Interview

On August 15th, I headed over to Philly’s Trocadero Theater to check out a new indie rock band by the name of Paper Rival (previously called Keating). The 4-piece from Nashville, Tennessee was supporting Ace Enders of The Early November on his solo headlining tour. I definitely recommend giving this band a listen- they played a great set of melodic alt rock songs off of their recent Self-Titled EP, out on Photo Finish Records. With introspective lyrics, sincere vocals and graceful melodies, Paper Rival is straight up feel-good rock. If you like As Tall As Lions, then you’re more than likely to enjoy this band too. Look for Paper Rival’s debut full-length in stores February 2008. Anyway, the following is my interview with guitarist Patrick Damphier (and vocalist Jake Rolleston joins in on the conversation later).

EP: First of all, can you please state your name and what you do in the band?

Patrick: My name is Patrick Damphier and I am guitarist and background vocalist in the band.

EP: I guess I can’t really ask you how the tour’s been going now that I’ve realized that this is the first night- but do you know if any other dates have sold out besides this one?

Patrick: I don’t think any others have actually sold out yet- but I have heard that they’ve been selling very well. This is about 40 minutes from where Ace Enders is from, so this is almost a hometown show for him. But I’ve been hearing that most dates are expected to sell out the night of.

EP: How did you guys join up with Ace Enders to be part of this tour anyway?

Patrick: Our booking agents are the same- Matt Galle- and Ace was hanging out with Matt one day, and he let Ace hear our stuff and he liked it apparently. And he wanted to take us out. That’s the story I heard. So we accepted.

EP: You formed your band in 2005 under the name “Keating,” but have recently changed your name to “Paper Rival.” Can you explain the reason behind the name change?

Patrick: There’s a band in Canada that has the name already.

EP: The one with the female singer?

Patrick: Yeah, and her actual last name is Keating.

EP: When I looked up "Keating" online, all I could find was the Canadian band.

Patrick: Yeah, our old page, well you won’t really find anything about us as Keating anymore- the label pretty much did away with all of that. But as soon as we signed our deal, the label tried to trademark our name, but couldn’t. And we didn’t really even know that the band in Canada existed until we were touring without a record deal last April in Canada in their home town- and some people came out thinking it was them. And then they sent our booking agent a cease-and-desist order. We were really confused- it’s kind of a bummer but… so the label said we couldn’t keep it, and this is really, I think, our 5th show that we’ve ever played under the name “Paper Rival.” We’re starting over.

EP: Is your new music slightly different than on your old EP?

Patrick: Well, under Keating- that EP was completely self-made and self-released, and that’s what got us signed.

EP: And you produced it?

Patrick: Yes. Actually, I produced our full-length and I produced the EP we’re selling now too. I do all of the recording stuff. But that old EP, we’re not selling anymore. I think it might be available on iTunes only for the next few months, but it’s not going to get printed again.

EP: Can you describe how your sound has changed from your old EP to the new one?

Patrick: I mean its obviously a matter of opinion. In our eyes, we feel that we’ve grown up a little bit. It's not as fast and in your face, and the lyrical content has definitely gone in a more ambiguous direction- but it's more meaningful to us. We’re making the music that we want to make, so I guess that’s how I can describe it.

EP: Did your previous fans care about the name change, or were they pretty cool with it?

Patrick: They don’t seem to care at all. The fans that we made as Keating- some of them like the new name better. We haven’t really heard any people saying that they liked Keating better.

EP: How did you decide on the name, “Paper Rival”? And sorry about all the name questions.

Patrick: That’s fine, we gotta address that- especially now. I came up with the idea to call it “Paper Tiger” and Jake had “Modern Rival.” We didn’t like either, so we split it. And also, his idea was already taken and so was mine. It’s really hard to come up with original names in this day and age.

EP: Yeah, there’s so many bands now that have slightly different names that it’s getting confusing.

Patrick: We would come up with a name that we thought was kind of cool and we’d type it in MySpace- taken - there’d be like 6 bands that already had it. So “Paper Rival” was completely original. And it’s not like we were all like, “Oh yes, that’s the name!” I mean, we were ok with it. But the fact that it’s 100 percent original is really important- the fact that we can be “MySpace/paperrival” instead of- we used to be “MySpace/keatingband,” and we used to be “keatingband.com” and now we’re just “paperrival.com” and it makes it so much easier.

