Interview with Paper Hands

What got you into music, and if you had not gotten into music what would you be doing today?

Billy: When I was a kid I was adamant I’d be a footballer or a pilot. So I’d like to think I’m stubborn enough to have followed at least one of those through. As for music, my grandad left me a guitar in a cupboard and I became obsessed with it after watching a Guns n Roses music video. 

Jordan: Hey! I wanted to be a pilot too! I saw Billy play Jonny B good when I was 13 and was blown away. I thought you had to be much older to be that good. 

What do you like to do when you are not playing music and how does that influence your creativity?

Billy: we’re both into cars so we spend a lot of time perving over engines and custom cars ha! We love stuff that’s unique or out of the ordinary when it comes to most stuff and I suppose that plays a part in our creativity. 

How long has your band been around?

Currently about a week officially! ‘Early Warning’ is our first release. Although we started writing and putting ideas down during the first lockdown. 

Where are you based out of and how did that influence your music?

Jordan is based in Ayr, Scotland - being Scottish obviously influenced his singing and accent! Haha! 

How did you come up with the name of your band and what does it mean to you?

Paper hands is a term for someone who folds or gives up easily for money. Really it’s an ironic name as if you’re in music for the money, you’ll be bitterly disappointed most of the time! 

Tell me about your most memorable shows.

We haven’t had any yet - we are brand new and can’t wait to get out there and play live. So I’m sure our first one will be pretty memorable (hopefully for good reasons). 

What is your favorite venue to play at, and do you have any places you want to play that you have not already?

Billy: I love the o2 academy in Newcastle, purely because it’s my closest big hometown venue and I’ve seen so many great bands there as a kid. 

Jordan: anywhere with a good engineer!! Audio in Glasgow has always been kind to me… I’d love to play the Fruit Market in Glasgow. It’s gorgeous in there. 

If you could play any show with any lineup, who would be on the ticket?

Billy: Biffy would be an obvious choice but I think Twenty One Pilots would also be cool - they’ve put on some massive shows. Combine those with a bunch of our friends bands and I think we’d have a pretty special show! 

Jordan: Queens of the Stone Age and Run The Jewels. 

What is some advice that you would give to someone who is just getting into playing in a band and some advice that you would give to your younger self?

Billy: just keep trying, keep going, say yes to as much as you can and learn all your lessons you need to learn. Not everything will work out, but you’ll still learn a lot and get some great experiences. 

Of your songs which one means the most to you and why?

Billy: this changes fairly regularly. Each track so far has been so different and can pull different ideas or feelings out when I listen to them. At the moment it’s a song we have that’s called ‘Rubber’. 

Which songs are your favorite to play and which get requested the most?

Billy: currently ‘Early Warning’ cos it’s the only one people have heard! Haha!

What is the creative process for the band, and what inspires you to write your music?

Billy: Most of our songs start life as a voice note of an idea. That could be a lyrical idea or a riff and we then build from that. We are both able to engineer and record parts of the songs wherever we are and we bounce them between each other until we’re happy to start mixing! Inspiration can come from almost anywhere. Our songs are centred more around feelings than actual stories or anecdotes. 

What kinds of messages do you like to get across in your music?

Billy: because of how we write our songs, and the lyrical content - we really like seeing others feel their own feelings with them. What we write about isn’t exactly ‘on the nose’ or black and white, so it’ll hit different chords for different people and we love that. 

Do you ever have disagreements in your band, and how do you get past them?

Billy: for 2 guys who have been friends for such a long time we hardly ever have disagreements! We’re both very laid back and can work most situations out without any stress! 

Jordan: the only time I remember having a disagreement with Billy was when we were much much younger. I wanted to be in his gang (which comprised of him and my older brother) I wasn’t allowed because I didn’t know the words to ‘you wanna be in my gang’ by Garry Glitter. That was 27 years ago. 

What are your plans for the future, and do you have anything that you want to spotlight that is coming up

Billy: we have a whole bunch of singles up our sleeves ready to fire out and we can’t wait to see them out there in the wild! We want to get them out pretty regularly so keeping an eye on our socials will be key!