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Interview With 'Paperfriend'

Firstly, introduce yourselves and tell us a little bit about the band and how you came to be?

Dean: We are Paperfriend, a three-piece from Maidstone, UK. We'd describe ourselves as Alternative, Power Pop and possibly a little bit of Emo (the Brand New kind, not the My Chemical Romance kind). I play guitar and also do some lead vocals. We formed when myself and vocalist/bassist Matt Ladbrooke decided to hit the reset button and start again after a particularly awful show with our old band where the drummer was too drunk to play!

Chris: I met Dean and Matt through gigs with my old Pop-Punk band and ended up drumming with Dean's side project Floreat. I became the drummer for Paperfriend about this time last year.

What were you all up to prior to the band, was this always the chosen path or did you have other dreams and aspirations?

Chris: I played in a Pop-Punk covers band called Arctic Star and Dean's old side project Floreat before joining Paperfriend. When I was younger I wanted to be an actor and a musician and I still act, direct and write shows at some small theaters to this day.

Dean: I used to play comedy Rock in a band called G-Pid years ago! One of the songs was called White On Your Farm. Guess what it's about!

Chris: I play drums in a couple of other bands, but really enjoy playing in Paperfriend!

Your new EP 'Songs We Wrote At Home' is due out September 1st, tell us about the EP and why our readers should check it out.

Dean: I think it's a really relatable record, a lot of the lyrical content is influenced by our various states of mental health and we have stripped our souls bare for this record. I produced all of it apart from the last track in my home studio, so it truly is a DIY effort as the title suggests!

Who would you say is the band's main song writer or is it a group effort and where do you draw your inspiration lyrically and musically from?

Dean: Me! I usually write most of the songs, if we write songs together I usually twist them until they sound like a Paperfriend song. We're influenced by lots of different styles of music, as well as our life situations. Chris likes a lot of Pop-Punk, I listen to stuff like Biffy Clyro and Arcane Roots, and Matt listens to a lot of Indie stuff.

As a band what do you believe is your greatest achievement to date and why?

Dean: Our greatest achievement was successfully crowdfunding a Kickstarter campaign to release our first EP Memories, and then selling all physical copies within a couple of months of release. We recently achieved one of our short term goals of performing live at Tunbridge Wells Forum, a venue that has always been known for hosting up-and-coming bands. Our band manager (who happens to be my wife) saw Biffy Clyro there back in the day!

Have you ever come face to face with someone within the music scene who has left you awestruck and why?

Dean: The bassist from Tunbridge Wells band Fish Head, who plays a six string fretless bass and does a fair bit of two handed tapping. Definitely the best bassist I've seen live!

What do you enjoy most about touring?

Dean: Playing our songs live, the crowd response and getting to know our fans. We did a headline show recently in London where we couldn't get off the stage because people wanted us to sign copies of our EP and chat to us. It was so cool!

If we were to head out to one of your live shows what can ourselves and others expect?

Chris: Lots of energy and lots of jokes!

Dean: What Chris said. We're all pretty much best mates outside of the band and that shows when we're on stage.

If you had one artist/band that you could go on tour with tomorrow who would it be and why?

Dean: Probably Biffy Clyro, they're one of my biggest influences. All their albums are great, particularly their earlier records, but 'Puzzle' is an absolute masterpiece.

Chris: There are so many bands I'd love to go on tour with but if I had to choose one id have to say blink-182 or Sum 41. Both have a lot of energy and great stage presence as well as amazing songs. You can spend an hour with a musical icon living or dead, who would you pick, why and what would you speak about?

Dean: Kurt Cobain. What would I speak about? We'd probably sit in silence for an hour, I'm pretty shy when I'm not on stage!

Chris: Travis Barker. He is my idol when it comes to playing drums and I look up to him as a musician.

What comes next for the band? Chris: We're in the early stages of planning a proper tour, and we also have plans to write and record our first full length album.

Dean: Growing the band's following and continuing to break out into new areas.

And finally and most importantly is Die Hard a Christmas Movie? Dean: Yes! We just want to say thank you for taking the time to answer our questions.

Dean: Thanks for having us!

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