Welcome to Something Different's official website!

Something Different are a top award winning duo consisting of Paul Hadley on keyboards and Glen Szymkowski on drums.

The story of this amazing duo starts way back in October 1988 when Paul and Glen where both in other bands.

Paul was working for a music shop in Stafford who had another branch in Wolverhampton, where another keyboard player John Barnet worked who was performing with a drummer Glen Szymkowski. Paul and John where good friends and one night Paul had a phone call from John who had been given the opportunity to play at the Motorcycle Museum in Birmingham.

This was a fantastic opportunity for John, the only problem was John and Glen (J G Sound) had a full calendar of bookings they had committed to, so John asked Paul if he wouldn't mind stepping in to cover the dates.

Paul arranged a date for himself and Glen to meet up and discuss the possibility of Paul joining Glen to honour the JG Sound bookings.

Before there was a chance of any rehersal, they had their first gig together ....well if you're going to do it you might as well jump straight in. They met up at the Paddock Club in Handsworth Wood, a small private club, they set up all the gear, Paul had a Yamaha ME50 organ and Glen had his trusty Tama eight piece drum kit.

When they sat down to start Glen started the count in 1-2-1-2-3-4 and bang they were off. As Paul puts it," it was like they had been playing together for years, everything just fell into place and it felt great. "There was no intention to go on playing together, just to cover these dates that J G Sound had taken on. In the interval the entertainment secretary came and asked the boys if they would like to perform at the club on New Years Eve... Only the biggest night of the year!. Well what could they say but YES... back on for the second half of the show and Paul and Glen informed the crowd over the news about New Years Eve. The crowd loved the idea....Problem, they didn't have a name for the band. Both Paul and Glen where stuck so they asked the crowd for some suggestions, after some not printable suggestions someone shouted out "Something Different." This could cause problems, imagine on the poster at any given club...tonight "Something Different."...yes but what's on? Could be fun so Something Different it was.

The boys did the dates that J G Sound had taken on manly in the Wolverhampton area and straight away got offers of dates as Something Different. As more and more people where asking for contact numbers the phone calls started come in.

By now word had got around about a new duo on the scene, and they stared to take bookings into the Birmingham area and beyond.

It wasn't long before Paul changed the organ to a Yamaha HE8 the latest model... and the sound they produced jumped up a gear. In 1991, after only three years of performing together, Something Different won the Harry Davenports Award for top Duo, this moved the band onto even more clubs. Something else happened in 1991......err......oh, Glen got married to his childhood sweetheart Michelle, and the band at the reception...you guessed it ...Something Different... well they were cheap!.

By 1994 Paul had changed the organ again, this time to an older model, seems strange but the HE8 went and in came the much bigger Yamaha HS8. This was a monster of a machine and with its orchestral sounds allowed the boys to really be Something Different.. now putting Mozart into ballroom and Straus Waltz's came to life. But the rock n roll still had to be played as well... there was no musical style they couldn't do.

In 1996 Paul married Sharon... band at the reception...yes..you guessed it.... by now Glen and Michelle had two children Emma and Daniel, and in 1998 Paul and Sharon had a daughter Samantha.

Things were going great, many bookings and smiling faces wherever the boys performed... but things were about to change. Paul had been playing the organ for thirty years now and really played the bass pedals like a mad thing. All those years of sideways shifting the left knee had taken its toll and every performance was becoming painful, so on a trip to the doctors Paul realised how bad it had got. Arthritis on the left Knee caused by playing ...at only forty years old ...this seemed so cruel.

The doctor said Paul had to stop playing the bass pedals, so while Glen was on holiday in Spain 2004 Paul brought a single keyboard unit a Yamaha PSR3000, this was going to be a big turning point, Paul thought with all the modern sounds and up to date backing sounds this would be fantastic.again a problem, although you can turn the drum sound off the keyboard for Glens drumming to come through - now Glen was having to follow the keyboard instead of Paul following Glen. This created problems and things did not look good, but time changes things and a solution was found in the shape of the new Yamaha Tyros 2 .

This new top of the range keyboard was stunning and changed the band once again. The PA system was changed to suit the keyboard, and things really went from strength to strength.

That brings us almost up to date...well nearly. At the end of 1998 came the new Yamaha Tyros 3, well it's one better than the Tyros 2 so Paul had to get it!, so that's six changes of instruments for Paul - and Glen ? ...The same Tama kit, but it was a good kit. With that said.... yes Glen has now updated his kit. Paul has the top of the range keyboard - so a month ago Glen brought the new top of the range Yamaha DTXtreme 111 digital drum kit, which allows him at the touch of a button to change the sound of the drums, from a massive orchestral kit with kettle drums etc. to a heavy rock kit for the Guns N Roses or a jazz kit for the big band numbers.

With the use of technology and the skill of Paul and Glen this duo produce a sound you won't believe. Truly as Eric Delany said "The biggest little band in the land."