Paul Alborough (born 1 June 1975), professionally known as Professor Elemental, is a

steampunk Steampunk is a subgenre of science fiction that incorporates retrofuturistic technology and aesthetics inspired by 19th-century industrial steam-powered machinery. Steampunk works are often set in an alternative history of the Victorian era or ...

and chap hop musical artist.

Career

Professor Elemental began his career as Emcee Elemental. The character of Professor Elemental arose from a planned concept album. While the album never came to fruition, the character stuck. Professor Elemental has since been seen performing as a solo act or in theatre acts such as ''Come into My Parlour''. He is also popular at steampunk events and has been a headliner at the

Steampunk World's Fair Steampunk World's Fair (SPWF) was the largest annual Steampunk festival on the East Coast of the United States and one of the biggest in the world held over the course of a weekend during the month of May in Piscataway, New Jersey or Somerset, N ...

and the

Waltz on the Wye The waltz ( ), meaning "to roll or revolve") is a ballroom and folk dance, normally in triple ( time), performed primarily in closed position. History There are many references to a sliding or gliding dance that would evolve into the wal ...

. The Professor Elemental character first gained attention with his music video for "Cup of Brown Joy", directed by Moog, which got the attention of Warren Ellis. Since then he has released a new album, continued his work in the community and performed live. He was, for a time, in a friendly feud with fellow "chap-hop" artist

Mr. B The Gentleman Rhymer Jim Burke, known professionally as Mr.B The Gentleman Rhymer,. is a British parodist who performs " chap hop" — hip hop delivered in a Received Pronunciation accent. Mr.B raps, or "rhymes", about good manners, dressing with style and dignity ...

. However, Professor Elemental had a short appearance in Mr. B's music video for the song "Just Like a Chap", of which Professor Elemental said "much as I hate to admit it, I bloody love that video and am jolly glad

r. B R. or r. may refer to: * ''Reign'', the period of time during which an Emperor, king, queen, etc., is ruler. * '' Rex'', abbreviated as R., the Latin word meaning King * ''Regina'', abbreviated as R., the Latin word meaning Queen * or , abbreviat ...

let me gate crash." Mr. B reciprocated with a cameo on Elemental's video for his song, "I'm British" (which also featured appearances by members of the Eccentric Club, of which Elemental is a member). The two seem to have finally settled their differences in the track, "The Duel", on Elemental's 2012 album ''The Father of Invention'', where, after a rap battle, both agree that the other is "jolly good" at what they do and go to enjoy a crate of sherry and some

opium Opium (or poppy tears, scientific name: ''Lachryma papaveris'') is dried latex obtained from the seed capsules of the opium poppy ''Papaver somniferum''. Approximately 12 percent of opium is made up of the analgesic alkaloid morphine, which i ...

The short film ''The Chronicles of Professor Elemental'' was successfully funded via Crowdfunder in 2012, raising £7,226 - with 155 supporters in 45 days. The professor is called on, in the film, to find the statute of the golden frog. The 45-minute musical comedy was directed by Benjamin Field, starting Paul Alborough, Grace Alexander-Scott, and Dan Gingell, created by Hilton Productions Ltd, and released in 2013 via YouTube - in three parts. The videos were later made private and the whole film available to stream via Amazon Prime Video. In 2013, he appeared in the "Steampunx" episode of '' Phineas and Ferb'', as well as the episode "The Bewildering Bout of the Astounding Automatons" of '' Penn Zero: Part-Time Hero''. He collaborated with the steampunk rock group

Steam Powered Giraffe Steam Powered Giraffe is an American musical project formed in San Diego in 2008, self-described as "a musical act that combines robot pantomime, puppetry, ballet, comedy, projections, and music". Created and led by twins David Michael Bennett an ...

on their song "Sky Sharks", from their 2015 album '' The Vice Quadrant: A Space Opera''. The 2015 album ''Apequest: The Search For Geoffery'' is inspiration for the

Kickstarter Kickstarter is an American public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative projects to life". As of July 2021, ...

funded board game ''Apequest'', which has an expected release of May 2023.

Personal life

Originally from Ipswich, Alborough currently lives in

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

Discography

Albums

* ''The Indifference Engine'' (2009) * ''More Tea?'' (2010) * ''Special School: The Album'' (2011) * ''Father of Invention'' (2012) * ''The Giddy Limit'' (2014) * ''Apequest: The Search for Geoffrey'' (2015) * ''Professor Elemental and his amazing friends'' (2016) * ''The School Of Whimsy'' (2018) * ''Professor Elemental and his amazing friends: Part 2'' (2019) * ''Let's Get Messy'' (2020) * ''Good Dad Club'' (2021) * ''Nemesis!'' (2021)

References

External links

*
Elemental page at Tea Sea Records
{{DEFAULTSORT:Elemental, Professor Living people English male singer-songwriters Musicians from Brighton and Hove Clergy from Ipswich Steampunk music 1975 births