Paper Jackets talk new EP "Souvenirs, Vol 2" and what they imagine playing Woodstock would be like

We sat down with indie pop band Paper Jackets to talk about their newest EP, what they imagine playing Woodstock would be like, and a slogan they would give the band!

To start off can you introduce yourselves and tell us a little bit about your band?

James: Yeah, I’m James and Aimee, I’ll let her introduce herself in a minute. We’re Paper Jackets. We have been playing together for a little over three years and I’ll let her introduce herself real quick.

Aimee: I’m Aimee, I sing in the band and Emily, she plays keys, and Johnny who’s not with us who plays guitar.

How did the band itself come about?

Emily: When James and I were kids, we were living in LA, when we were I think 20 something, we were in a band together, he played bass, I played keys, and it was very indie; like very abstract indie. He would always be like “Hey, can I play you this song? Can I play you this song?” and it was magic. I kinda knew he had this thing about him. You know, we got older, we kinda went our separate ways, we moved around a lot. I moved back to LA and was like “hey, are you here?” And he said, “yeah, I’m starting a band, you wanna be in it?” And it was an immediate yes. I didn’t care what it sounded like as long as it was with him because he’s got this real talent for writing and so we started Paper Jackets, found Johnny, found Aimee, and it’s the best. I feel like we finally found our niche, our thing.

James: Yeah, like she said, we kinda started rehearsing and started getting things going and along the way we met other musicians in the LA area and we rehearsed further. We did some recordings and then Aimee and I met through a mutual producer friend and then so on and so forth. That’s sorta how it all kinda came to be and here we are. We kinda kicked off a pretty significant radio campaign in the spring of 2018 and it kinda carried into 2019. Of course, everything kinda went to COVID times for a little bit so I think we’re all really excited to be playing again. We just had our first rehearsal back, it was a few weeks where we hadn’t played or haven’t had any shows but we have a couple of shows coming up so we had rehearsals and everything’s been moving along pretty well.

Your band has such a unique and interesting sound, pulling influences from major artists from the late ’60s as well as your modern alternative, punk sound. How did you settle on and solidify what you wanted your band to sound like?

Aimee: I think it’s all just happy accidents. Especially before COVID we were much more driven by the alt, pop punk thing but we just found ourselves kinda in; I think everyone went through this identity crisis when they realized who are they without their job? We were just kinda fantasizing about what it would have been like to be at these huge historic festivals like Woodstock and what it would have been like to be a songwriter and artist in the late 60’s living in Laurel Canyon. That kinda brought us into this, I think, unique sound because we were able to blend worlds. That’s kinda where we got Volume 2 from.

What was the process of creating the Souvenirs collection like? Did you record both records at the same time and release them separately or was it two separate projects all together?

James: It was definitely split up over a span of a few years. Everything kinda took a while to get developed and then, of course, with COVID and all that. I hate for everything to be prefaced by that but when COVID happened we sorta had a bigger split, because Volume 1 was just coming out that April after the March lockdown; at least the single was and the album came later in the summer. It’s been split almost twice now. We had the first iteration of the band sort of as Aimee was coming more into a front woman sort of role and we have a lot of those dynamics between the female and male vocal and the interplay between those two. As that was coming together, you saw Souvenirs: Vol. 1 starting that and bridging that gap and Souvenirs: Vol. 2 is sort of like a continuation and evolution of that which is really exciting if you can kinda see it in those two different ways. But it’s really cool, it’s been pretty exciting. We definitely split it up. Some of these songs on Volume 1 were songs that we had written years back that just took so much time to get done right to where we were happy with it. We’re really happy we waited and it’s all a really great collection of work and we think of each song as a souvenir from our past; sort of a collection of eclectic works. A lot of our music, it goes together, but a lot of our stuff, especially on Volume 1 you’ve got a broad arrangement of sounds. Even with the singles that came out between Souvenirs 1 and 2, the Souvenirs Singles, there’s kinda a broad sound with songs like “Bones” and “Rumors” for instance, which were both singles during this time but kinda different.

What has the transition between releasing Volume 1 and Volume 2 been like?

James: Kinda hitting on the points we were just saying, seeing the band grow between the two and even before with our EP Don’t Lose Your Head, we introduced new members to the band. We’ve introduced a new style of writing working with other producers, working with each other. For a long time it was just like me working on songs that I had but now it’s like we work together a lot more in the studio and even more of a transition as we got into Souvenirs 2, and even with the singles that came out, a lot of it was meeting with producers we had never met for the first time and just kinda giving it a shot. Sometimes it turns out really cool and sometimes it’s a little bit foreign and kinda getting out of our comfort zones in order to do those sessions.

Aimee: I like the word evolution. It’s been an evolution. We’re growing.

Emily: I feel like Volume 2 has a certain maturity about it. A lot of those songs came from growing and being uncomfortable and trying new things. I even notice that in my bandmates here, them trying new things and sometimes it was quirky but it worked and it was a character. We’re starting to touch on that more and discover new things and really finding ourselves.

Through the time you’ve been recording this record, you said that you imagined what it would be like to play festivals like Woodstock. What is that experience for you and how do you think it would differ from playing festivals today?

