Getting to Know The Paper Shapes

The Paper Shapes at Red 7, Jan. 31

I've known Jason Bearden since his days in the former band, Consider the Source. He recommended I checked out his new band, The Paper Shapes.

Maybe it was my tiredness of the same formulaic, predictable indie music I had been covering for the past year or maybe it was what I needed to perk me up that morning, but once I heard this aggressively melodic post-punk band on the bus ride to class, I was instantly hooked. Either way, this band has my attention.

The Paper Shapes were formally known as the band Prom Nite, but after noticing the new direction the music was taking, the five guys decided to start completely fresh. A new band name and a new genre. This band is pretty new to the music scene. However, I'm sure there are fans out there who feels just like I did and are ready to embrace their refreshing vigorous sound.

But hearing the album isn't enough. This band is definitely one that needs to be seen live. One memorable time I caught one of their shows was during Transmission's Free Week at Red 7. The temperature at the outside stage was a freezing 17 degrees that night, but that didn't stop the band from performing with as much as energy as they would have given if they played on the inside stage. In fact, the guys claim to this day that that was their best show they've had so far.

I had a chance to sit with the band during one of their practice sessions at Music Lab. It was that night I learned that vocalist, Aaron Pearson-Jordan is a currently student at ACC as well as that guitarist, Hector Guerra, is a former student.

At this meeting, the band chatted with me about how the band got together, the recording of the EP they are currently working on and why there is a guy in the band that just works the lighting during the shows.

The Paper Shapes are:
Aaron Pearson-Jordan, vocalist
Hector Guerra, guitarist
Jason Bearden, bassist
Austin Haines, keyboardist
Alex Brown, drummer
Matt Skoog, lights

All right, Jason had mentioned that this band used to be Prom Nite but pretty much have the same line up?

Alex: (Aaron) and I are the original Prom Nite.

Aaron: We stayed as Prom Nite when we added Jason and Hector. We had another previous member from Prom Nite who's played keys and Austin replaced him. Then we played a couple of shows as Prom Nite and then we decided we're just going to go totally fresh and new name, new songs, all that stuff.

Jason: All our songs didn't sound like anything like Prom Nite.

Alex: Yeah. It was so different. It just called for a name change.

Aaron: It's just nice to have a little bit of a foundation to start as a new band so to have a couple of songs you could play and just go from there.

Jason: And it went from there.

How long has this line up been together?

Jason: A year now. No wait.

Austin: Is it a year?

Jason: Since the four of us have...

Aaron: Then Austin came in about like three months ago?

Jason: Yeah, about three months ago.

Austin: Has it only been that long?

Aaron: About three months and then Skoog about a month ago. About a month and a half.

Matt: A month. A month and a half. Something like that.

Jason: Yeah, the core of the four of us, we started playing about this time last year about middle of January. So it's been about a year guys. Oh my gosh.

Alex: It's finally come together.

Ok, with Skoog. How did you find him? Did you need someone to play lights? I mean, how did that come about?

Aaron: Well we're both from the same hometown and so we've known each other since early high school. It was just one of those things like “Hey buddy, want to run the lights?”

Matt: Yeah. I got nothing better to do. I'll run the lights.

Aaron: So that's how that was.

Matt: Sorry. Orchestrate the lights?

Jason: Yeah, he's our light coordinator and orchestrator. I knew (Austin). Whenever we decided we needed a new keyboard player. We knew we wanted keyboards but none of us knew anyone that played, but I was like “My friend Austin kind of plays.”

Aaron: He's a musician who could play.

Jason: He mainly played guitar and I knew he had a keyboard. I knew he probably knows how to play it so we just asked him to come try it. It ended up working out really well.

Austin: Worked out perfectly.

Aaron: It's all grounds up.

Austin: Number five right here.

Why the name the Paper Shapes?

Jason: We hated everything else.

Alex: It was like three months of trying to find a new name. It was just what we have been deciding on.

Aaron: They beat me in submission over it.

Alex: Not everybody agreed on it.

Jason: The majority agreed on something. We're like “Ok, that's it. That's the name. We won't talk about it or think about it anymore.”

Alex: It's hard thing to do. Coming up with a good band name.

Jason: Yeah, it's really hard to do, especially one that nobody already has.

I saw that you had posted your entire EP on the website for free streaming. First of all, how was it like recording that EP? When did you start recording after you decided to become this new band?

Jason: We stopped playing shows.

Aaron: It was pretty soon.

Jason: It was like May, wasn't it?

Aaron: Yeah.

Alex: Or June?

