Meet Paul Padgett | Vocalist of CRUELINTENT

We had the good fortune of connecting with Paul Padgett and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Paul, what do you attribute your success to?
Though we are not a big band by any means, we have come a long way in a short time locally, we have had some great opportunites playing with more recognized bands such as Signs of the Swarm, To The Grave, Decrepit Birth and Psycroptic, which were great experiences and allowed us to reach new people to hear our music. Everything is attributed to putting the work in and putting our name out there and everyone in the band being on the same page and willing to make things happen and keep momentum going, without that things will remain stagnant and go nowhere or just decline completely, it’s all about having that hunger, passion and drive but to also have fun and not lose sight of why you play music in the first place, which for me is the love of it and how it feels to be doing it, there’s nothing quite like it. Another big factor is don’t be afraid to ask questions, reach out to people for insight and reach out to promoters too, having a balance of patience and persistance is key, if an opportunity you want is not able to happen in the present, don’t get discouraged and just remember that others will arise and sometimes they can be better and more beneficial. One last thing and definitely the biggest is the people who like the music and come out to shows and support even from afar, without them and the response they give we wouldn’t be where we are and for that we are very thankful.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I started doing extreme vocals when I was 17 I had a band for a little bit then that went under and tried to start something else up but to no avail unfortunately, I then was away from the scene for quite a few years but still did some music during that time more in the Hip-Hop world and making beats on my own time. In 2019 I decided I wanted to start doing vocals and do heavy music again and that I was going to push more to make it happen. I got a project going with complete strangers who ended up being some of my closest friends to this day, the project fell through after a couple years but from those ashes CRUELINTENT was born

CRUELINTENT is a five piece deathcore project from the Toronto area, our members are Jonathan Tomlinson, Chris Moleirinho (guitars), Ryan Dick (bass) and Cory Legere (drums)

Cruel originally started as a side project for Jon, Ryan and myself in the beginning of December 2021 with and quickly became our main one, we ended up recording our first EP “333” a couple months later in February and released it in May and later on recorded two more songs in the summer.

We started playing shows in May, doing as many as we could that year we did a little 3 day run with our friends that October which included going to Montreal, that experience was an absolute blast.

There have been some obstacles along the way as every band has them but we have found our way past them and continue to push forward.

One of the biggest hurdles is honestly scheduling and making sure everyone can be there on a date whether its a show, practice, video/photo shoot, everything is about healthy communication, it’s absolutely integral, without it, it’s just a recipe for disaster and ultimately it’s what can make or break your band.

In April of 2023 we spent a week in the studio recording our second EP with Luc Chiasson, we hope to have it out sometime this summer.

I’d say our biggest acheivement as a band is getting to play a sold out show with Signs of the Swarm and To The Grave in Toronto back in November, that was an amazing oppprtunity and to play in front of that many people on that caliber of a show was surreal. I would also say recording our second EP is one too, spending every day in a studio seeing the vision you put time and effort in come to fruition before you and and to actually hear it as a recorded song is something special.

As I mentioned prior communication, patience and persistance are key those are the three things that are needed to be successful as a local unsigned band or one that is. The most important thing though is everyone getting along and not losing sight of why you do music in the first place and that’s to have fun and play music with your friends. You have to be humble, have the right attitude and not put yourself on an imaginary pedestal, everyone gets a seat at the table and in order for our community to thrive we have to support each other growing and building up together.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
If it’s in Toronto I’d say hit up a hardcore show and go to Sneaky Dee’s afterwards for some Northern Blues nachos, that platter is wild, find cool nature spots to explore and definitely gotta reach a pool hall for sure too.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
There’s honestly so many out there who have been part of this journey it would be hard to name them all and I would feel bad leaving anyone out but to those reading you know who you are and know we are grateful.

I will say the promoters are paramount to what we do, they’re the ones who give us a chance to play in front of people and show our craft and allow us to have some great opportunities playing with bands we may not otherwise have the privilege of, as well as the venues who let us play heavy music in their establishments as well as the sound operators running the board and making us all sound good

Photographers/videographers also deserve a lot more recognition they essentially provide the image of every band and capture the essence of what it’s like at their show, there are so many talented photographers and videographers in Ontario that absolutely kill it and they should be getting more love for what they do.

What we do is also attributed to the support from people and the bands who enjoy our music whether in our local scene or abroad, every bit counts and it means the world, without them nothing we do would be possible and we are extremely grateful,

Website: https://beacons.ai/cruelintent

Instagram: @cruelintent

Linkedin: https://beacons.ai/cruelintent

Facebook: https://facebook.com/CRUELINTENTBAND

Youtube: https://youtube.com/@cruelintentdeathcore?si=drij-xhtZiX9Vu1Y

Other: Spotify https://open.spotify.com/artist/2jnum9HTxtOYjI37NFN3Ca?si=If-4ZqyFTAyIiTMhlC7r9g Apple Music https://music.apple.com/us/artist/cruelintent/1622500097

Image Credits
1. Julien Annand 2. Josh Vicente 3-4 Joshua Wong 5-6 Carly Boomer