New Music Video for “Nobody Gets It,” by Kerry Shaw

Since Monday (six days ago) our latest music video for “Nobody Gets It,” has been available for stream on Exclaim.ca. The video is now available on YOUTUBE for the rest of the world to see:

This video was envisioned and directed by the very talented photographer Kerry Shaw. We here in the PAPERMAPS camp love it! It’s hard to describe. Perhaps Kerry’s own words sum it up best:

Nobody’s perfect. A notion we tend to forget when we look at our partner, our colleagues, our family, ourselves. We are creatures of expectation and with that comes the tendency to overlook just how amazing the people truly are around us. Papermaps have compiled a song that explores the anger in desiring perfection, the frustration of someone not living up to our idea of who we think they should be. Perfect. I contradict these lyrics with a montage of appreciation. Specifically, images of women. The female form, movement and overall imperfections and actions of women. All kinds of women…This is not an in-your-face, socio-political “oh, look at how women are being over-sexuallised/distorted in media/over-beautied” kind of dialogue.  Rather, this is a study of the female face, body, hair, movement, etc. A slightly dark celebration.

For us in the group it was a fun and simple video to make.  We each only had to be there a few hours or so. The bulk of the video was done over several days in Kerry’s studio with the many lovely models.  We are thankful to all the ladies who volunteered their time and image for this video – you are the real stars! This clip features all the members of PAPERMAPS lip syncing the song, including Wendy and Todd who had officially left the group before  filming but gracefully agreed to participate.  This video is not only a celebration of beauty in diversity but is also, on a more personal level, a celebration of PAPERMAPS’ former lineup.

Have a look and let us know what you think!

-d

Vinyl Day!

Hi,

I’m happy to announce that the limited edition vinyl version of our new EP, Inferior Ghost has arrived from the pressing plant! Orders taken from our bandcamp site will now ship immediately and all pre-orders were shipped from the Sparks Music offices today. Thank you to all those who pre-ordered the record; your records are on their way and they include a complimentary CD (look inside those record sleeves).  Slowly, Inferior Ghost should appear in finer record shops.   If your favourite shop doesn’t have it I’m sure they can special order it for you.

Cheers,

-dean

AUGUST 28 – TORONTO – INFERIOR GHOST RELEASE SHOW

Hi,
It seems like September is just around the corner! We just came back from a 3000+ kilometer Canadian tour (tour pics and diary forthcoming) – it was a long laborous birthing for our new EP, Inferior Ghost. We’ve had a week off and should be well rested for our BIG HOMECOMING / CD RELEASE show at the Horseshoe Tavern, Tuesday August 28th. Set time: 11PM.  Admission is FREE. This is the LAST PUSH in the birthing. CDs and records will be in stores following this show (for exuberant prices – ok, ok,  for reasonable prices).  Joining us will be Little Barrie (UK, members of Primal Scream / Spiritualized) at 10PM. If you live in or near Toronto and like us you should really come out to this one!  I’m not sure when/if we will play Toronto again this year.  We might just decide to hole up in the woodshed for a while (the woodshed being the new studio, Echo Valley). Autumn is perfect for that sort of thing, no?  This new EP should give you something to chew on while we write/record a new LP.  The vinyl gods tell me the 12-inch records may very well be ready in time for the show.  People who pre-ordered their vinyl (thank you, thank you, thank you) can rest assured that they will ship on the 28th. Most of you live far away – so it works out great.   If you pre-ordered the vinyl and you come to the show, however, I’ll hand you a signed copy right there!!! We will have a list of names.
Please join the Facebook event (if you FB):
www.facebook.com/events/126427917502714/

Pretty pictures follow:

Other birds have told me that the record may already be in your local college radio library or slush pile. Cools.  Happy school days, keep your pencils sharp and make us the soundtrack to your collegiate life.

Fondness and Cheers,

-dean

SUMMER SHOWS!

Hi Friends!

We have a bunch of dates lined up from Toronto to Halifax in support of our upcoming record, Inferior Ghost (Out August 28 on Sparks/Universal Music Canada).