EP: Yeah, so people can’t confuse you with another band again.

Patrick: The internet is going to play such a big part in our career so we have to consider it.

EP: How did you guys first meet anyway? I read that you were all in two different bands at first? Can you talk about that?

Patrick: Brent and I have been playing music together since we were 10. We’ve played in countless bands together- locally in Nashville where we’re from. And Jake was in a band that moved to Nashville from Chattanooga- and I produced his old band’s CD, so we became friends.

EP: Do you have your own studio? I guess that’s ridiculously expensive..

Patrick: Well, no. Not yet- It's my goal though. Before the band took off I was an audio engineer. That was my job, that’s how I paid my bills. So I’m a freelancer and I’ve worked at studios all over Nashville. So when it came time for us to make a record- I’ve got lots of friends and lots of connections and hookups where I can get good prices and into studios after hours.

EP: I also read that you recorded the album in three different studios- how does that happen? I don’t know a lot about the recording process.

Patrick: Well the one studio where we did all the drums is very expensive. And we did all the drums in like a day in a half – and I played all the drums - but because it was such an expensive studio, we had to figure that into our budget. So then we went to a slightly cheaper studio and used smaller rooms to do all the guitars. And then we went to a different studio that had a microphone that I was really fond of- to do all the vocals. Really, the only reason we went to the studio was because of the gear.

EP: Was that a pain in the ass?

Patrick: Well actually, they were all in walking distance of one another. The good thing about Nashville is that it’s literally a music town- it’s got studios all over. There’s one area called Berry Hill, which is where I work and it’s where all the studios are located.

EP: So you did all the drum tracking on the record- but who is playing the drums for you right now on tour? And have you found a permanent drummer yet?

Patrick: We have not found a permanent drummer yet- but he’s a good friend of ours from Nashville- his name is Dillon Napier, and he used to play for the band Scatter the Ashes on Epitaph. They broke up and some of those members moved on and formed a band called Mother Father- but they just actually lost their record deal with Epitaph. So Dillon knew that we were looking for a drummer, and we’re really good friends- we’ve toured with him before we were signed so we already had that connection going. And yeah, he’s just filling in for now.

EP: How did you decide to join Matt Galle’s label, Photo Finish Records?

Patrick: Matt Galle is the President of the label- he started it, it’s his baby.

EP: It’s got one other band on it right?

Patrick: Yeah, they’re called Envy On The Coast. They’re very different than us- very poppy. But let’s see, I guess it would have been two years ago when we were Keating. I had a Circa Survive CD-

EP: Are you guys friends with them?

Patrick: We are now- we played with them last year as Keating at the Theater of Living Arts in Philly. But yeah, I had a Circa Survive CD and Matt’s name is in booking, and it listed his email address in the liner notes. And I was bored one day, so I was like what the hell I’ll send him an email and say, “Check out our band”- thinking that he’d never read it. But about a week later he called me on my cell phone and I thought it was a joke. He was like, “This is Matt Galle… I really liked your songs on MySpace” - we hadn’t even played a show yet. And he goes, “When are you guys playing?” And I was like, “Oh, we’ve got this show in Nashville, and we’ve got this show in Chattanooga coming up” – and he was on his way to the MTV video music awards at the time – so he flew to Chattanooga to watch our second show ever, and he really, really liked it. He took us out to dinner that night and said, “I wanna work with you guys” - and he took us on under his wing. He didn’t have his label yet, but he told us it was in the works. So he put us out on tour, and we had to quit our jobs- it was really scary.

EP: What was your old job?

Patrick: I was an audio engineer.

EP: Oh yeah, you already told me, sorry. What about the other guys?

Patrick: Brent was a carpet cleaner, he cleans for his uncle’s business. Cody is a house painter- the bassist. Jake has had tons of jobs, honestly, I don’t even remember what he was doing at the time. He’s probably had 6 jobs since then- but he was working nevertheless... Hmm, where was I?

EP: Oh, you were talking about Matt and the label.

Patrick: Oh yeah, he put us out on tour and we quit our jobs and went out. And through the touring- whenever we’d get around Los Angeles, labels would come out to look at us. Warner Brothers was talking to us, Island was talking to us, Atlantic, and we had Downtown Records- which has Cold War Kids and Gnarls Barkley- was talking to us. So there was interest and it was neat. But Matt offered us the best deal and we had that contact- we trust Matt.

