Paul James Shull (born May 25, 1973) is a

rock music Rock is a Music genre, genre of popular music that originated in the United States as "rock and roll" in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of styles from the mid-1960s, primarily in the United States and the United Kingdo ...

promoter and television host who has worked in music, film and television. He is the host of the television show ''The Weapon Hunter''.

Early life

Shull was born in Kitchener,

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

and graduated with honours from St. Davids high school in

Waterloo Waterloo most commonly refers to: * Battle of Waterloo, 1815 battle where Napoleon's French army was defeated by Anglo-allied and Prussian forces * Waterloo, Belgium Waterloo may also refer to: Other places Australia * Waterloo, New South Wale ...

in 1993.

Career

Local years

In 1993, Shull became a music promoter, booking agent and band manager with

London, Ontario London is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, along the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor. The city had a population of 422,324 according to the 2021 Canadian census. London is at the confluence of the Thames River (Ontario), Thames River and N ...

based company Sink or Swim Promotions. He worked to promote local indie bands and booked local, national and international touring acts. That year

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

NXNE North by Northeast (or NXNE) is an annual music and arts festival held each June in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The festival's main focus is live music, particularly emerging talent. Acts that have had break out appearances at NXNE at small venues ...

festival enlisted Shull to scout for bands and performers to add to their festival roster. After three years, Shull bought Sink or Swim and helped promote

Elmira, Ontario Elmira is the largest community in the township of Woolwich, Ontario, Canada. It is north of the city of Waterloo, Ontario, Waterloo near the Regional Municipality of Waterloo's northern border with Wellington County, Ontario, Wellington County. ...

based band, The Ludes. In 1996 Shull joined the Board of Waterloo Sounds of Summer Festival as director of programming. and spent five years organizing entertainment activities. The next year the festival attracted a crowd of about 10,000 people. Shull promoted Kitchener-Waterloo based psychedelic punk band Pablum in the US and booked bands regularly for local club, Angry Buddha’z in Kitchener.

International years

Shull became stage manager for Calc Enterprises (Kitchener, Ontario) and worked for Universal Concerts as an in house stage manager at local clubs in Kitchener,

Guelph Guelph ( ; 2021 Canadian Census population 143,740) is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Known as The Royal City, it is roughly east of Kitchener, Ontario, Kitchener and west of Downtown Toronto, at the intersection of Ontario Highway 6, ...

and London, Ontario. He promoted touring acts

Garbage Garbage, trash (American English), rubbish (British English), or refuse is waste material that is discarded by humans, usually due to a perceived lack of utility. The term generally does not encompass bodily waste products, purely liquid or ...

, Pennywise,

Motörhead Motörhead () were an English rock music, rock band formed in London in 1975 by bassist and lead vocalist Lemmy Kilmister, guitarist Larry Wallis and drummer Lucas Fox. Kilmister was the primary songwriter and only constant member. The band a ...

Catherine Wheel Catherine wheel may refer to: * Breaking wheel, an instrument of torturous execution originally associated with Catherine of Alexandria * Catherine wheel (firework), a firework that rotates when lit Arts and entertainment * Catherine Wheel (band) ...

Robbie Williams Robert Peter Williams (born 13 February 1974) is an English singer and songwriter. He found fame as a member of the pop group Take That from 1990 to 1995, launching a solo career in 1996. His debut studio album, ''Life thru a Lens'', was re ...

, and Rodger Hodgson. In 2000, Shull went to work at California-based Odd Job Inc. as an international stage manager. He toured backline tech with ska-punk band Goldfinger. As a stage manager, Shull toured Canada, USA,

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

, and Ljubljiana working at small and large outdoor festivals, as well as TV and radio performances. Shull also went on to stage manage international and national tours for

Bloodhound Gang The Bloodhound Gang is an American rock band formed by James "Jimmy Pop" Franks and Michael "Daddy Long Legs" Bowe in 1992 in Quakertown, Pennsylvania. Pop is the sole constant member of the band. Its line-up since 2009 has consisted of Pop ( ...

Later years

In 2003 Shull left the road to head up Watch Dog East in Toronto and booking agency S.L. Feldman & Associates and Macklam/Feldman Management. Shull acted as an artist liaison with labels, publishers and lawyers provided booking, tour support and management. He represented

Sondre Lerche Sondre Lerche (; born 5 September 1982) is a Norwegian singer, songwriter, musician and actor. His discography includes ten studio albums and multiple EPs. Early life Growing up in a suburb of Bergen, Lerche was heavily influenced by 1980s pop. ...

, Kyprios,

Stabilo Boss Stabilo (originally Stabilo Boss) was a Canadian rock band from Maple Ridge, British Columbia. They formed in 1999 and are best known for the songs " Everybody", "One More Pill", " Don't Look in Their Eyes", " Flawed Design", and " Kidding Oursel ...

and Day Theory. He managed Kitchener alt rock band The Miniatures, Toronto hip hop group

Pocket Dwellers The Pocket Dwellers are a Canadian seven-member experimental hip-hop group from the Toronto area. The band's main genre is hip-hop, but their music is influenced by jazz, funk, soul and breakbeat. History The Pocket Dwellers began forming togeth ...

and

Calgary, Alberta Calgary () is a major city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a Metropolitan area, metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the List of ...

hard rock band

Out of Your Mouth Out of Your Mouth was a Canadian rock band from Calgary, Alberta. It was fronted by guitarist, vocalist, producer, and writer Jason Darr. The band is best known for their cover of Madonna's song "Music". History Darr, a singer-songwriter, br ...

