theaussieword.com catches up with Sam Rasmussen from The Paper Kites.
Give us an introduction. How did it all begin? What had you first interested in music? Well I started playing the bass guitar when I was 11. I joined the school band and it all started happening from there. Over a decade later, TPK formed. We were all friends, and started out playing covers at weddings for our friends. Eventually we made a few demos, booked a few shows and it caught on.
What motivates or influences you in your quest to make great music? We are all music lovers. Every day we are listening to music, and thinking about it. Playing in the band, creating and writing songs is just an extension of that. Whenever we are writing and arranging together we are constantly talking about and referencing a song we heard in the car that day, or a sound that we heard on a new album etc..
What are your biggest goals you hope to accomplish as an artist?
It’s hard to say. I think our goals keep shifting. When I was 18, my goal was to release a full length album, and play a show in America.
What can we expect from you in the coming months? Any plans to tour?
Good question! In a few days’ time we are meeting to re-set up our rehearsal studio. From there we are going to crack into tour rehearsals. We have announced a tour in North America through November, and there are plenty more announcements around the corner. We will spend the majority of next year on the road.
Tell us a bit about your latest album and how would you best describe your music?
Well we released ‘On the train ride home’ back in May, and we are releasing ‘on the corner where you live’ in September. While these are standalone albums in their own right, they are sort of a part a part b collection. The former is a more stripped back ‘singer songwriter’ kind of sound while the former is back to the full band sound.
Success, what is the secret to it?
Do what you love, work as hard as you can, and give it time.
What has been your biggest career highlight?
There have been plenty of highlights so far. It is hard to pick one. Our first show at the Paradiso in Amsterdam was right up there. That was a pretty special night for us.
The music industry is huge, where do you see yourself a few years from now?
We just want to keep creating music that we are really proud of, and keep performing it around the world. The music industry is huge, but that has never intimidated us. We just want to do our thing.
Name a few of your favourite Aussie artists.
Tame Impala, Angus and Julia Stone, Holy Holy.
The shape of the music industry has changed significantly over the years, including the use of social media, how do you feel about the industry as a whole and what does it mean to you in getting your records out into the public eye?
It certainly has changed. Streaming and social media has always been very kind to us. We have traditionally not had allot of major radio support around the world, but because of our success on Spotify, we are able to continually tour the world and play to amazing audiences. It means to much to us to travel to places we have not even heard of, and see people singing along to our music.
Thanks for the interview! What final message do you have for us today?
Be kind to each other!