Aaron: Well after we decided to fully go with Paper Shapes, it was really quick cause we already had a few of the new songs already written when we were playing shows as Prom Nite. So I think we already almost had four-five songs. So really, once we were ready to change the name, we were already ready to go in the studio to record. I think it was pretty quick. I think.

Jason: We took like six months off though. Oh no, it was like four months.

Aaron: No, it was from playing shows.

Jason: Yeah, from playing shows. So we just wanted to record and practice. God, it seemed like we practiced like...

Alex: ...Forever before we even played a show.

Jason: We were waiting for the CD to get done before we played shows. Then that was when we decided to change keyboard players and then we're like Now we have to teach him everything and everything.

Alex: We recorded the EP before Austin actually joined.

Jason: Yeah. He wasn't on the CD we have out now.

Alex: But we're fixing to record another EP or maybe full-length or something soon. We have one song tracked.

Aaron: Yeah, we're actually already started so that's in the next couple of months.

Alex: Probably before South by Southwest, we'll have it out.

Austin: Oh, I hope so.

Alex: Probably like six tracks.

Jason: You think so?

Austin: New five. Well new six.

Hector: Go right now and let's do it. Everybody put their hands in right now.

Jason: Let's do it, Shapes.

How has the response been with that EP being online? I know most bands that I've run across, especially with DIY and independents, they heavily rely on their album sales. You just posted it up there so do you feel that helped you more?

Jason: We got lucky.

Aaron: We haven't had any reviews on it yet.

Alex: Maybe so.

I'm working on it.

Aaron: Oh yeah. We mailed it as soon as it was done. We mailed it off to a bunch of places and we're still waiting on reviews but I think we wanted to do something just out there and just to give it...

Alex: Like validate us as a band.

Aaron: Yeah, just to give. Like OK, we're a new band. We want to give you this music to take home with you. We're going to post it up so you download it for free. I think this new music, it's something that's more us now finalized. Something that we could be more proud of to where we can actually ask for money and be like “Hey, help us out a little bit.”

Austin: I think collectively too that we all kind of have that attitude of we're not worry about money. We just do this cause we love it.

Aaron: Yeah absolutely.

Austin: And like it's our fucking music. But no, it's just I think we all agree when we were talking about we don't really care if we're making any money. We just want to do it.

Aaron: And I co-own a CD duplication company, Capitol Sound and Design, so...

That helps.

Aaron: Yeah so put out our stuff without a heavy cost.

Jason: Especially with the first one we got. We just got lucky with the circumstances. We didn't spend hardly... Well we spent a little money but hardly any at all. So just giving it away was an easy thing to do because we haven't spend much on this one. But the next one, we're going to spend money on it because now we have a foundation where we can build on and be better than the last one. So we're going to be spending money on this one as well and we'll be selling it for a lot of money.

Austin: We're going to change attitudes.

Aaron: I always like to be able to give people the choice to pay what they want. Kind of like a tip thing. If you pay a dollar, here you go, get a CD or five for it, you'll get a CD.

Alex: That's always good. If they really want it, just give it to them.

Austin: We've discussed the Radiohead thing about when they put that album and we thought that it was just an awesome idea. Just pay what you want.

And it worked.

Austin: If you don't want to pay anything, then don't. That's fine. If it's worth it to you, then it's worth it to us.

You mentioned a new album being recorded?

Alex: Yeah EP. Probably before South by Southwest, we'll have it out hopefully. Trying to record it during February and they'll probably have six songs on it.

Who are you recording with? Is it self-produced?

Alex: Well no, this guy Kevin at Test Tube. Test Tube Studios, is it?

Hector: Test Tube Audio.

Austin: Kevin Butler at Test Tube Audio.

Alex: What else has he produced?

Hector: Set Aflame.

Jason: Goodnight Goddess. He mastered the Impressionist EP that Consider the Source did.

Hector: Exeter.

Alex: He's good.

Aaron: I think we can all say we're all pretty excited to continue with him.

Jason: We did one song with him last weekend and it was awesome.

Aaron: Just kind of trial.

Jason: He pretty much told us that we should do that song. For me, that was the one that I was least comfortable with to play live and everything. Then we recorded with him and he just made us correct every little bit that we didn't like. Now it's my favorite song to play.

Alex: He's good.

Jason: He's a really good.

Austin: Yeah, he's a producer. it's not like you're just going into some studio and “Hey, lay your tracks and get out.” He really takes the time to help out.

Jason: He has some crazy ideas of the day that are always awesome.

Hector: We used everyone of them.

Austin: Yes, we did. It's good.

All right. Now we're doing fun band question time.

Austin: Yay!

So there's six of you. You're all going to pick a band member and you can't pick the same one. You're going to tell me what you think that band member brings to the band, whether it be their personality like they keep the band going or musically to the songs? Who's going first?