Here they are:

August 6, Drake Underground, Toronto ON 10:45PM (Elvis Monday Residency w/ Wendy Versus)
http://www.facebook.com/events/125694064237133/

August 11, Divan Orange, Montreal QC (w/ Philémon and Ohara)
http://www.facebook.com/events/419173558119555/

August 16, Gus’ Pub, Halifax NS (w/ Wendy Versus and TBA)
http://www.facebook.com/events/414248215278154/

August 17, Zaphods, Ottawa ON (w/ Wendy Versus and TBA)
http://www.facebook.com/events/427224560653958/

August 28, Horseshoe Tavern, Toronto ON (CD RELEASE PARTY!!! w/ Little Barrie)
Our CD/LP release party! FREE ADMISSION!!!
Note: Little Barrie stars Barrie Cadogan, guitar player for two of my favourite bands: Primal Scream and Spiritualized!!!

Our sister band, WENDY VERSUS will be joining us for most of these shows!

We don’t play live that often, so don’t miss out!

cheers,

-d

INFERIOR GHOST OUT AUGUST 28th – PRE ORDER NOW

Hi All,

I’d like to officially announce the release of our new record, Inferior Ghost!
This is an EP with six tracks weighing in at just over 23 minutes. We decided to release an EP instead of a full-length because, regrettably, these are the last songs we wrote and/or recorded at our studio, Chemical Sound (R.I.P.).  That studio is gone now, but you can certainly hear its ambiance and magic in this record – especially on the tracks “Break,” and “Inferior Ghost” which were both recorded entirely there, from top to bottom.  Those were the last songs to have benefited from the mystic combination of the studio’s amazing live room, vintage API console, tape machines and EMT plate reverb. Regarding the other tracks: “There Are Wolves,” “Nobody Gets It” and “Reaction Formation” were half-recorded at Chemical and half-recorded at Vespa Studios – a 20-plus-years old establishment owned by Harry Hess with it’s own special ghosts.  The song, “Wait for Me,” was written at Chemical but entirely recorded at the new Central Audio, which now occupies the space where Chemical Sound was. The record was engineered mostly by me with help from Jay Sadlowski, Harry Hess and Todd Harrison.  The whole EP was mixed at Central Audio by me and was mastered by Noah Mintz at the venerable Lacquer Channel.  This is the first PAPERMAPS record to feature our newest member, Betty Dimo on bass throughout the EP.  She played “Wait for Me” with a broken right hand, taking off her temporary cast so she could play properly- what a trooper! Bobby Lee played the drums. Wendy Leung played her Nord Stage 2 (and my Baldwin piano) and doubled my vocals in the choruses when she’s wasn’t singing harmonies.  Todd Harrison played second guitar, his Korg Poly6 synthesizer and shouted a lot in the choruses.  I played lead guitar and sang the songs. I would describe the production techniques as minimal – there are very few “embellishments” beyond the usual studio techniques I like to employ. OK, I admit there is one backwards piano arpeggio in “Nobody Gets It” that was written by me and played beautifully by Jay Sadlowski. Beyond that, there is very little “double tracking,” or “extra overdubs,” etc.  This is the sound of five people making music.

To continue working on a full-length would have caused a creative  schism in the body of work – so this new record not only documents where we are as a band right now, but it also represents a fresh start.  Autumn seems like a natural time for fresh starts, doesn’t it?

Inferior Ghost will be available digitally (worldwide) and on CD (Canada) as well as a  limited edition 12-inch vinyl record.

Inferior Ghost will be released by Sparks Music and will be distributed through Universal Music Group.

The virtual “drop date” for the digital version (iTunes/etc.) is August 14th.
The street “drop date” for the physical version (CD/LP) is August 28th.

We are offering PRE-ORDERS at a discount price for the first 50 copies of the limited edition vinyl through http://papermaps.bandcamp.com.

And (because we are old-school) we will be celebrating the release of our new baby into the world with a nice little tour:

August 11 – Montreal QC – Divan Orange w/ Philémon and Ohara
August 16 – Halifax NS – Gus’ Pub w/ Wendy Versus and TBD
August 17 – Ottawa – Zaphods w/ Wendy Versus and TBD
August 28 – Toronto – Horseshoe Tavern w/ Little Barrie

Please join us and celebrate! CD’s will be available at these shows (vinyl will be available via pre-order and at our Toronto show).

If you are a radio host or music journalist, please contact Sparks Music or Audioblood Media to get your promotional materials.

Cheers,

-Dean