In the golden age of exploration, mapmakers were often tasked with updating their charts to encompass the discovery of new land and the settlement and colonization of far-flung places. Bands often undergo a similar re-charting process, and given their name, it’s appropriate that this has transpired recently for Toronto's PAPERMAPS.
PAPERMAPS led by singer/songwriter/guitarist/producer Dean Marino, recently expanded to become a quintet. While keyboardist/vocalist Wendy Leung and drummer Bobby Lee remain in place, Todd Harrison has moved from bass to guitar and synth. Betty Dimo has come aboard on bass and vocals, and it's this super-sized lineup that is featured in their two new videos "Reunion" and "Complicate Things", the first two singles from the band’s eponymous album.
In early September of 2011, PAPERMA
PS filmed a music video for their second single, “Complicate Things” (remixed by producer Harry Hess) with director Sammy Ray Welch.
The "Complicated Things" video and single will be released in the early part of 2012.
Meanwhile that same week, the band released a home-made viral video for its first single, “Reunion,” with footage created by fans and friends who sent clips of themselves holding signs answering the question: “If you could send a message back in time to yourself at age 16, what would you say?"
Response to the video has been uniformly positive. “For my money, this is one of the coolest videos I’ve seen!” Ross Condit writes in his music blog INYOURSPEAKERS. “If you’re looking for inspiration from odd places, this is your ticket.”
The self-titled album that sprung “Reunion” and “Complicate Things” has garnered its share of praise and support since it was released in the spring of 2011 on Sparks Music. It has garnered positive reviews from the likes of Exclaim!, !earshot/NCRA, the Montreal Mirror, I (heart) Music, NxEW, NYC-based magazine The Big Takeover, and John Sakamoto's Anti-Hit List in the Toronto Star.
Papermaps debuted at #32 on the ChartAttack Top 50 Canadian campus radio charts, and at #38 on the !Earshot (NCRA) Weekly Top 50, peaking at #16. The single “Reunion” went on to chart on the Mediabase Alternative Rock Spins chart for 6 weeks, peaking at #40.
Papermaps was produced by the band’s own Dean Marino, a Toronto-based recording engineer who has logged many years behind the scenes, manning the console for artists as varied as Tokyo Police Club, Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings, Born Ruffians, Sweet Thing, C’MON and the Black Keys. PAPERMAPS was initially born from a group Marino assembled to recreate live versions of songs from his first solo LP, Central Meaner Street. The group gelled and morphed into PAPERMAPS, and in 2010 sessions soon began for what would become their debut self-titled album.
The bands fall 2011 itinerary has included recent stops at the CMJ Music Marathon in New York, two showcases during the Halifax Pop Explosion, and multiple club gigs in their hometown of Toronto and throughout Ontario.
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