The Paper Kites

The Paper Kites
The Paper Kites in 2012. L–R: David Powys, Sam Bentley, Sam Rasmussen, Christina Lacy, Josh Bentley
Background information
Origin	Melbourne, Australia
Genres	Indie rock folk rock
Years active	2009–present
Labels	Nettwerk Wonderlick
Members	Sam Bentley Christina Lacy David Powys Sam Rasmussen Josh Bentley
Website	thepaperkites.com.au

The Paper Kites are an Australian indie rock/folk rock band from Melbourne. The band was formed in 2009 by lead vocalist/guitarist Sam Bentley and keyboardist/guitarist Christina Lacy. Their 2010 single "Bloom" has been certified Platinum in the United States.^[1] As of 2024, they have released six studio albums and two EPs. Their latest, At the Roadhouse, came out on 1 September 2023.

Before the formation of the Paper Kites, the current five members were close friends. In high school, Bentley and Lacy began writing and playing music together, and continued to do so for a few years after high school. They gained some attention by playing in their home town of Melbourne. In 2010, Bentley and Lacy expanded the line adding Sam Rasmussen, David Powys and Josh Bentley to the group.

The band's first demo recordings were done mostly by Sam Bentley at his home and by Rasmussen at his university. At the request of their friends, they put together and released homemade EPs to sell at their shows in Melbourne.

It was not until they recorded and released their single "Bloom" in 2010 that they began attracting media attention.^[2] The single and video were released online and gradually grew in popularity. Bentley mentioned, "It was a pretty steady progression of word of mouth, friends telling their friends and so on. It wasn't any sort of viral thing, it was a really natural build up of people sharing our music".^[3] Word spread quickly, and live appearances became increasingly well attended. "Bloom" was released by the band, similarly to the first recordings, only available as a hand-made CD singles with a handful of other tracks. Only about 500 "Bloom" singles were made by the band.

The Paper Kites went on to begin writing and recording what would be their first EP, Woodland. They recorded the EP early in 2011 with Tim Johnston, who was one of Rasmussen's university teachers. "Featherstone", was released in June 2011 in advance of the EP.^[4] About the "Featherstone" video, Bentley said, "We always like to get really involved in the videos we make and the people we work with. Our music videos are just further extensions of the song itself, and we always want them to be interesting and engaging. We work pretty closely with our directors." Sam Bentley commented that he felt very lucky for the amount of success "Bloom" and "Featherstone" gained online.^[5] That August their debut EP Woodland was released.

In February 2012, the band went on their first headline tour of Australia, playing sold-out shows in small clubs around the country. With the success of Woodland, the band began getting requests for their music on various US television shows, including "Featherstone" being featured in the season 8 finale of Grey's Anatomy.^{[citation needed]}

In April 2012, the band had over 30 unrecorded demos and were ready to start recording a full-length record. However, they decided to hold off making a full-length album and release a second EP instead, feeling that more touring and building on their sound would be beneficial before releasing their debut record. They decided to work with engineer and producer Wayne Connolly, and recorded the five-track EP through June 2012. It was the band's first time working with a producer. Bentley recalled, "Working with Wayne (Connolly) was very different to how we imagined working with a producer would be. He was very patient while at the same time pushed the best performance out of us. He really got inside the songs and knew how to push our sonic ideas". The title of the EP, Young North, came from the titles of two songs that did not make the cut.^{[citation needed]}

The first single, "A Maker of My Time", was released in July and was quickly picked up by Australian alternative station Triple J. The band also collaborated with Sydney director Jefferton James on the video, capturing a one-take improvised performance from Tendai Dzwairo, just east of the town of Mildura. Young North was released in August 2012. The Paper Kites embarked on a 13-date Young North tour of Australia in October. They found that along with progressing their sound and live performance they were attracting bigger crowds and selling out larger rooms.

Following the tour, the band did a small run of shows opening for UK band Bombay Bicycle Club in January 2013.

The Paper Kites began recording their debut full-length album States in February 2013, collaborating once again with producer Wayne Connolly. The album was recorded at Sing Sing Studios in Melbourne, and Alberts Studios in Sydney. The 13-track record was cut down from over 40 un-recorded demos.^{[citation needed]}

In August 2013, the band released States and it peaked at number 17 on the ARIA Charts. In October, they made their first trip to America, opening for Canadian band City and Colour on a 13-date tour across the country. States was released in North America on 1 October 2013.

