2010 might just be a month old, but you’d be hard pressed to find a band with more promise this year than Paper Tongues. Fusing rock melodies with fiery hip-hop beats their sound is as refreshing as it is unique, a sound that lead singer Aswan North says the band refers to as ‘club rock’.
“It’s definitely an alternative sound, but we didn’t want to miss out on all the influences that each of the members of the band have,” North told Alternative Addiction in a recent interview. “When we got in the studio and started cramming all that in, the best name we came up with was club rock.”
Playing together for less than 3 years, the members of Paper Tongues have managed to meld their music influences from previous projects into one explosive sound, but bringing the band together wasn’t easy according to North.
“It took a lot of compelling and trying to convince,” said North of recruiting the members of the band. “We all went to LA [but] we hadn’t yet committed as a band, we just wanted to get together and see what was going to happen in the studio.”
The first song the band recorded together was the song “Trinity,” a song that’s inspiring lyrics driving chorus is a signature example of the band’s unique sound. Not only did it set the tone for the band’s musical style, it proved to the band that they had created something too exceptional to walk away from.
“We knew we had created something special,” North said of the song following its recording. “I don’t know if we would have taken it this far had the magic not occur on that song.”
First Listen: Trinity by Paper Tongues
Rather than rush out of the studio to road test their new material, North said the band kept working on new material after they’d completed a handful of songs.
“We kind of became like lab rats, we never left the studio,” explained North. “We ditched everything and went for this one thing.”
The band’s hard work paid off in 2009 when they scored a major label deal with A&M/Octone. With their major label debut due this summer, the band is already building a strong fan base with “Trinity” holding the top spot on the Alternative Addiction Top 20 for the second week in a row.
Ultimately, North says the band just wants their music to be heard and move people.
"We want fans to walk away from our music with that good feeling,” says North. “We think our music can bring healing for a group of people, a society, bad politics and artists that feel hopeless. Paper Tongues' music should heal you and make you take a chance again."
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