Paul Hammond’s history in the music business is rather extensive. A professional guitarist, producer, engineer and songwriter, he is also an accomplished electronics technician. Hammond’s life resembles that of some of the greatest technician/musicians of all time: such as - Les Paul, Jimmy Page, and Brian May. From writing a song to performing it, engineering the recording session while producing it, building custom amplifiers and effects pedals to play through on it, as well as rebuilding and maintaining the mixing consoles and tape machines used to record it....Paul Hammond does it all.
Past Projects: As a result of Hammond’s association with Paul Sinclair and the 90’s music scene in Philadelphia, he ended up doing work for Studio 4 owners Phil and Joe Nicolo, of Ruffhouse/ Sony/Columbia fame. Hammond says “I would show up to do some tech work and they would be working on the most amazing tracks like the Rolling Stones or Aerosmith, and they would show me all the techniques they were using to get that hit quality sound - I love those guys!” As a result of this association Paul ended up working for Ted Greenberg at the now legendary Big Zone Audio, which was housed in the same Studio 4 complex. Paul would rebuild Ted’s vintage API mixing console, play some guitar, and work with bands and musicians that they were recording at the time. Other past projects include writing and playing guitar tracks on Time Warner and Comcast radio and TV commercials for Chris Zurzolo at D4TV of Philadelphia. One of the commercials Hammond played on was broadcast regionally during the 2006 Super Bowl!
Current Projects: Paul often works at Rob Hyman’s (The Hooters, Cyndi Lauper, Joan Osborne), privately owned and operated Elmstreet studios as an associated engineer/technical consultant. His latest projects include - selecting and customizing a Martin D28 acoustic guitar at the Martin factory in Nazareth PA with JR Warner, Paul Sinclair and head of artist relations Dick Boak, for Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin and flying it to England to deliver it. Having a custom built Martin acoustic guitar made to auction for the charity - ABC Trust UK, Custom building a 6 string electric Les Paul Junior and 8 string octave mandolin double neck with his father E.E. Hammond for Eric Bazilian to play on the 2007 Hooters European tour. Playing guitar and mandolin in Get The Led Out, “The American Led Zeppelin.” Playing guitar for “Sinclair,” and running mastering sessions at Fat City Studios with Paul Sinclair. His work has landed him numerous album and CD credits on AMG (All Music Guide) and a voting membership with the National Association of Recording Arts and Sciences, or “NARAS”, the organization that hosts the Grammy awards.
Paul Hammond’s influences are many. From Chet Atkins and Franny Beecher to Jimmy Page and Hendrix, he’s been inspired by the masters. In Get The Led Out, Hammond is able to put this background to the test as Zeppelin’s music has such diverse ingredients. Paul says, “One of my favorite bands and influences was always Led Zeppelin, so performing their music live is very satisfying.”