"St Clarity" was the first single released from the record. The music video was directed by acclaimed Australian director Natasha Pincus, starring the French artist Sylvain Letuvée. The second single "Young" was released soon after. The video was directed by Darcy Prendergast, and featured over 4000 portrait photos taken and arranged to make up the video, which was later nominated for Australian Music Video of the Year at the J Awards of 2013.

The band released their second album Twelvefour on 28 August 2015. The album was recorded in Seattle and produced by Grammy-nominated music producer Phil Ek. The sessions took place across two studios—the Avast Recording Company and Chris Walla's studio Hall of Justice. The record is a concept album written entirely between the hours of midnight and four am. The first single, "Electric Indigo", was released in June with a music video following starring actress Laura Brent and Charles Grounds. "Revelator Eyes", "Renegade" and "Too Late" followed as singles.

Along with the announcement of the album was news of a Twelvefour documentary directed by filmmaker Matthew J Cox that followed the band's creation of the album, which has yet to surface. In January 2017 the band released two outtakes from the Twelvefour sessions on Spotify.

On 18 April 2018, the band released the first of two new albums, On the Train Ride Home, consisting of eight tracks. The album was recorded in Melbourne at Bellbird Studios with Big Scary/#1 Dads Tom Iansek co producing with singer Sam Bentley. The record was a largely acoustic collection and the release was un-announced. A music video for "On the Train Ride Home" was released directed by Drew Wilson in collaboration with Sam Bentley and the pair worked together on a collection of short videos around the record.

Upon the release of On the Train Ride Home the band announced that it would be the first of an intended double album that they had decided to split into two separate records. The follow-up album, On the Corner Where You Live, was released on 21 September 2018 and consisted of 11 tracks. The album was recorded at Tarquin Studios in Connecticut with producer Peter Katis working with the band.

The artwork for both On the Train Ride Home and On the Corner Where You Live were painted by Los Angeles noir artist Gina Higgins, who worked with Bentley on the pieces.

The band also announced they would be releasing a special edition double album. It was released on 21 September 2018 and featured a special edition cover painted by Gina Higgins.

The band embarked on their Where You Live tour on 16 July 2018 playing a 93-show tour, with shows in the US, Canada, Europe, Australia and New Zealand. The tour concluded on 15 December 2019 in London.^[6][7]

At the ARIA Music Awards of 2019, On the Corner Where You Live was nominated for Best Adult Contemporary Album.^[8]

In August 2020, the band announced their fifth studio album Roses, a collaborative album of duets. The album features Julia Stone, Lucy Rose, Rosie Carney, Aoife O'Donovan, Nadia Reid, Maro, Amanda Bergman, Ainslie Wills, Lydia Cole and Gena Rose Bruce. The album was released on 12 March 2021.

The song “Without your love” featuring Julia Stone was featured in the American award winning NBC tv series “This is Us”

In May 2023, the band's sixth studio album, At the Roadhouse, was announced. The album was recorded in July 2022 in an old diggers store in Campbells Creek, Australia, where the band played the songs to a live audience for free on Friday and Saturday nights, joined by musicians Matt Dixon, Hannah Cameron and Chris Panousakis.^[9] Supported by six singles, At the Roadhouse was released on 1 September 2023. The songs on the 16-track album have been described as indie-folk, folk and folk-rock.^[10][11]

The Paper Kites' sound was originally loosely based around folk music. Sam Bentley's fingerstyle guitar sound is a frequent characteristic, along with Lacy's and his voices together, and the band's harmonies. The progression of this sound, along with the band's many musical inspirations, has pushed them into a range of different genres. When asked about their style of music, Bentley has mentioned, "We are whatever we released on the last record". The band is known for switching instruments live and for their ethereal, moody sound.

• Sam Bentley – lead vocals, guitar, keyboards (2009–present)
• Christina Lacy – guitar, keyboards, backing vocals (2009–present)
• Josh Bentley – drums, percussion (2010–present)
• David Powys – guitars, banjo, lap steel, backing vocals (2010–present)
• Sam Rasmussen – bass guitar, synthesizers (2010–present)

• Hannah Cameron – piano, percussion, backing vocals (2023–present)
• Chris Panousakis – guitar, percussion, backing vocals (2023–present)
• Matt Dixon – pedal steel, guitar (2023–present)

• Director information adapted from each video description uploaded in the band's official YouTube account.^[38]

The ARIA Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony that recognises excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of Australian music.

The J Awards are an annual series of Australian music awards that were established by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's youth-focused radio station Triple J. They commenced in 2005.

• Official website
• Interview with The Paper Kites on HonestBlue