Paul O'Sullivan lounged around his Baltimore apartment one evening in 2014, feeling bored. So, like many others, he logged on to Facebook to find out just how many others on the social network shared his name. Moments later, dozens of name twins from around the world filled his screen. On a whim, he decided to send friend requests to them all.
Many of his fellow Paul O'Sullivans ignored him, but a few felt too curious to pass up his invitation. As Baltimore Paul scrolled through the other Paul O'Sullivans' profiles, he noticed something four of them had in common: They were all musicians. Like Baltimore Paul, Rotterdam Paul sang and played guitar. Another Paul in Manchester, England, played bass. And Paul from Pennsylvania was a drummer. Baltimore Paul had an idea. Wouldn't it be funny, he asked the other musical Pauls, if they formed a band called The Paul O'Sullivans? Yes, they all agreed.
Starting a band across multiple time zones proved to be tricky. Shaky Wi-Fi and other technical difficulties meant they were often out of sync. And being even half a second off from one another wrecked their sound. To fix this, they created a sort of musical assembly line. Baltimore Paul and Rotterdam Paul wrote and recorded a basic track, then e-mailed it to Manchester Paul.
"I listen to the song over a few days," says Manchester Paul, "to get a feel for what bass arrangement seems most appropriate." Once he recorded a bass track, he e-mailed it back to Baltimore Paul, who then built it into the main song. Later, Pennsylvania Paul added the drumbeat. Round and round the track went, with each member adding on his own layer until they achieved the sound they want.
The Paul O'Sullivan Band released its first original song, "Namesake", in March 2016, which was about long-distance relationships. And when COVID-19 slowly shut____down the world, the Pauls didn't miss a beat. After all, the band had already got the hang of remote work. They used their time during the pandemic to record their first EP. Titled Internet Famous: A Retrospective, it was released last April.
"What are the odds," says Baltimore Paul, "that a random Facebook request would lead not only to new music but to lasting friendships as well?" "Some things are just meant to be."
