Paul Gildea (born November 1957) is an Australian musician, music educator and talent manager. He is best known as the

lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featur ...

ist and backing vocalist for the band

Icehouse Icehouse or ice house may refer to: * Ice house (building), a building where ice is stored * Ice shanty, a shelter for ice fishing also known as an ''Icehouse'' * Ice skating rink, a facility for ice skating. * Ice hockey arena, an area where ice ...

Early life

Gildea was born in

Coburg, Victoria Coburg is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, north of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the Cities of Darebin and Merri-bek local government areas. Coburg recorded a population of 26,574 at the 2021 census. Alt ...

in November 1957, one of four children. He initially wanted to play drums, but received his first guitar at age 12. He completed his secondary education at

Melbourne High School Melbourne High School is a government-funded single-sex academically selective secondary day school for boys, located in the Melbourne suburb of South Yarra, Victoria, Australia. Established in 1905, the school caters for boys from Year 9 t ...

and went on to complete a

Bachelor of Business A Bachelor of Business (BBus, BBus (Major)) is a three to four year undergraduate degree in the field of business offered by traditional and newer universities from the post-Dawkins era in Australia, New Zealand and Ireland. It is similar in format ...

degree majoring in Sociology.

Musician

Gildea played in numerous bands from age 15. In 1990 Gildea was invited to join

to replace Bob Kretschmer. He took a break from the band in 2004, rejoining in 2007. From 1998 to 2000, Gildea was also a touring member of

Little River Band Little River Band (LRB) are a rock band originally formed in Melbourne, Australia, in March 1975. The band achieved commercial success in both Australia and the United States. They have sold more than 30 million records; six studio albums rea ...

, replacing

Peter Beckett Peter Beckett (born 10 August 1948) is an English musician and songwriter who has written songs for many prominent recording artists, his own bands and solo work, and for several films. He is likely best known as the lead singer and guitarist ...

. That was the last occasion that Little River Band would consist entirely of Australian members. Gildea was also the lead guitarist for James Reyne, Vika and Linda Bull and Rick Price.

Music educator

Gildea is the Academic Course Manager in the Bachelor of Applied Business in Music Industry course at

Box Hill Institute Box Hill Institute is a provider of vocational and higher education located in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne in Victoria. The Box Hill Institute has three locations in Box Hill (Elgar, Nelson & Whitehorse), two in Lilydale (John St and Jar ...

. He was previously the Senior Coordinator, Entertainment & Arts Management at the Melbourne campus of the

Australian Institute of Music The Australian Institute of Music (AIM) is an Australian private tertiary education provider, with campuses in Sydney, New South Wales and Melbourne, Victoria. Founded in 1968, AIM delivers education for careers in the Australian music, entert ...

Talent manager

Through his company Paul Gildea Artist Management, Gildea is the manager of sisters' band Stonefield and ''

The Voice The Voice may refer to: Fictional entities * The Voice or Presence, a fictional representation of God in DC Comics * The Voice (''Dune''), a fictional ability in the ''Dune'' universe * The Voice, a character in the American TV series ''Cleo ...

'' finalist and current Icehouse band member

Michael Paynter Michael Paynter (born 29 January 1986), is an Australian singer-songwriter. Paynter has released five singles, " Closer", "A Victim Song", " Love the Fall", "How Sweet It Is" and "Weary Stars". Paynter competed in the second season of ''The Vo ...

. Gildea previously managed defunct band

Motor Ace Motor Ace are an Australian alternative rock band. Formed in Melbourne around 1998 out of the remains of another band named Snowblind, their members are Patrick ('Patch') Robertson (vocals/guitar), Damian Birchall Costin (drums), Matt Balfe (ba ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gildea, Paul Living people 1957 births Australian music educators Australian musicians Australian rock guitarists Icehouse (band) members Little River Band members Talent managers