Soaring harmonies and foot-tapping beats are the musical forces working behind the six-piece folk band Paper Bird. MOVE spoke with vocalist Esmé Patterson on their writing process, touring and the future of the band.
(MOVE): According to your bio page, there is no specific “leader” and everyone contributes to the writing process. Why did you guys decide to have everyone involved and how do you maintain a balance of everyone’s ideas?
(Esmé Patterson): It wasn’t a decision as much as an organic development. It’s how that group of people function together. We all respect each other as writers and creators and everyone gives support to everyone’s ideas. It just happens naturally.
(M): What’s something you’ve learned from another band while touring?
(EP): We learned a pretty cool ice game from a Canadian band one time (laughs). The main thing you learn by touring is keeping your home and your center with you. It can be a very disorienting experience to be traveling constantly. The people that can make it work are the ones that carry their home with them wherever they go. I’ve learned that from people I’ve toured with a good deal.
(M): Recently, you released a remix of your 2013 release _Rooms_. What was the decision behind that and how did you decide who would remix your tracks?
(EP): We actually did that with our last album, too. That record started not on purpose. People were inspired to do it, and we compiled and released them because we were excited about it. It was a cool experience to collaborate with a different genre of music, but it was nice to be able to be involved with something. It just evolved from amazing electronic artists, and we were excited to rework and mash up the tunes.
(M): What can people who have never seen Paper Bird live before expect from the show?
(EP): We just hope they feel like there was no sense of separation between performer and audience. We hope people feel like they’re participating in the music as well. A feeling of community that makes people happy. … What we’re going for is just joyfulness.
(M): What are you most looking forward to about performing at Mojo’s on May 6?
(EP): We’ve played at Mojo’s four times, and it’s always fun to come back to Columbia because people let loose and they have a lot of fun and dance and sing along.
(M): What else does Paper Bird have planned for the rest of the year?
(EP): We are really excited about the new material we are writing as a six-piece (band). We’ve recently added a couple of instruments and we’re going in a new direction musically. We’ve got a busy summer ahead, and we’re just kind of moving and shaking.
