Year: 2011

Papermaps in the Studio

Hi,
Here’s some photographic proof that we have begun work on our second album. These are shots taken by Jay Sad of “Session Day 1″  at Vespa Studios.  Betty, Bobby and myself recorded the bed tracks for 3 new songs. Pictures from our Chemical Sound sessions are forthcoming. To be fair, dear reader, it takes months for us to record an album because we do it in short song-spurts so expect delays between posts … but it’s nice to be finally off and running! :)

I’ll be posting more studio photos in the future.

-d

Complicate Things Video

Back in September we filmed a performance music video for our second single, Complicate Things (as remixed by Harry Hess) under the direction of filmmaker, Sammy Ray Welch. Well, after the burning of many midnight oils we are glad to finally present to you the final cut of this video. The video features all five members of PAPERMAPS jamming live to the track (yes, we had the amps going during the performance and it was LOUD in that shipping hanger).

We hope you enjoy it.  Expect some “behind the scenes” photos soon!
If you like the remix of this song, you can get it on iTunes here:
http://itunes.apple.com/ca/album/complicate-things-remix-single/id462444048

-d

Merry Holiday! – 2011 In Summary – Recording a New Album!!

Hi,

In typical Dean fashion, this post is about multiple things and we would probably be better served making it 3 distinct posts instead one massive novel-length post. Oh well…

Dean’s Year End Record List!

The year is not over yet (I know, I know) but I thought I would list the albums I purchased that carry the stamp “2011” (in no particular order).  Since I did a similar post in late 2010 (link) this is now formally an annual tradition here at p’maps dot net!

Now, as with last year’s post, I will only list records purchased on vinyl and pressed or first made available in 2011.  This list does not include the many CDs I’ve purchased or received from other bands or my iTunes downloads or the numerous (read hideously copious) back catalogue purchases I make for reasons of musicological research. Also, as with last year’s post I will not indicate whether said records were awesome or bust (but you can safely assume I am very careful about vinyl record purchases).

Also, my musical taste only accounts for 1/5th of the band and does not represent the views and opinions of PAPERMAPS as a whole.

OK,
Without Further adieu:
Belong — The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
Eureka — Mother Mother
Deformer — Dog Day
Mountain Tops — Mates of State
King of Limbs (Newspaper Edition) — Radiohead
E.S.P — Love Inks
Native Speaker — Braids
Intae Woe — Heartbeat Hotel
Hurry Up We’re Dreaming — M83
Gloss Drop — Battles

The following records get honourable mention because although they are stamped “2010” they were not available on vinyl until 2011.

A Balloon Called Moaning — The Joy Formidable
Innerspeaker — Tame Impala

~*~

OH ALSO: The Year in Review

It’s been a great first year for PAPERMAPS!  We got to release our debut album (available in good record stores across Canada) and played a bunch of gigs all over the place including showcases for some great festivals like NXNE, CMJ Music Marathon and Halifax Pop Explosion.  Our songs got played on campus and community radio stations all across the nation as well as the on the Verge and XM Radio, CBC Radio 3 and CBC Radio1 and a few forward-thinking commercial stations (Yo! we charted nationally!).  We got to make live appearances on several of these stations as well as do on air interviews.  The music blog community embraced us with their support, interviews, videotaping and positive reviews.   We made our own music video (with the help of our fans, thanks!) and have a yet unseen video  in the can.  We expanded our ranks adding a 5th member to the team.  We owe all this to our supporters and fans! Thank You!

~*~

AND ALSO: Heading into the studio to make the next album!

We are currently in preproduction for our next album and will be heading into the studio(s) on December 18th (wow, this Sunday!) to begin work on it, proper (due August/September of 2012).  I know this is going to sound weird, but we are starting the album at a different studio than usual.  Instead of Chemical Sound, we are going to record some of the bed tracks (those are the bass/drums/rhythm guitar tracks) at Vespa Studios here in Toronto.  Why?  Mostly,  we want to experiment with a different sonic palate on a few select songs.  Vespa has a very different feel and sound from Chemical.  Putting the band in a new environment might yield some interesting results.  Rest assured, 80%-90% of the new album will be cut at Chemical, I’m pretty confident about that, but I thought I’d mention this as I plan to blog about the process  (and take pictures).

Have a Happy Holiday Season and New Year’s Celebration,

-dean

VISTAVISION

This is s record by a band called VISTAVISION that I produced.  I’m very proud of this album.  Perhaps my finest work (to date) as an engineer/producer.

I had a strong vision going into this project. I wanted to make a naturalistic rock record. I wanted the listener to hear how a live rock band interacts within a space. Instead of throwing the amps in isolation boxes or in far off corners of the studio I had the band set up as if they were playing live on stage, in a line with the amps adjacent to the drums. I did some very minimal baffling between the drums and the amps. About 15 feet away I set up a an array of microphones facing the drums and amps (one stereo pair and a mono centre) and had the band adjust the levels of their amps until everything sounded balanced in the array. I then placed close mics on the amps and certain drums, but the array remained the foundation for the sound of each track. I believe that the VISTAVISION record is the most representative of the inherent sound of Chemical — you can really hear the space in the music. It’s almost like a 5th instrument. It is only by chance that this particular space works so well with this particular band — that was a risk — but it really was a match made in heaven. I feel the realness of the sound enhances the eerie vibe of the performances and compliments some outstanding and evocative songwriting.