Aimee: Well, for one, when we wrote the song lives shows weren’t even allowed so that’s kinda where it was and just sitting home and watching those documentaries and just fantasizing about it. And, you know what, being at Woodstock doesn’t actually sound fun. We romanticize it but it was dirty and people were lacking food. I think the whole thing is the bond and the togetherness of it all. Everyone was in it together. I heard there must of been like 20 miles of traffic or something like that; everybody was just getting out of their cars and hanging out. That’s just really what it is, it’s the togetherness that fueled it.

James: And, from a more technical, musical stand point, it’s also a lot more driven off of harmonies and sitting around and playing guitar and writing like that. You know, not just like plugged in to some synthesizer, nothing against that, or plugged into some computer or something. It’s a lot more analog in its essence. I think that part is really cool as well.

Aimee: I also think that our harmonies have grown so much because we’re so influenced by bands of the 60’s. The Mamas & The Papas, James is a huge Beach Boys fan. So, you really hear those influences in a modern way on the new record which is really cool.

If you woke up as the main character in your favorite story, and you knew the outcome of the story, what would you do differently?

Aimee: Well, I would probably live in Peach’s castle in the Mushroom Kingdom and she’s already a princess so I guess maybe change the story and become the Queen.

Emily: If I woke up as Simba, I’d do exactly what he did.

James: Gosh, there’s so many stories that I wish I could change the outcome to but when given the opportunity they all hit me at once, it’s really hard. You know how like most movies nowadays it’s very rare to see an ending to a movie that’s actually ideal for the main character? It always seems like things end and either you’re left really not knowing anything and the movie’s not really about giving you that ending and it leaves you hanging. I don’t know. If I could, I would go back and wake up as Jack Skellington and I’d go into the door that was shaped like an Easter Egg.

Okay, this is a question for Aimee and Emily. In a scene that is mainly male dominated, does the pressure ever get to you? If so, how do you handle it?

Aimee: I wouldn’t say it’s pressure but you definitely feel like a woman in a male dominated industry quite often. Luckily, we’re a band of boys and girls and there’s always a mutual respect and we don’t have to deal with it within our band. Sometimes the music industry can be kind of an icky place but you just have to be strong, be confident in what you do and what you bring to the table, and nothing else really matters. The work will speak for itself.

Emily: I feel like it’s gotten a little bit better. It used to be really, really bad. You would get womanized all. But on the same coin, yes it’s been better but I often find myself underestimated by people. This is a negative thing so I try and turn that around like okay, if that’s the standard I’m gonna blow you away. So that’s what I’m going for.

If you had to write a slogan to promote the band, what would it say?

James: A slogan to promote the bad? Oh man, I don’t know. You’re putting us on the spot with these questions. I don’t know, maybe something like “say no to fur coats and yes to Paper Jackets.”

What can we expect next from Paper Jackets?

James: We do plan on releasing, and they’ve already been released but, Souvenirs Singles which gives another chance for the collection of singles that we had come out between the two  volumes. Kinda get that back in the eye. We’re hoping to play as many shows as we can and reach people on a personal level as much as possible. It seems like that’s really what’s missing. So, we will be out there. We’ve been rehearsing and getting ourselves really ready for that and we think it’s really important so we’re definitely gonna be trying to get out there and play a lot. I know we’re writing a lot more music and having songs produced but I don’t think we have a real direction right now for releasing anymore serious new music. We just released this Volume 2 and we feel like it’s a perfect end to our Souvenirs Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 series. So, we’re really excited about riding those songs out and bringing them to people and really communicating on a personal sort of fan to artist level. Or friend to artist level. But as far as anything new I can’t think of anything. I think we’re gonna work with more producers and that kind of stuff but no real immediate plans.

Aimee: I think we’re gonna continue to experiment musically. Thinking further into the future, what is Paper Jackets after Souvenirs? But, of course we’re going to continue to ride out these songs, get out there, play as many shows as we can, and then whatever the next chapter is is yet to be seen.

What’s your favorite song off the new record?

James: I like “Okay :)” and “1969” a lot. And I really like “Swimming Pools” just because I think it’s such an under appreciated song.

Aimee: It’s the oldest song interestingly enough because a lot of the record is songs that have been done in the last year or so and that one’s maybe four years old.

Emily: I love “Okay :).” I don’t think that’s any surprise to anybody. I’m dancing on stage and everything, I’m having a blast. “Complicated” is really fun, it has different levels to it that just shock you, it’s sing-a-longable. And I just wanna point out I really loved all of the singles that came out right before Volume 2. All of those were really great and really fun and moments in our lives that were kinda like the soundtrack of it.

Aimee: It’s hard for me to choose because they’re all special to me for their own reasons. I would say, I think “Canyon” kicked off that whole journey, so that song’s very special to my heart. Also, it’s just vocally broad and very fun to sing. But, the song that makes my heart the most happy is “Only Heart.” There’s just something so innocent about that song. I picture us all on a sail boat. You know, riding the Catalina. That’s my favorite song.

Finally, is there anything else you’d like to say to the All Punked Up readers?

Aimee: Thank you for taking an interest in our band and getting to know us more. We’re always just looking to connect with more people and show the world what we’re about. So, thank you for your time.

We want to say a big thank you to Paper Jackets for taking the time to chat with us! You can check out their new EP Souvenirs: Vol. 2 on all streaming platforms now!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ldj1iFzZBx0