Paper Route’s J.T. Daly on the band’s buzzed-about record, Absence, the new Nashville music scene and the Animal Collective Effect.
For years, there was talk around the honky-tonks and recording studios in Music City about a “Nashville Curse” the notion that a non-country act couldn’t break big outside of the city.
Cut to the present day and examine the recent successes of Nashville-based rock groups and artists like Paramore, Kings of Leon, Jemina Pearl, etc; it’s apparent that the Nashville Curse is no more. (Even Jack White has made the city his now his home-base).
Sure soon to be mentioned alongside these artists is Paper Route, an airy rock quartet that’s drawn comparisons to symphonic electro acts like M83 and Mew. Fresh off of a tour with Paramore, their 2009 album, Absence, has lauded critical praise from publications like Rolling Stone and landed them an opening gig with Owl City.
Absence was recorded over the course of two years at the home of members Chad Howat and Gavin McDonald — in what vocalist and keyboardist J.T. Daly describes as a “big, Victorian house off of 8th Avenue” near legendary Nashville record shop Grimey’s. (The group is rounded out by vocalist/guitarist Andy Smith).
“We used a couple of microphones set-up in Chad’s bedroom and recorded as many songs as we could,” Daly recalls. “We tried to step back and look at it like a puzzle, like what image can all of these songs make? That’s how we selected the songs for the album.”
The songs of Absence (released on Universal Motown) are lush and emotional; reaching highs and lows that feel like, in its entirety, a narrative. This is no accident.
“We had movies playing in the studio on silent, like Blade Runner, Marie Antoinette, Moulin Rouge — these big, bombastic, image-type stuff,” Daly says. “I think that we wanted a cinematic sense to the album. I tend to lean on visuals a lot.”
Above and beyond, the tracks in their core are rooted — amongst the synths, the keys, the drums and what seems at times like an entire orchestra swirling around — in melody. “Carousel,” their current single, is three and a half minutes of urgency that takes the listener on — no pun intended — a ride through a hypnotizing, melodic madness, only to ride out at the end with the lone notes of painstakingly sweet piano. “Gutter” is just as anguished, but a little more synth and electro-driven, with a chorus layered in vocals — “I get carried away / Please warm the blood inside my veins — only to be carried out by what sounds like a violin solo.
“I realized something, making this album,” Daly says. “I felt like we need to dissect ‘pop’ a bit more. It’s what we love and maybe what we’re still searching for in music. If there’s any hope of falling in love with an album as much as we did growing up, then that’s what we’re looking for — creative music that gives you melody, that crams in songwriting chops. A brilliant example is Animal Collective, who has done these phenomenal albums for years and then they release Merriweather Post Pavilion and it just seems obvious to me why it exploded and wy everyone across the board falls in love with it. They didn’t shun melody and just decided to go for it. I think that’s what we’re hoping to do.”
Paper Route’s also hoping to make another album in 2010 — although it’s tricky, as they typically tour 10 months out of the year. They’ve been writing and recording in between stretches on the road.
As for being home in Nashville — how does he feel about the re-invention of what was once a town only known for country and bluegrass? Is there more pressure for a band like Paper Route to follow in the footsteps of other Nashville rock musicians who’ve made/sold millions, won Grammys and spat in the face of the Curse?
“I don’t know, I don’t really feel like there are any trends we feel obligated to follow here,” he says. “We love it [Nashville] and that’s why we’re here.” (The band — who all met at a Greenville College in Illinois — chose Nashville over L.A. and New York after graduating. As small-town boys, they thought it was the best fit.)
“I love the idea of old school country music, there’s just something so pure and incredible about that” Daly continues. “My neighbor is a guy who thinks that if an instrument has to be plugged in, than it’s not a real instrument. That’s something I love because I feel like it challenges us and makes us approach our music differently. We barely scratched the surface of this last album. Right now we have a much stronger vision — and a huge part of that comes from living here.”