So, she wis like ‘whit?’, an he wis like ‘whit?’ and ah wis like ‘Wur yi aye?’
Your cover star this month is a true action hero, Thee Mr Mister Paul Nicholls who sadly passed away on the 29th of August in the Marie Curie hospice in Glasgow.
Paul was an exceptional character that really did bring a lot of laughter, colour, style and music to the world. On New Year’s Eve last year he was tragically and suddenly diagnosed with Bowel Cancer and given a few months to live. In those few months he accepted his fate and chose to get on with it as best he could.
Those few months passed and as expected, we couldn’t get rid of him that easily! He continued to live his life to the full, DJ at clubs, was always the life of the party and believe it or not...even got himself a new boyfriend!
Paul was a DJ, a style icon and a Party Monster. When people would look at Paul they would expect some raving maniac, although they were right, they were always almost instantly proven wrong by how pleasant, welcoming and genuine he was.
Everyone in Paul’s life, in Glasgow and London has a story to tell about him...usually one of his one-liners or a mental situation at some party or club.
My first experience of Paul was at the tail end of a party in my flat when no-one but us wanted to leave or deal with the bright 7am sun creeping around the side of the curtains. I asked him where we should go and he said “I’ll be outside the school gates wi ma fanny lips over ma heed pure hopin’ that the weans love Sugar Puffs! Where are you goin’?” From then on his banter just got more absurd and more hilarious.
For the next 6 years I worked with Paul on various club projects around Glasgow and found him to be the perfect DJ and club host. He would always play for crazy long times as he was too selfish to share the decks with anyone else and too vibrant and energetic to be upstaged by anybody. He always got the party going and attracted the most beautiful and colourful crowds every night without fail. To this date he is the only DJ that hasn’t had the sack from Bloc, despite him ruining the venue every time by inciting riots on top of the tables and literally bringing the roof down!
It really is a tricky one, losing someone like Paul. Realising that you will never see them again puts an air of unusual anxiety and emotion over everything for a while, then slowly you learn to live with the memories instead...and the memories can never change.
Paul left a lot of memories for a lot of people but one of his most important and hopefully most enduring legacies was his ‘Music is Disease’ blog that he updated almost daily chronicling his experiences since being diagnosed with cancer. He tried his best to let everyone know exactly what he was going through. This not only helped his friends and family deal with what was happening but also thousands of other sufferers of illness and tragedy. Keeping a diary seems like such a simple thing, but could you imagine having to do it when going through intense chemotherapy and dealing with the knowledge that you are dying. To have the strength to keep that up really is truly inspirational and this gave solace and hope to so many people all over the world.
You hear about people dying all the time and to be honest it feels like we’re almost desensitised to death nowadays. It’s only when someone with such a lust for life passes away that it all gets brought home with a bang. Paul said in his blog that he wanted to “put the fun into funeral. A FUN-ERAL! I know people may think it's daft but I want to be celebrated, not mourned. I lived life to the full and want to go out with a bang.”
I’m certain that when Paul got to wherever he is now there was much more than a bang and it will surely be pure bangin’ for a long time to come!
Death is something no one can ever know about and it probably is something different for everyone. I like to take comfort in the unknown so don’t subscribe to any of the religions that suggest angels, fire, sexy virgins and the like. We dictate our own lives so why not dictate our own afterlives? When you think about someone like Paul you can only imagine the kind of afterlife he could create for himself. What a rammy it must be, the angels won’t stand a chance of keeping up and nae chance are they getting a shot on the decks!
Goodbye Paul, you really were something special. You will be missed.x
“Let the music flow into your body and lift your soul for it's the medicine of life.”
Paul Nicholls, April 14, 2010 – http://musicisdisease.blogspot.com
