The Lost Highway started in 2002 in Glasgow, Scotland, when founder member Paul Maclaren (or his tongue in cheek online persona 'industrialgod') decided to bring his musical ideas to fruition. From his teenage years, Paul gained experience fronting several bands during the mid to late 1990′s, most notably Gentech; but it wasn’t until the turn of the millennium that he realised his solo project The Minds Dark Ocean, could be utilised in a more dynamic way. At this point he centralised his ideas into forming The Lost Highway, the name drawn from the movie by director David Lynch. Left-field ideologies materialised, yet the basic principles of human emotion remained at the forefront of the songwriting process -whilst also introducing rich & varied colours to the artists palette.

 

 

A large body of the first album materialised from the workings of the Minds Dark Ocean sessions, but with the focus on a brand new project, Paul was able to concentrate on blending the audio elements of that project with art imitating life, creating a bold conceptual idea whereby the foundations of The Lost Highway was born.

 

 

Interest was beginning to grow in various circles and several demos of the new songs began to receive heavy rotation in the clubs throughout Scotland.  So much so, The Lost Highway was offered a first headline live show at Room 213 Industrial night at the Cathouse, Glasgow, Scotland. This coincided with the release of the debut album Scandinavia, with themes ranging from nightlife, addiction, love and the creation of an expressive central character. Vibrant activity yielded further success,  marked by the bands first commercial release on the Armalyte Industries 'Defcon 2' compilation - while art graduate Sally French offered a fresh visual angle on the art & design of website/covers.

 

 

In 2003, work continued on the follow up album entitled International Space Zulu, a concept based around the central character who had embraced the artistic side of his appearance, continuing the flamboyant and visual element to The Lost Highway. Tales of nightlife and lights were offset with some of the more fragile aspects of the central character, opening new dimensions to the creative storytelling of the music.

This album was rated number 1 album of the year by DJ Coppertop, one of the leading Industrial DJs in the worlds alternative scene, an album noticeably deviating from layered Industrial overtones of the debut to embracing a clearer electronic sound. At this time new member Modus I-V joined the set up to help with live production at shows.

 

 

By 2004 the album Mountebank & Westerland appeared, and once again the writing had progressed to offering one of the most intriguing insights into the conceptual workings of the artist. The lyrical content portrayed a burning fire, exposing the central character on an at times stripped down canvas - opening the window to the point where the emotions were plainly exposed on the darkened surface. Meanwhile, the traditional elements of night-time beats, textures and atmospheres retained the heartbeat of the highway sound. Tracks from this album received heavy airplay on radio stations/clubs.

 

 

In 2005 the single track Coastline reached completion, which was followed up in 2006 with the band working with Dark Form Productions director Mark Wright on the Coastline video, shot on location in Glasgow. The video received airplay on various music channels, including Redemption TV.  Changes were afoot, and in 2007 Paul decided to briefly bring The Lost Highway chapter to an end - as a result of the character portrayed in the project seeking a new direction.

 

 

However, 2008 saw the re-emergence of the artist Paul Maclaren and a revival of the Lost Highway narrative, with fresh new ideals and a new dynamic. The sound had changed, the image less visually expansive, with the entire philosophy of The Lost Highway entering a phase of re-invention. This exciting new dawn reflected new colours - and of course heralded in a fresh new beginning for the The Lost Highway. Tales From An Abandoned Airport Terminal was finally realised after months of intense writing.

 

 

After the success and eclectic nature of Tales From An Abandoned Airport Terminal, Paul started writing songs using his acoustic guitar, building up a core of songs which later became the fulcrum of the new record entitled Alpine Skier. This journey saw Paul working with digital artist Paul Cook, as well as entering Chem19 Studios to record vocals, bass and guitar lines. Several sessions proved highly successful and the record started coming together. Additional mixing and production took place over the course of the year and by the summer of 2011, Alpine Skier was released. The higher clarity of sound was offset by darker themes, detailing troubling territories charting the mindset of the time, as this became Paul’s most personal record to date.

 

 

2014 saw the release of the sixth record I'm Your Geography Teacher which once again detailed an evolving sound, marrying different styles and production techniques whilst retaining the warmth and connection with the listener. Several tracks from this record appeared on short films through Dark Form Productions.

 

 

In 2015 Paul moved to Spain where he spent a year completing work on the seventh record. All the writing was to take place in Spain, however vocal recordings were undertaken and completed in Glasgow in the summer of 2016. Search for Audrey, marking another chapter in The Lost Highway story, a commitment that realises a dedication to consistently producing high quality and emotional music. Throughout this time, worldwide distribution packages were put in place and all The Lost Highway material made available for listening, streaming or downloading. In March 2017, the album Search For Audrey was nominated for  Scottish album of the year at the prestigious SAY awards, an exciting arts prize produced by the Scottish Music Industry Association.

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Hot on the heels of the previous record, news emerged during the summer of 2017 that the eighth record, entitled Carriages of Temple Gardens was in the process of being made. Artwork and track titles were released to the public as the journey once again moved forward. Upon release at the end of 2017, Carriages of Temple Gardens successfully secured impressive record sales - while the first foray into political territory occurred on the opening track, Sayonara Sun. In 2018 all the videos for the record appeared on YouTube.

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Work began in earnest on the 9th album in 2019 with the release of the first single entitled Dolce Vita Waltz. In late spring of 2020 it was announced that the new 11 track album had reached completion, incorporating the imaginative title - Mermaid Shangri-La. As standard, all tracks were written, performed, mixed, produced mastered by Paul Maclaren with Niall Stewart assisting with guitar on 3 tracks. Artwork arrived courtesy of the talented Scottish artist Kerry Bews with title art completed by Mark Wright - who also worked on a new artist logo and the videos for the album . The entire album was released on Bandcamp for fans before appearing on digital commercial release on the 29th May 2020.

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Over a year later the brand new album entitled New Aliens In Shanghai was released in November 2021. The central theme of the record centered on aliens and the imagination that the concept of an invasion of the mind and soul brings. However, there are plenty other mysteries to unravel on the record - right here on earth. 

 

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