Some of the most notable bands from Australia include: AC/DC, Empire of the Sun, The Saints, and Tame Impala, but now comes an age of music that has been captured by a few bands. One of those bands are The Paper Kites.
The Australian band, consisting of Sam Bentley, Christina Lacy, Dave Powys, Josh Bentley and Sam Rasmussen, started in 2010. The band's members were close friends in high school gaining local attention in Melbourne when the band started playing shows.
Since that start of the band, The Paper Kites released two EP's titled "Young North"and"Woodland." Following that were two full length albums "States" and "twelvefour." The band recently completed their world tour with Passenger, and during their tour they answered the questions below.
How did each of the band members get into music?
"Our families played a big part in us being involved in music. From a young age most of us played instruments in school and were part of high school bands."
What was the music scene like Melbourne? (There still is a music scene in Melbourne)
"The music scene in Melbourne is eclectic and vibrant. You can see a show or head to bar with live music every night. We're fortunate as well to have some amazing live music venues which attract big Aussie artists as well as international acts. We've loved growing up and playing in Melbourne. The scene, venues and crowds who come have all been good to us which is why we love living and playing here."
When "Bloom" was released, what was the feeling like when traction built from the escalating media attention?
"Bloom has obviously been our biggest hit and was actually the first song Sam wrote for the band. The act of "releasing" it was quite foreign for us. We recorded Bloom at a makeshift studio setup in Melbourne and organized and paid for it ourselves. We honestly had no idea Bloom would be as big a song as it is today.
The breaking point I guess for Bloom was the video we released on YouTube for it. It was then that people from all over the world started watching it and sharing it with friends. It wasn't until then that people and media started taking notice of us and wanted to hear more songs. We were pleasantly surprised and very excited that our song was getting views and hits globally. It did pave the way for what we do now and acted as a catalyst I guess."
With the release of "Woodlands", what opportunities opened up?
"With the release of 'Woodland' people in the music industry started taking notice. We were able to acquire an amazing management team and booking agent who assisted us in a direction for the band and gave us some much needed support for building and becoming a well equipped group."
What has influenced your music style over the years?
"Probably the two biggest things that have inspired and influenced our music have been artists and band that we love and listen to and life experiences we encounter.
All of us have different tastes in music and that often comes through in the music we write."
"Twelvefour" was constructed at some strange hours of the night. What was different about writing an album at the hours of 12-4 a.m. versus daytime hours?
"Yeah Sam heard about the idea from a screenwriter friend. The idea was that some people are most creative between the hours of 12-4. The idea was also that that time frame also lets the song writer write true due to being in a delirious state. Often when we write songs or anything really, we tend to hold back and write within a certain parameters so the idea was to kind of get lost in the night and see what songs came out of it."
With all of the touring the band has done over the years, has your songwriting been influenced or hindered by traveling?
"Yeah, we have been lucky enough to have been able to tour all over the world. With that comes awesome opportunities to be thrust into different cultures and gets you out of your comfort zone. I'd say that having traveled has only been a positive influence on our songwriting. It can often be inspiring to see different parts of the world and write songs with new eyes and perspectives."
What is one of your most memorable shows?
"Collectively as a band our most memorable show was in Amsterdam at a venue called Paradiso. Everything fell into place for us that night, the crowd was great, it sounded amazing and the venue was awesome. It has been one of our biggest headline shows outside of Australia."
If you could change one thing in your career, what would you change?
"Honestly, nothing. We have had a great music career so far. Not many people get to do what we do and we make the most of it and do not take it for granted."
While this story has come to a close, The Paper Kites will continue to play amazing music creating more stories as time passes. To keep up with the band check them out on Facebook or listen to their music on iTunes!