Focus: Paper Boats

Who are you and where are you from?
We’re Paper Boats – Charlie, Dexter, Nathan, Jack and Ben – from all over Tyne and Wear

What is it you do?
We’re an indie/alternative rock band, specialising in our original tunes covering a range of moods and styles.

How long have you been doing it?
We formed in late 2020 through our mutual love of songwriting, with only three of our current members, with Ben joining in early 2021 in time for the recording and release of our self-titled EP in July 2021 and first couple of gigs, before Nathan was recruited later that year. We’ve been gigging regularly since March 2022, playing at venues such as The Independent in Sunderland, HMV Newcastle, The Cluny and Bobiks Newcastle to name a few, over time bringing new songs one by one into our set lists.

What inspires you?
Each member of the band has their own fairly distinct music taste, and our music is essentially a melting pot of all our favourite artists and musicians. These range from Bruce Springsteen, Foo Fighters, Noel Gallagher, The Verve, The Killers, The Smiths and The Stone Roses just to name a few. We’ve even incorporated different genres and styles into the mix, specifically our folk inspired singer. 

Tell us about your music.
As mentioned, sort of a melting pot of inspirations. Mainly described as indie/alternative rock (though, even we haven’t a clue what to call it), we use a lot of different writing techniques and instrumentation in our songs. Each song has somewhat of a gimmick, whether that be the theming of the lyrics and instrumentation, a riff, bass line or drum part to build the song around, or a general mood overall. Our upcoming single, ‘Rendezvous’ is an upbeat, energetic track with a progression-based structure, as it doesn’t have a chorus. It has bright guitars with heavy reverb and chorus effects, a rhythmic bass line supported by a punching drum beat, an array of synths and powerful vocals. 

What have you got coming up in the future?
We have many gigs lined up later this year. These include returns HMV, Newcastle and The Independent Sunderland, as well as Little Buildings and The Peacock, Sunderland. We also have two festivals in the summer which we’re really looking forward to, which are Coastella, North Shields and Lindisfarne Festival. Our next single, Rendezvous is out on April 21st on all music streaming platforms, and we plan on recording and releasing plenty more music over 2023.

Where can people find out more about you?
You can find all our links here – https://linktr.ee/paperboats.official . This contains links to tickets for all our upcoming gigs, our streaming service pages and our social media pages.