Jason: Do you pick it or do we pick it?

You pick your band member. You just can't pick the same one.

Jason: I would want to pick Austin.

Austin: Aww.

Jason: Aww. Austin's like our hype guy. He's our Flavor Flav. Ah man. If you just see a show, you'd know what I mean. It's awesome. Anytime I feel like I'm maybe dragging ass a little bit, I always look over at Austin and he's having like ten times more fun than me. And I'm like “All right, he's keeping everyone entertained while I'm slumming over here.” But yeah, Austin's always at ten and it's awesome.

Hector: I'd have to say Skoog brings a good lighting into the band. And at first, I was opposed to the lighting. I don't like lights and stuff. But when he came in and he started doing them, I'm like “Yeah, we needed it. We need to keep this.”

It was a nice touch.

Jason: Weren't you like “I don't know.”?

Hector: Yeah, I was like “I don't know. I don't know about this.” Then I was completely convinced.

Aaron: He's our “I don't know about this” guy.

Hector: Yeah, I don't now about this.

Aaron: I'll go ahead and go from there. Yeah, I'll pick Hector. And he's that. “I don't know what...” But nah, you say really with any of the rest, they're probably the best musicians I've played with. Hector's like our little Slash. He's definitely a prodigy guitar player.

Hector: What?

Aaron: When we're writing a song, it usually stems from a riff that Hector writes a lot of times. Then from there, everybody all chimes in.

Austin: Yeah, he's definitely the foundation. Good musically.

Aaron: Yeah definitely.

Hector: Well, I can't do it with you motherfuckers.

Alex: Let's all hug. Let's all hug it out. I'll say Jason because as a drummer, it's really nice having a solid ass bass player to play with. Keep the percussion section on lock down.

Austin: I'm actually glad everyone picked that way because I was looking at the back at this guy's (Alex) head. I'm really into drums like percussion. Tambourine is my favorite instrument. I'm just very much into the percussion stuff. This guy's just ridiculous. Part of it, I think too for me, is I know we said Hector's like our foundation musically, but I know when we play live, I just watch this guy the whole time. It's like just seeing what he's doing because I always set up next to him. It's just crazy. He's the best drummer.

Aaron: To even just visually watch.

Austin: Yeah, it's intense.

Aaron: It's very intense. I don't care who you are or what kind of music you like, when you see that you're just like shit. Oh shit.
Austin: I don't think there's been a show that we've played that someone hasn't come up to me afterwards and be like “Dude, you're drummer's sick.”

Matt: So I guess I've got Mr. P here. The last guy.

Alex: He's a badass front man.

Matt: Yeah, absolutely. And in terms of lights and things like that, I'm new to all this stuff. I've never really done anything with lights before. But in terms of setting a tone and things like that, it's like you can feel the emotion in his voice and the way that he sings and what he's singing that actually really gives me a good chance to go through and try to display that in some sort of way.

Alex: “He sounded angry right now.”

Aaron: Red light. He's angry.

Matt: Absolutely.

Austin: That's very true.

Matt: This is sort of a blue and green song.

Jason: This is a mixture of red and blue, for sure.

Anything else people need to know about The Paper Shapes?

Austin: We're just all about having fun and loving the music. I think that everybody that sees us should feel the same way. We're not out to impress anybody. I don't think. It's just you like it, you like it. Just come rock out with us.

Aaron: It's a nice chance to kind of spread the energy and get on stage and just kind of let it all out no matter what you do.

Alex: It's cathartic.

Aaron: Job wise or school wise or anything like that. We can all just get on stage together or just fuck everything else. Let it all go and it feels good.

Jason: And everybody except Aaron and I are single. You can print that.

Oh I wanted to ask what genre are you? I know bands hate this question.

Austin: Yeah, well...

Aaron: I got this.

Austin: You got it? Take it then.

Aaron: I'm going to go ahead and say that's it's a progressive alternative post punk sounds.

Alex: That's perfect.

Aaron: Anybody want to add anything?

Jason: I'd say progressive for sure.

Austin: Yeah, that's definitely progressive.

Aaron: But it's got the energy of a good solid old school punk band. You have those influences in there.

Jason: Especially the background. I mean, (Hector's) background. That's like your platform right there.

Hector: Yeah, I grew up on punk and metal and hardcore music and stuff. But then also I like listening to Radiohead or something because they have such a good melody so as long as it's fast then I'm OK. It's got a good melody. Yeah, it's perfect. Like Michael Jackson melodies.

All right, that's all I have. Anything else you want to add?

Alex?: Thank you for coming in.

Austin: Yeah, we appreciate it. Absolutely.

Jason: We had fun.