The Paper Kites Midnight Tour Interview

The Paper Kites Midnight Tour Interview

Aussie dream-folksters, The Paper Kites have today delivered their most aesthetically pleasing video yet for their hazy heartwarmer, Renegade, directed by the renowned Dan Huiting (Bon Iver). To celebrate the clip, and the success of their critically acclaimed LP, twelvefour, the band have also announced their Midnight national tour, kicking off at Enmore Theatre in Sydney on June 23, moving through Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, and wrapping in Adelaide at the Norwood Town Hall on July 2.

Off the back of a #8 ARIA album and #1 ARIA Australian album chart debut for their all-nighter of an album, twelvefour, The Paper Kites are thrilled to complete their Midnight video trilogy of late-night stories with the nostalgic, Renegade. Also including ethereal videos for two other tracks off the album, Electric Indigo and Revelator Eyes, the trilogy portrays stories that are set between the hours of 12 and 4am; different cities, different people, but all taking place within this transient timeframe.

Adhering to the theme, Renegade follows a gang of kids who break into an aquatic cinema, La Cinequatic, in the early hours of the morning. Taking inspiration for the video trilogy from imaginary places and those late-night hours, lead singer Sam Bentley says, 'It's been really cool actually seeing these places on screen in the videos and people watching and asking us where they can find them - I think the idea was to create places that we would love to go to." The vibrant concept was brought to life by director Dan Huiting and his team, alongside a real-life gang of kids as the video's cast. Bentley enthuses, 'He has such a great team (Joseph McMahon, Harry Reynolds) and they all just tackle every challenge with such enthusiasm... he knew a local skate crew of young kids that he wanted to use for the video - it worked out perfectly."

To celebrate the clip, The Paper Kites will be bringing their theatrical Midnight tour to major venues across the country. Further cementing the relationship between music and film, the Midnight tour is set to be an immersive experience unlike any other, a journey through the midnight hours, as Bentley describes, 'We perform the music and behind us are a group of apartment windows. Through the windows, a series of stories play out in the lives of different people…we provide the soundtrack to a single night, the audience watching through the dim lit windows and seeing these stories progress, eventually fading to darkness."

The Paper Kites are Sam Bentley, Christina Lacy, David Powys, Josh Bentley and Sam Rasmussen.

The Paper Kites National 'Midnight' Tour

Thu 23 Jun | Enmore Theatre, Sydney NSW (ALL AGES)
Tickets available from www.ticketek.com.au | 132 849 | All Ticketek Outlets

Fri 24 Jun |Athenaeum Theatre, Melbourne VIC (ALL AGES)
Tickets available from www.ticketek.com.au | 132 849 | All Ticketek Outlets

Sat 25 Jun | The Tivoli, Brisbane QLD*
Tickets available from www.ticketmaster.com.au | 136 100 | All Ticketmaster Outlets

Fri 01 Jul | Astor Theatre, Perth WA*
Tickets available from www.astortheatreperth.com | 1300 111 369| All Ticket Group Outlets

Sat 02 Jul | Norwood Town Hall, Adelaide SA (ALL AGES)

Tickets available from www.oztix.com.au | 1300 762 545 | All Oztix Outlets

*U18 can attend with parent/guardian

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Interview with Christina Lacy

Question: How would you describe your music?

Christina Lacy: Mmmm always the hardest question. Not sure. Sometimes it's happy, sometimes it's sad. Sometimes it makes you feel like driving to the beach with your friends, and sometimes it makes you feel like staying in and finishing a bottle of red at home by yourself. Sometimes it makes you feel like calling that ex you still secretly have a thing for and other times it makes you want to go to his house, knock on his door and punch him in the face when he answers. Haha How's that?


Question: What should we expect from the upcoming tour?

Christina Lacy: We wanted to do something a bit different for this tour and present the songs in a really interesting way that I guess encompassed the whole 'twelvefour' midnight romance vibe. So the show will be quite visual and will incorporate us performing our songs as a bit of a soundtrack to those visual elements that will be going on. We're really excited about it. It's something a little different but we hope that people are really going to enjoy the whole experience.


Question: Can you tell us about filming the video for Renegade?

Christina Lacy: The renegade video was the last in the 'trilogy' of twelvefour videos that all have this similar late night feeling to them. It was co-directed by Dan Huting (who we collaborated with on the Revelator Eyes video) and Joseph McMahon in Minneapolis. It follows a group of kids on a late night adventure of such, which finds them at another fictional venue we created called 'Le Cinequatic'. We've really loved working with those guys and again they've created such a sweet video.


Question: What was it like touring Europe?

