PaperPlane Soaring to Success

To all music buffs, your new music radar is definitely on the blinker! The current rising band that is missing from playlists around the country is by far the best new sound to come out of Halifax.

Their first gig may have been for an 18th birthday party back in 2008 when they had no written material and no professionalism about them, but they have certainly come a long way with a growing fan base in the UK and Sweden.

Playing live Jack Bennett's voice has a raw quality which can only be described as powerful and recognisable with soft and husky tones – you will definitely want the tracks on repeat.

Their influences come from well known bands such as Brand New, with Jack even having the same guitar as Vincent Accardi to achieve a similar sound, Biffy Clyro and Enter Shikari. Other inspiration comes from Emarosa, City and Colour, and Fightstar. Anyone who has a powerful, energetic presence and can please the crowd is an instant role model for the boys.

Beginning to take the band seriously in 2011 they worked for the best part of a year on their debut album Draw Your Own Holes, released on the 30th July 2011. Unfortunately they lost their drummer shortly after recording for personal reasons and are currently trying out new drummers. However, they are hopeful to make Callum Connell a more permanent fixture this year.

Singer and guitarist, Jack Bennett said: “We wanted our album to be as live and real as we could get it to represent us. We write either solely and consult each other mixing in both our ideas or just play around with a sound which turns into something."

The album launch, on the 30th July at the Victoria Theatre in Halifax, showcased their talent and hard work individually and together. The venue filled up with 300 plus fans, family, friends and onlookers with nothing but positive praise and excitement for the band. The lucky lads even had girls queuing to see them outside their dressing room after the show had ended. 

The nineteen year old added: “There was a lot of preparation, but I just wanted to get on the stage and play."

Bassist Kristian Arak, 19, said: “It was surreal as we have played gigs before but nothing as meaningful as this. It was one of our bigger projects, but positively attracted more people to our music.

Their album can be found on popular online stores such as Itunes, Spotify and BigCartel for download. So far they have managed just over 400 physical sales and 1400 streams through ITunes and Spotify.

They are not only talented but very modest as Jack said that they find it hard to take compliments and positive feedback because they feel saying thank you to people isn’t enough.

He added: “It’s amazing when they like us for what we have produced and who we are as a band.

June 2011 also saw PaperPlane touring around UK venues with Swedish band You Ate my Dog. After the success of the tour and of course with their gentlemen like ways they were invited over to Sweden to play at Pepp Fest at the end of November. They gained a slot on the main stage and received the warmest of welcomes from the Swedes.

The boys were shocked at the immense reaction and Jack said that he just wanted to hug everyone to say thanks.

Kristian added: “They seemed so appreciative of us coming out there, we were so lucky.

The trio also recently organised and played their own tour, around the UK, in September of 2011, making contacts along the way.

Jack added: “It’s so easy to organise events as long as you have the effort to do so.

Career wise for a band it can be a long process especially in today’s market. Money is an obvious issue and for many the reality is too tiring, but PaperPlane have a more positive, professional and upbeat outlook.

Jack said: “It’s not about the money for us, if we wanted to make money right now we wouldn’t be doing this, we want to work our way up. The fact we have so much support from our families is amazing, they want us to succeed.

Their songs have also been played on local BBC radio stations around the West Yorkshire area and Kristian said that it has been a pretty steady year with a lot of opportunities along the way so hopefully this year they can push the band further.

So far the band has accomplished a lot. Their next steps and goals for this year are firstly to, hopefully, return to Sweden, release a smaller album and most importantly release a video for their new ep which they are currently working on. There has also been talk of them playing in the West End of London with a Big Band, on the 26th February, which will be recorded and produced by Local TV stations.

With every band gigging is the main way to get noticed and PaperPlane intend to continue with more dates and more destinations- definitely ones to look out for!

Jack added: “with our passion and support we can hopefully make it. It’s class to see the reaction on a small scale right now so hopefully we could reach that on a bigger scale. Everyone has to start somewhere”

Photography: Luke Beevers.