bauer, employed privately |
| 12.2019 – 03.2020 | Private care assistant for Kai Bauer, employed by mediavita GmbH |
| 08.2017 – 07.2019 | Apprenticeship at the carpentry Tischlerei Gassert Sandhausen within the vocational school education |
| 09.2016 – 07.2017 | Internship at the carpentry Tischlerei Gassert Sandhausen within the vocational school education |
| 02.2016 – 04.2016 | Traffic Controller at Fletcher Construction Company Limited in New-Zealand |
| 09.2015 – 12.2015 | Postman at the Deutsche Post AG |
| 07.2012 – 07.2015 | Vaccation job as a caregiver for kids and young adults at the Familienferiendorf Hübingen |
| 10.2012 – 11.2013 | Work as a waiter at Rückerhof Welschneudorf |
| 08.2009 – 12.2014 | Work as a mail carrier at Roswitha Ragge – Telefonmarketing Kleintransporte, now called → MedienService & Consulting GmbH |
Additional Qualifications
| Language skills | French (basic)
English (advanced) |
| Driving licences | Classes AM/B/L |
| Maschine licences | TSM 1/2/3 |
| Additional education | „Management & Craftsmenship“/ part 3 of the
examination for the craftsmen master diploma |
Travelling
| 01.2016 – 06.2016 | Work & Travel at New-Zealand |