A FORMER Helena Romanes School (HRS) pupil looks set for the big time as he launches his debut album. Paul Bullen, 26, from Great Bardfield launched his record Let the Night Roll In at High Barn last Thursday (January 4) to a tremendous ovation as he play

A FORMER Helena Romanes School (HRS) pupil looks set for the big time as he launches his debut album.

Paul Bullen, 26, from Great Bardfield launched his record Let the Night Roll In at High Barn last Thursday (January 4) to a tremendous ovation as he played most of the album live with a few Christmas hits thrown in.

Paul's rise has been a very quick one since his time at HRS where he took drama and "fiddled about in the music practice rooms", as he only set out on the music scene at the end of 2006.

He said: "I have been playing the piano since I was seven years old, and writing for as long as I can remember, I never really took it seriously at first."

His break came when Paul set up his own Myspace website and received tremendous feedback from listeners browsing his site.

He said: "After writing songs and recording them in my bedroom at home, people seemed to really like what they heard and wrote to me with compliments, which was very encouraging."

Since then Paul signed with the High Barn record label and has become a popular artist at the venue playing gigs on a regular basis during 2007 often watched by his mother Kate.

She said: "We are very proud of him, when he is at home he is always playing with instruments, he has done since he was very young. His dad is a guitar enthusiast and that encouraged him to learn guitar in his teens."

In fact Paul has become a very talented multi-instrumentalist, which has culminated in him playing every instrument on the album including guitar, bass, drums and piano.

He said: "My favourite is still the piano, but I love experimenting with different sounds, I'm very lucky to have a great group of very talented friends, from my time at Middlesex University, who accompany me for live shows."

Indeed, his shows have been very popular, particularly on the London acoustic circuit as his notoriety led him to fight off already signed acts to win the London Bridge battle of the bands in October 2007.

Paul has also just finished a tour of California were his music has gone down so well Los Angeles TV shows and films are negotiating deals to use his songs.

He said: "Everything is going so well at the moment, it is a really exciting time for me.

"This year I am aiming to play at least one or two of the big festivals like Glastonbury or the V festival and continue with promoting the record."

Listen out for Paul's music on radio stations Q103, Dream 101 and BBC Essex or visit his site at www.myspace.com/paulbullen