, and worked with local acts The Candidates, and

Paul MacLeod Skydiggers is a Canadian roots rock band from Toronto formed by Andy Maize and Josh Finlayson. Since 1990, they have released 19 albums/EPs and have had a number of singles that have appeared on the Canadian charts. Their most successful album i ...

’s band Hibakusha & Pimp. In 2004 Shull was named president of

DC Flag Records Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony. The label was founded predominantly as a jazz and classical music la ...

."Meet Mr. Butterscotch"
''Waterloo Chronicle'', May 01, 2012 The label's artist

MC Chris Christopher Brendan Ward IV (born September 2, 1975), better known by the stage name MC Chris (stylized in all lower case), is an American rapper, voice actor, comedian, and writer. He is recognized for his high-pitched voice and for blending hi ...

had a top 10 single on iTunes in the U.S. and sold out 230 live performances. Other artists in the DC Flag family included hardcore punk super group

Hazen Street Hazen Street (also typeset Hazen St.) is an American supergroup that formed in early 2004. The band features Freddy Cricien and Hoya Roc (Madball); Toby Morse ( H2O), David Kennedy ( Box Car Racer, Over My Dead Body, later Angels & Airwaves) ...

and indie rock band Lola Ray from

Brooklyn, NY Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

. Shull also worked with Talk's Cheap Management in co-managing psychedelic stoner rock band

Nebula A nebula (; or nebulas) is a distinct luminescent part of interstellar medium, which can consist of ionized, neutral, or molecular hydrogen and also cosmic dust. Nebulae are often star-forming regions, such as in the Pillars of Creation in ...

2006 - 2010

In 2006 Shull formed Shull Management, an artist management company based in Toronto. He provided artist liaison with labels, publishers and lawyers, and signed

Die Mannequin Die Mannequin was a Canadian alternative rock band from Toronto, founded by guitar player and singer Care Failure (born Caroline Slezak Kawa) in 2005. The band toured across Canada several times, opening for Buckcherry, Guns N' Roses, Marilyn ...

who were the opening act for

Guns N' Roses Guns N' Roses is an American hard rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1985 as a merger of local bands L.A. Guns and Hollywood Rose. When they signed to Geffen Records in 1986, the band's "classic" line-up consisted of vocalist Axl R ...

on the eastern leg of their North American "Chinese Democracy" tour. Shull teamed up with Die Mannequin's Care Failure and started the label How To Kill Music . Also in 2006, Shull became a member of the Artists Managers Expert Working Group and contributed to the planning and writing of the document ''Development, Marketing & Distribution in the Music Industry, a Competency Analysis'', a reference regulating industry standards for those working within the music business in Canada. The following year, Shull toured in support of

Buckcherry Buckcherry is an American hard rock band from Anaheim, California, formed in 1995. The band released two albums, ''Buckcherry (album), Buckcherry'' (1999) and ''Time Bomb (Buckcherry album), Time Bomb'' (2001), before dissolving in 2002. Buckche ...

, the

Deftones Deftones is an American alternative metal band formed in Sacramento, California in 1988. They were formed by frontman Chino Moreno, lead guitarist Stephen Carpenter and drummer Abe Cunningham, with bassist Chi Cheng and keyboardist and tu ...

and Canadian rockers

Finger 11 Finger Eleven is a Canadian rock band from Burlington, Ontario, formed in 1990. They have released seven studio albums (six as Finger Eleven and one as Rainbow Butt Monkeys), with their album '' The Greyest of Blue Skies'' bringing them into the ...

, and booked Die Mannequin on a tour with

Sum 41 Sum 41 was a Canadian rock band formed in Ajax, Ontario, in 1996. The band's final lineup consisted of Deryck Whibley (lead vocals, guitars, keyboards), Dave Baksh (lead guitar, backing vocals), Jason McCaslin (bass, backing vocals), Tom T ...

on their Strength in Numbers' tour followed by a European tour in 2007 with

Danko Jones Danko Jones is a Canadian hard rock trio from Toronto. The band consists of Danko Jones (vocals/guitar), John "JC" Calabrese (bass), and Rich Knox (drums).Bruce McDonald, to film ''The Rawside of Die Mannequin'', an hour-long documentary television show created by

I Mother Earth I Mother Earth, or IME, is a Canadian rock band. The band formed in 1990, reaching its peak popularity in the latter half of the 1990s. After an eight-year hiatus, it reunited in 2012. Between 1996 and 2016, it was among the top 150 best-selling ...

guitarist

Jagori Tanna Jagori Tanna (born ''Jagori Andrew Koshowski'', in Hamilton, Ontario) is a Canadian musician. Together with his brother, Christian Tanna, he formed I Mother Earth around 1990. He wrote all of I Mother Earth's music, and produced most of it as w ...

that featured a behind the scenes look at Die Mannequin on the road and writing their new album with their manager Mr. Butterscotch (played by Shull). The documentary premiered at Toronto’s 2008

Festival, 2008 and in 2009 it aired on Canadian digital specialty channel IFC and was nominated for two

Gemini Awards The Gemini Awards were awards given by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television between 1986–2011 to recognize the achievements of Canada's English-language television industry. The Gemini Awards are analogous to the Emmy Awards given in th ...

, Best Photography in a Documentary Program or Series and Best Picture Editing in a Documentary Program or Series.

Recent and Current Years

More recently, Shull developed and hosted the television show ''The Weapon Hunter'' which focuses on military artifact collectors and military history.

Personal

Shull began fencing in 2010, and became a C.I. certified fencing instructor. He also became President and a member of the executive of Excelsior Fencing Escrime. He served as chair of the Canadian Fencing Historical Committee in 2013.