A typical band is busy and hard working. However, we feel that Paper Route has made it to the top of the hardest working bands around list (if that even exists). We caught up with JT, Chad and Gavin and asked them about their year in review, their new album (The Peace Of Wild Things) and what’s to come in 2012!
Interview by McKenzie Hughes // Photo by Jeremy Cowart
Q: How was 2011 for Paper Route as a band? What did you have to overcome and what were you up to?
A: 2011 was an extremely eventful year for the band, although you wouldn’t know it by looking at our tour schedule. We were busy making our album which we just finished in the fall. We also went to Europe for a few weeks and then did a short week of shows here in the US. Oh and we were in a movie!
Q: Paper Route, has released a new single “Better Life” this past November 1st, 2011. Through this release, they have had fan raving and commenting statements such as, “How this band isn’t massive blows my mind. Love the new song” “This song gave me a better life” “A beautiful, aching song that refuses to leave your mind.” What are the first words or thoughts that come to mind with this kind of response?
A: These are the types of responses that you always hope for in the back of your mind, but don’t expect. We’ve been working hard, but we’ve also been dormant in terms of releasing new material, so after a couple years you start to wonder if you’ve lost your audience. It seemed our time underground was not spent in vain but that there are still people out there who are waiting for new music from us, which is a great feeling. (Click HERE to listen to “Better Life”)
Q: Better Life, gives Paper Route fans a taste of your upcoming album, “The Peace Of Wild Things.” Is there anything about the album that you want fans or newcomers to know before it is released?
A: It was not an easy album to make…in many ways the album made us. I think the most challenging thing we could do was to make an album that would appeal to as many people as possible while being as unique as possible. Above all else, it had to appeal to the three of us because we’re the ones who are betting our careers on these songs. We are addicted to challenges in this band, it seems. Anybody can hide behind obscurity, cool sounds, heady lyrics and they’ll get some press for a couple years, but those bands don’t really change lives like the bands that changed ours. Above all else, though, the album is an honest snap shot of where we have been since our first album came out.
Q: How will “The Peace Of The Wild Things” differ/compare to “Absense” musically and lyrically?
A: It’s primarily about the beats, melodies, and synths. There aren’t tons of guitars on this album. Also, I started singing a bit on this album. My voice is weird and can sound like an instrument at times. Since Andy left the band, JT took on the lion’s share of the lyric writing and really rose to the occasion, although a fair amount of my lyrics appear on the album in some form or another. I think the lyrics are less cerebral and more tangible and concrete. They’re not clever, but they’re honest.
Q: Paper Route has toured with memorable bands in the past (Paramore, Phantom Planet, Jack’s Mannequin, Passion Pit, Copeland, Owl City and Lights), do you three hope to be able to tour with these bands again or are you trying to target a different genre of music?
A: The thing about Paper Route is that we’ve never been a part of any scene, although that would make our path a lot clearer. We’ve never really fit in, and maybe that’s why a lot of our fans also have this underlying sense that they don’t fit in, either. I’m not saying we are music for the marginalized, but there’s something odd about us that sort of puts us on the fringes of popular music. For some reason we can tour with Owl City and also be asked to play the Lou Reed tribute show with Dr. Dog and Thurston Moore. Something about us connects us to people from all walks of life, so in one sense, we don’t fit in anywhere, but we can also play anywhere and find a new fan, and maybe a few haters!
A: Our main goal for 2012 is to get our album out, play as many shows as we can manage, and enjoy the ride. And tour Japan.