EP: Yeah, that’s important.

Patrick: So we were involved with Matt on a booking agent level for about a year and a half before we ever signed anything. But now we’re on his label. And Atlantic- it’s actually, its Matt’s label slash Atlantic. We’ve got ADA: alternative distribution alliance.

EP: So are you considering to eventually move up to Atlantic? What’s your opinion of major labels?

Patrick: Yeah, I think the plan is - if we sell enough records they already told us that they’re gonna bring us up.

EP: Wow.

Patrick: Yeah it’s a little scary.

EP: Do you trust them?

Patrick: I don’t know yet… but well, we signed a contract with them so we have to. But just as long as- I think Matt’s still gonna be involved on some level, which will give us that old familiar connection.

EP: What inspired you guys and influenced you when you were writing this past EP? You had some pretty cool lyrics, who in the band writes them?

Patrick: Jake, the lead singer, writes the majority of the lyrics. I do write some, and we co-write a lot, but he does the majority. But all the songs for the EP, and all the songs for the full-length were recorded all at the same time. And we started making the full-length as Keating- thinking it was going to be released under the name Keating. But when we lost the name and found out that we had to be called “Paper Rival,” we were like, “Well, this sort of gives us an opportunity to go in a new direction with our sound, so let’s not release the Keating EP” – because we were sick of it. So we scrapped that and we we’re like, “Well let’s take five of these songs that we’ve already recorded and release a new EP – and the hope and the point of releasing this EP is to build interest and buzz for the full-length which is supposed to come out in February. So we’re just gonna tour on this EP and hope we can get as many kids as interested as possible. We’re not really pushing it that hard marketing-wise-

(Jake enters the room)

Patrick: Hey, wanna join in?

Jake: Yeah, I’m just gonna hang out, and I’ll say something wrong.

EP: Hmm, where were we?

Patrick: The EP is supposed to build interest for the full-length.

EP: So have you written most of the full-length already?

Patrick: Yes, it’s about 95 percent done. I mean, all the songs are recorded, but they’re just not mixed and all the loose ends have not been tied up yet. We actually haven’t decided which songs are actually going to make the full-length yet. But was your original question, “What inspired the songs”?

EP: Yeah, I guess so. Like, did anything happen to you in the past that influenced you when you were writing?

Patrick: Well the EP is actually- the reason that they’re even on the EP is that they’re all of our older songs. From the group that we recorded, they’re the oldest ones. The song “Alabama” that Jake wrote about 5 years ago, I mean it’s-

EP: What’s that about? Because you guys are from Tennessee.

Jake: It’s literally about driving through Alabama- it’s what I saw. It’s kind of taking what I saw in real life and turning it into a metaphor of what it is.

EP: I think I asked you most of the questions already… but oh yeah, this is a stupid question about your album artwork- are they giraffes or dinosaurs?

Jake: They’re very muscular giraffes.

EP: Because I couldn’t tell at first because there’s no spots, but then I saw the weird little ears so I thought they looked kind of half and half.

Jake: Those are the good questions.

Patrick: Yes, muscular giraffes.

EP: Who did the album artwork, by the way?

Patrick: It’s my girlfriend, her name is Elizabeth Williams. She does pretty much all of-

Jake: She does 98 percent of our artwork.

Patrick: She did all of out merch except for one of the designs which was done by Jake's girlfriend- but Elizabeth did all the CD art and she did our posters and our button designs.

EP: Do they come on tour with you guys? I guess they probably have jobs though.

Patrick: She’s real busy. She’s in college and works at a pizza place- she’s got a lot on her plate.

EP: What are your future plans after this tour? Is there another one lined up? Or are you just going to go finish up the album first?

Patrick: We’re gonna go back in September and try to tie up all the loose ends on the album. We’re not gonna tour in September, but either in mid-October or early November, hopefully, we’re gonna start touring again- but we don’t have it lined up yet.

Jake: We’re actually in the process of transitioning with our booking agent. We have some other booking agents that are talking to us now, and our current booking agent is sort of encouraging us to go to another one- just to help - so they can concentrate on the label side of things more.

EP: So you played with Circa Survive last year- what other bands have you played with?

Patrick: Color revolt and Manchester Orchestra, I’d say that those are the more recent bands that we’ve played with. Other than that, we played with 30 Seconds To Mars last year.

EP: How was meeting Jared Leto?

