Paul Hawkins (musician)

Paul Hawkins is a British author, singer-songwriter, and disability rights advocate. He grew up near Bristol and has been active in London's antifolk scene. He has collaborated with Ian Button and a six-piece band under the name of Paul Hawkins & The (sometimes stylised "Thee") Awkward Silences, and has also worked with the artist Alex Templeton-Ward.

His debut solo album The Misdiagnosis of Paul Hawkins was released on AFUK Records in 2006, later reissued the Fleeing from Pigeons net label in April 2009.

Paul Hawkins & The Awkward Silences performed on the BBC Introducing stage at Latitude Festival 2008, and recorded a BBC Radio 1 session for Huw Stephens. They released two albums on Jezus Factory Records between 2008 and 2010, as well as an EP via Audio Antihero in 2011.

In 2011, Hawkins was a contestant on the Pointless season 4, and The Awkward Silences recorded a session for Dandelion Radio in October. A session for Resonance FM followed in January 2012. In 2014, The Awkward Silences performed at Liberty Festival.

In 2013, Hawkins' first book, Bad Santas and Other Creepy Christmas Characters, was published by Simon & Schuster UK.

The Awkward Silences released Outsider Pop in 2016, and an eponymous album in 2020. The King of Cats album, featuring new members Anthony Keen and David Woolf, was released in 2025.

Hawkins is a disability rights advocate, and works for the Attitude Is Everything charity.