About The Paper Kites
The Paper Kites are an Australian indie rock/folk rock band from Melbourne. The band was formed in 2009 by lead vocalist/guitarist Sam Bentley and keyboardist/guitarist Christina Lacy. Their 2010 single "Bloom" has been certified Platinum in the United States. As of 2024, they have released six studio albums and two EPs. Their latest, At the Roadhouse, came out on 1 September 2023.
Before the formation of the Paper Kites, the current five members were close friends. In high school, Bentley and Lacy began writing and playing music together, and continued to do so for a few years after high school. They gained some attention by playing in their home town of Melbourne. In 2010, Bentley and Lacy expanded the line adding Sam Rasmussen, David Powys and Josh Bentley to the group.
The band's first demo recordings were done mostly by Sam Bentley at his home and by Rasmussen at his university. At the request of their friends, they put together and released homemade EPs to sell at their shows in Melbourne.
It was not until they recorded and released their single "Bloom" in 2010 that they began attracting media attention. The single and video were released online and gradually grew in popularity. Bentley mentioned, "It was a pretty steady progression of word of mouth, friends telling their friends and so on. It wasn't any sort of viral thing, it was a really natural build up of people sharing our music". Word spread quickly, and live appearances became increasingly well attended. "Bloom" was released by the band, similarly to the first recordings, only available as a hand-made CD singles with a handful of other tracks. Only about 500 "Bloom" singles were made by the band.
The Paper Kites went on to begin writing and recording what would be their first EP, Woodland. They recorded the EP early in 2011 with Tim Johnston, who was one of Rasmussen's university teachers. "Featherstone", was released in June 2011 in advance of the EP. About the "Featherstone" video, Bentley said, "We always like to get really involved in the videos we make and the people we work with. Our music videos are just further extensions of the song itself, and we always want them to be interesting and engaging. We work pretty closely with our directors." Sam Bentley commented that he felt very lucky for the amount of success "Bloom" and "Featherstone" gained online. That August their debut EP Woodland was released.
In February 2012, the band went on their first headline tour of Australia, playing sold-out shows in small clubs around the country. With the success of Woodland, the band began getting requests for their music on various US television shows, including "Featherstone" being featured in the season 8 finale of Grey's Anatomy.
Map & Directions To Venue