Patrick: He’s a good guy.

EP: Really? I’ve heard that he’s a huge asshole.

Patrick: Uhhh I don’t really wanna…

Jake: Well, he’s an actor. He has a big head- which is to be expected. I don’t think he’ll care one way or the other what we say about him. That’s the kind of person he is.

EP: What do you think about male musicians wearing makeup?

Jake: I think its retarded.

Patrick: Yeah I’m not really about it.

Jake: I don’t really think there’s a point to it. It’s obvious that when you have to dress up like that- in most cases, when a band feels that they have to dress up like that- then they can’t let their music speak for itself and it makes bands look really desperate. That’s how we feel- it’s just too desperate.

EP: Patrick, are you the producing the upcoming full-length too?

Patrick: Yeah-

Jake: Basically, almost everything we do is just us- and even the little small outsourcing things, like we have help in the studio from one of our really good friends in Nashville. Everything we do is really tight knit- so basically he’s gonna record the record and mix it. And then it’s gonna go to somebody to master it- and those are really the only other hands that are gonna touch it. And merch obviously is done by our girlfriends, we keep everything really tight knit.

Patrick: And we make all of our buttons ourselves- we have a button maker.

EP: Oh really?

Patrick: Yeah, we sit there and watch movies and we pound them out.

EP: If you could open for any band, who would it be? – like, big bands.

Jake: Well, there’s a giant tour- with Thrice, Brand New and mewithoutYou that I would love to be on. I love mewithoutYou. As far as people that I think would love our music, being a new band- I think that would be an awesome tour- but if I could open up for any band ever hmmm….

Patrick: Feist.

Jake: Feist, yeah, Broken Social Scene.

EP: What bands did you guys grow up listening to?

Patrick: I grew up listening to Bob Dylan, The Sugarcubes, Bjork, Bruce Coburn, Pearl Jam, The Pixies, Nirvana.

Jake: I listened to real bad stuff that my mom listened to- that I ended up hating when I became 14. But now I love it again, only because I don’t care. Like, The Indigo Girls.

EP: My parents love the Indigo Girls!

Jake: The Indigo Girls are great. Hmm… Paul Simon, Spin Doctors, you know weird bad stuff. En Vogue, Counting Crows- I still love The Counting Crows, Pearl Jam was huge for me.

EP: Alright, well that’s about it. Are there any final words you guys would like to say?

Jake: Anything we say about Jared Leto- I don’t care if he hears it- it’s just that usually when we get interviewed, and especially right after we got off the tour with them- every time we did an interview, it was like, “What was it like meeting Jared Leto?” And then the whole interview became focused on that.

Patrick: I just wanna say that Matt Wachter is one of the best people that we’ve ever met.

Jake: Yeah, he was 30 Seconds To Mars’ bass player, but now he’s in Angels And Airwaves. He bought us hotel rooms to sleep in. And their bus driver was great. They’d always get their bus driver a room to sleep in- but then sometimes their bus driver would give us his room to sleep in. So they really did a lot for us.

Patrick: Yes, they did. They got us on more tour dates that we weren’t supposed to be on- which was very helpful. I mean us- not having a record deal- not having any money, I mean it just kept us going. It kept those guarantees coming.

Jake: Yeah no record deal… really, the record we had was a record that we made by ourselves without any help.

Patrick: And we made it before we even knew ‘em.

Jake: We had no tour support and a van that broke down.

EP: That’s tough.

Jake: It was crazy.

Patrick: It got us here- to where our van is still breaking down, and we’re making the same amount of money. (laughs)

EP: Are you guys ever gonna get a bus?

Jake: Hopefully never. We really don’t- we see bands with tour buses and we’re like, “Really?” Like for example, we played with The Hush Sound the other day- awesome people by the way, great people- and we really didn’t think that they needed a tour bus. I mean I’d rather tough it out in a van and all that money that you would have spent on a tour bus- maybe just go buy some nice things for yourself instead.

EP: Go get some food.

Jake: Yeah, go to a city you’ve never been to before and actually be able to spend money.

EP: Alright well that’s about it. Thanks so much for doing the interview.

Patrick: Thanks for coming out.

Jake: Yeah, thanks a lot.


Paper Rival is:
Patrick Damphier- guitar, producer, drum tracking on EP
Jacob Rolleston- vocals
Cody McCall- bass
Brent Coleman- guitar