ALIBI: An interview with Scottish folksters Paper Crowns!

 

PART 1 - THE 'INTERVIEW'1 - Had you been involved with any other bands prior to Paper Crowns?

 

Jack – "smallPRINT, briefly substitute fiddle player for Matt Norris & The Moon."

 

Stuart (cue essay) – "100 Paper Boats, Where We Lay Our Heads, Shauna Joy, Anna Sweeney, Ross Mitchell, Algernon Doll, Scott McWatt, Starling Heist. A few more briefly/one off gigs."

 

Molly and Abigail – "Paper Crowns is our first venture into the world of popular music..."
2 - How did Paper Crowns begin?

 

"Jack wrote some songs. Jack got bored. At Christmas Abigail came, played some gigs. Seemed to go well. Sounded like there could be a bigger sound (i.e. Jack and Abigail argued too much). Molly played cello. Stuart played percussion."

3 - Where did the name Paper Crowns come from?

 

Jack – "Me and Abigail were walking along after recording Alibi (we still didn’t have a name). Abigail just sort of pulled it out of thin air, seemed to work so we went with it."
4 - How would you describe the sound of Paper Crowns?

 

Jack – "I guess popular folk. We have backgrounds in classical music and Scottish folk, so we’re probably heavily influenced by that."
5 - You've made a few songs available online already. One of these is 'Alibi' - a heartfelt acoustic ballad. What is the song itself about?

 

Jack – "The breakdown of a relationship really. The verses are memories and the chorus is one of the people involved trying to disengage themselves with those memories."
6 - Who would be your dream collaboration?

 

Jack – "Daughter. Please let us collaborate with Daughter."

 

Abigail – "Bon Iver would be amazing."

 

Stuart – "I think Lisa Hannigan would be a lovely collaboration with this stuff."

 

Molly – "Snarky Puppy would make my life."

7 - Any new songs in the pipeline?

 

Abigail – "1000000000000000000"
8 - Any new singles, EP's or album to be released in the near future?

 

"Hopefully an EP will be on the way before Christmas."
9 - Any live dates coming up?

 

"We’re playing at King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut on Saturday 7^th September supporting Blood Relatives and Eliza and the Bear. Should be class! Also supporting King Charles in Glasgow Uni Freshers Week."
10 - Who would be in your dream super group?

 

Jack – "James Blake, Dave King (drummer from The Bad Plus), Marcus Mumford, Nicola Benedetti, Jimmy Page and Steve Garrigan (singer from Kodaline)."

 

Abigail - "Itzhak Perlman, Stephane Grappelli, Eva Cassidy, Simon and Garfunkel and Jeff Buckley."

 

Stuart – "This would depend too much on the kind of band for me"

 

Molly – "Jacqueline Du Pre, Morrissey, Jimi Hendrix, Ben Howard and Newton Faulkner."

PART 2 - THE 'QUICKFIRE ROUND'
1 - Favourite Beatle?

 

Jack – "Mr Harrison."

 

Abigail – "John."

 

Stuart – "George or John."

 

Molly – "John Lennon."

2 - Favourite band?

 

Jack – "Too many. Some are The Lumineers, Little Comets, Mumford & Sons and Dry The River."

 

Abigail – "Bon Iver/Mumford/Elbow."

 

Stuart – "Too difficult. Elbow, Frabbit and Sigur Ros would all be in with a shout."

 

Molly – "Far too many to chose between - Twin Atlantic, Snarky Puppy, Coldplay, Parov Stelar, Mumford and Sons to mention a few!"

 

3 - Favourite new band?

 

Jack – "Victorian Trout Conspiracy."

 

Abigail – "The Black Diamond Express."

 

Stuart – "Milo Greene are new to me."

 

Molly – "All Souled Out."

 

4 - Favourite song?

 

Jack – "Again, not a clue. At the moment ‘No Rest’ by Dry The River."

 

Abigail – "Right now ‘Awake My Soul’ - Mumford and Sons."

 

Stuart – "‘Old Fashioned’ - Frabbit."

 

Molly – "At the moment? ‘Booty Swing’ - Parov Stelar"

 

5 - Favourite album?

 

Jack - "'Sigh No More' - Mumford & Sons."

 

Abigail – "‘Songs of Robert Burns’ - Eddi Reader."

 

Stuart – "Either ‘Build a Rocket Boys’ - Elbow or ‘Diamond Mine’ - King Creosote and Jon Hopkins."

 

Molly – "‘Mylo Xyloto’ – Coldplay."

6 - Vinyl, CD or download?

 

"Jack – Vinyl."

 

Abigail – "Don't have a record player, so probably CD."

 

Stuart – "Wish it was vinyl but download in reality."

 

Molly – "Download or CD if I’m in love with the album."

 

7 - Style icon?

 

Jack – "Probably get most of the fashion advice from my sisters..."

 

Abigail – "Jack and his pink denim jacket."

 

Stuart – "I have zero style sense. Although Calum Ingram's Shirt was pretty special."

 

Molly – "Elias Rooney (for his style in cello playing)."

 

8 - Favourite clothing brand?

 

Jack – "Toms have a good 'one for one' thing and cool shoes (don't own a pair yet...)"

 

Stuart – "Converse!"

 

Molly – "If I like it I'll buy it."

 

Abigail – "What Molly said."

 

9 - Favourite film?

 

Jack – "School of Rock (closely followed by Star Wars)."

 

Abigail – "Breakfast at Tiffanys and many more"

 

Stuart – "Star Wars (geek)."

 

Molly – "The Holiday."

 

10 - Favourite TV show?

 

Jack – "Father Ted."

 

Abigail – "Sherlock/Merlin/Lost/too many."

 

Stuart – "Treme."

 

Molly – "One Tree Hill/Brothers and Sisters/Sex and the City (Molly has since been disowned from the band)."

 

11 - Who would you like to play you in a film of your life?

 

Jack – "Michael Cera would be hilarious."

 

Abigail – "Zooey Deschanel."

 

Stuart – "Benedict Cumberbatch would do a cooler job than me."

 

Molly – "Carrie Bradshaw."

 

12 - Favourite food?

 

Jack – "Pizza."

 

Abigail – "Italian."

 

Stuart – "Pizza."

 

Molly – "Cupcakes."

 

13 - Football team?

 

Jack – "Heart of Midlothian."

 

Abigail – "Hearts."

 

Stuart – "Morton."

 

Molly - "Hearts."

 Hope you enjoyed this feature on Paper Crowns! Check out our previous feature on Martin J. Sandom!

 

Check out Paper Crowns' Soundcloud page here - https://soundcloud.com/papercrowns

 

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