Christina Lacy: Europe was so amazing! Not only did we get to visit so many stunning cities but the people we met and places we played were just so hospitable and welcoming. I felt so at home, I feel like I could have stayed and explored for much longer. The tour in itself was really busy....i think we only really had one proper day off but personally I just loved it! Beautiful sights, beautiful beautiful people, great food, wine & beer and some of my favourite shows to date.


Question: What are you looking forward to most about the upcoming Canada and USA tour?

Christina Lacy: We always love heading back to Canada & USA, and I think as a side note we are all pretty happy about ditching a few weeks of aussie winter and enjoying some North American sun! :) We have some really exciting Canadian festivals on this run which are always so great so they will definitely be a highlight I'm sure. In the US we are heading to some cities that are new territory for us. It's always exciting taking your music somewhere new so we are really looking forward to that as well.

Question: Did you have any pre-conceived ideas about the music industry?

Christina Lacy: Um no, not really to be honest. When we started touring and recording and getting serious, I don't think I'd really thought about what it would be like. I think I just hoped the bands we were supporting and people we worked with would be nice to us. I do get asked a lot of questions about what it's like being in music though. Things like, 'Is it really sex, drugs and rock and roll?', haha, stuff like that. Generally I'd say that the music industry is about whatever you make it about...if you want it to be about sex, drugs and rock&roll then it can be, and if you wanna make it about a love of music and playing shows and sharing your art then it can be that...personally I choose the latter.


Question: Do you write your own songs? What's your inspiration?

Christina Lacy: Our lead singer Sam generally writes most of the bands songs, with input from the rest of us once they are in the later stages. There are some songs that we have co-written together but I'd say a lot of the writing I do is more for me personally and not really written with the intention of being put into a song. Writing is good for my head. It's good to get things out that I may find hard to speak about. They might end up in songs one day, who knows.


Question: What music/artists do you listen to when you are not playing your own?

Christina Lacy: I listen to a lot of different music depending on my mood or situation but at the moment I am loving Leon Bridges album 'Coming Home' and Låpsley's new album 'Long Way Home'....those two titles really make it sound like I miss home don't they?…it's just a coincidence, I promise.


Question: What's next? Tour/Album/Single?

Christina Lacy: We've still got a fair bit of touring ahead for this year and then next year I guess we will start thinking about what's next. I don't think we have much of an idea at this point.


Question: Was there a moment you contemplated throwing in the towel?

Christina Lacy: Mmm not really...not yet anyway. There are definitely times when it's hard, or when I don't feel like going away or getting on stage that night but really I can't complain at all. It's an amazing job to have and so far the pros well out way the cons.


Question: Do you prefer performing live or recording?

Christina Lacy: I think there's things to love and hate about both recording and touring but I still think I'd have to say being on tour wins hands down. It can be hard being away and missing your people back home but it's such an amazing thing getting to travel and see new places, meet incredible people, and share your music as you go.


Question: What/who was your inspiration to go into the music industry?

Christina Lacy: I've always looked up to and been inspired by amazing female singer/songwriters new and old. Brooke Fraser, Laura Marling, Leslie Feist, Joni Mitchell, Emmy Lou Harris, to name a few.


Question: What is the biggest challenge you have faced along the way to your musical success?

Christina Lacy: I think being the 'girl in the band' I've always felt a slight pressure to have to prove myself a little more than the boys. No one's ever told me that, I think it's probably just something I put on myself...but it's definitely brought with it some self doubt about my place in the band and my ability as a musician.


Question: What's a typical day like?

Christina Lacy: A typical day on tour looks like; an alarm going off way too early after a very late night, driving most of the day to the next city/venue, finding a coffee before sound check, sound checking, finding somewhere exciting for dinner, playing the show and then spending time meeting and chatting with people that came to see us.


Question: If you could collaborate with another artist, who would it be?

Christina Lacy: One day I'd love to do female vocals on a sweet electronic track. The ultimate would be with someone amazing like Flume or Chet Faker or Disclosure or something...a girl can dream hey.


Question: Can you tell us 5 things required for a happy healthy & enjoyable life?

Christina Lacy: Family: not necessarily your blood but those consistently loyal people around you who will support you through anything and everything, celebrate your successes and mourn your losses with you and are more than happy to tell you when you're being an idiot. Your people.
Keeping active: I take a pair of runners on every tour, even when I know it's going to busy so I can fit a walk/run in and get outside whenever there's a chance.
Good healthy food: I'm big on food..I love cooking and eating at great cafes&restaurants!
Good books: They keep me sane on tour and just in everyday life too :)
Find something you love and make time to do it: Whether it's your job or a hobby, find whatever it is that makes you tick


Interview by Brooke Hunter