Photos I took of the session can be seen here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/chemicalsound/sets/72157626105983965/with/5511998225/

I want to thank Dave and JM for letting me share this with you.  Consider it a Holiday gift from us to you.  Thinking about this project and sharing it with the world puts me into the right frame of mind in terms of working on our own album!

-dean

Remember These?

Hey Folks,

Saturday Dec 3 at the El Mocambo (464 Spadina Avenue) will be our last show of the year (and our last Toronto appearance for a while).  We are the last band.  Set time 12AM.  Also appearing:  Vancouver’s Behind Sapphire, Parks & Rec and Darren Eedens.

We will be selling these at the show:

Remember these? This is s 7″ vinyl copy of our song Reunion.   Don’t have one yet?  We will be selling them at our show for the low, low price of $5.  These include a download code.  They were self-released by US.  Pressed at United Record Pressing in Nashville  (Third Man Records, Fat Possum, etc.).  The artwork/label is band-produced. Only about 60 of this limited (300) pressing remain!  These were never distributed to retail.

People who live outside of Canada or can’t make it to the show can mail order them from insound.

We hope to see you there!

-d

Consider The Windsor Curse Broken

We had a great time Windsor, ON! Although my voice is still shredded as I write this, I feel you were more than worth the effort.  Big props to our new pals Frontiers (who played their last show in their present line-up, if I am to believe the stage banter) and the amazing soundscape artists known as Learning.  Also props to Tom at the Phog Lounge — one of the coolest venues we’ve had the privilege to play.  I’d also like to thank all at CJAM 99.1FM, especially Dave who pumped our appearance on his show Revolution Rock .  In conclusion: We’ll definitely be back!

Listen to Dave’s show containing several PAPERMAPS and EX~PO tracks and a lengthy interview with yours truly:

While I’m on the subject, I’d like to send a big “thank you” out to Jim Di Gioia of Quick Before It Melts for showing us that even though our album has been out for more than 5 months, it is certainly not “dead” and still worth blogging about (take note, gatekeepers of the great blogosphere).
-d

Breaking the Windsor Curse – Sat November 19

It’s official. Go to http://phoglounge.com/ and you will see that we are indeed coming to The Phog Lounge (Windsor, ON) Saturday November 19 and will be appearing with two great bands: Frontiers and Learning.  I shit you not.  I recently discussed this Windsor Myth thing with Dave from  CJAM’s (99.1FM)  Revolution Rock.  This interview will be aired on Tuesday morning (10AM).

Meanwhile, I’ve created a FACEBOOK EVENT.

See you soon,

-dean

UPDATE:  David K from Rev Rock has added this blogpost about us and the forthcoming show:
http://revrock.blogspot.com/2011/11/dean-marino-papermaps-interview-show.html

UPDATE: Dean has come down with a bad case of laryngitis and Bobby had a serious bout with food poisoning this week, but we still plan to come!  Our show may not be “top notch,”  but we are breaking this so called curse!

Last Show of 2011

Hi,
Saturday December 3rd (El Mocambo, Toronto $7) will be our last live appearance for 2011. It may be our last hometown show until we finish our next album barring festival shows like CMW, NXNE, SXSW, etc., which we have applied for but have no idea whether we are going to be accepted or rejected. December 3rd will be our 28th show as PAPERMAPS!!  We want to thank our hometown crowd for being so fucking awesome, and we hope to see you there! We will be headlining this show (i.e. we are the last band) but really we are there to support/present a great Vancouver-based band, Behind Sapphire who will appear just before us. Also on the bill are the ever excellent Parks & Rec. as well as Darren Eedens. Come party with us!

FACEBOOK EVENT (please invite yourself!):
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=180545592029814

In the coming months I will be updating this blog with news about our new album’s progress as well as any festival bills we might have gotten onto.  We hope this new album will be more crazy-noisy and infectious than the last.  So stay tuned. Expect my year-end album list as well.

-d

Happy Halloween!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN FROM PAPERMAPS!

We had too much fun at Wolovick’s 30th B-Day Party/Halloween Bash/P’maps Homecoming! Thank you to the Rancho DEVOtees.   Special thanks to Dan for inviting us to play and The Love Machine and Honheehonhee for being awesome!  We had fun dressing up as DEVO and playing Whip It (one of my life-long fantasies fulfilled!).  Here are some pics of our set (thanks to those who snapped pictures):

http://twitpic.com/77zmv2/full

http://yfrog.com/z/ocioignj

http://twitpic.com/77z3qy

http://twitter.com/#!/atomdivision/status/130486465942663168/photo/1/large

It’s a wild and crazy weekend here in the city!

-dean