Paperplanes - Paper Planes - The Paperplanes

Members are:
Micah Panzich / Guitars-Vocals
Pete Tavera / Bass-Vocals
Rob Harvick / Drums-Vocals
Cliff Kane / Pedal Steel Guitar

SHORT BIO HERE >

Paperplanes are from Long Beach, California. Our music is influenced by country, rock n roll, the velvets, psyche, pop, surf, punk, post punk, no wave, new wave, lo fi, hi fi, bluegrass, power pop, noise, folk, singer song writer stuff, blues , and Tuvan throat singing.

LONG BIO HERE >

In 1995 my buddy Troy Stephens and I put out a 28 song tape we had compiled while living in Tucson Arizona. The songs were rudely composed on a 4Track tape recorder. 4Track was very liberating and inspiring to work with. After moving back to California, I continued to record on 4Track. I would make 3-5 copies, and give the tapes to my close friends. I would also use friends to play a variety of instruments. Some of the early collaborators were Dean Yoshihara and Chase Harris.

It got to a point where I wanted to start making more tapes, and to send them out to various indy record labels. The lo-fi sound was in its hay day. I felt very comfortable with that style of recording and liked the sound I was getting. That's when Paperplanes came to be. I needed a name to put on the cover of my new tape. A trip to buddy Aaron Devine's house would solve that problem. A book on "how to make paper planes" sat on his kitchen table. In 1999, Paperplanes were born. The first release was a tape called "Quiet Dirty Socks." I originally planned on this being the name of a fictitious record label. Everyone thought it was the name of the tape.

Years passed, and I met Georgi Ramsland and Peter Dressel. We were all members of a Los Angeles band named "Moth" (later to form in to Molecules). After hearing the tapes, we decided to give it a chance at being a band. It was very hard to find a drummer at that time. I think we tried every drummer in LA-but found no match. Luckily, in spring 2002, friend Scott Abels joined on for a few shows and a recording of a demo EP at The Ship in Eagle Rock. That EP was never distributed. As with most Paperplanes releases...you probably need to know us to get one. Eventually I will be putting some of those songs on this site.

In the summer of 2002, Drummer Tyler Smith joined the band. Tyler was a friend I had met and played in a band with in Arizona years earlier. We always had a real connection musically, and it was nice to finally pick up where we had left off years before (he moved back to the East Coast and I went back to the West Coast from Arizona). At the same time however, Georgi and Peter left to pursue other projects.

We were stuck as a two piece but decided to continue on. In fall of 2002 we recorded a few songs onto 4Track. In early 2003, we played our first show as a two piece at the Flower Street Art Space with The Movies-one of our favorite local bands. From that show, we picked up bass player Dana Kruse, and guitarist Aaron Robinson. Within a few months, we recorded a new EP with Josh Swartz- (Furthur/Beachwood Sparks). It was Mastered and mixed by Timothy James.

The EP got good reviews that compared us to some of my favorite bands (The Clean- Velvet Underground). In 2004, The OC WEEKLY put on the front cover of the February issue "PAPER PLANES-BEST BAND EVER." 3 of the 5 songs were also featured in a movie called "The Electric Mayhem". We were featured along with other bands such as Iron and Wine, Earlimart, and a really cool song from Those Bastard Souls. It was great to hear "Fever Blister" come over the PA at the beginning of the film at the release. Paperplanes were also on a compilation put together by the OC Weekly promoting bands from the local area. We even got positive responses from a few different record labels. Songs from the ep also received air-play at a few local radio stations and some internet radio in Europe.

By now I had recruited long time friends to fill in where Aaron and Dana had left off. Troy Stephens took over guitar duties and Shawn Curtis played bass. As soon as Troy figured he might have to play a gig on the same night as a Los Angeles Lakers game, he was out. Shawn stuck around, and in 2004-Paperplanes played its first out-of-town gig, playing San Francisco. Soon after, we went on a brief trip to Arizona. After being on the road a rough 3 days in Arizona (it was about 125 degrees in the shade)-Shawn had enough. He was done. (Shawn continues to be an unspoken "Executive Producer" of the band. Not only with recording equipment we borrow of his-but one time, he even paid for our rental van for a tour thru California). This is where we start moving into the modern day Paperplanes.

I met Pete (Pedro Tavera) down at House of Hayden. I was introduced to him as being "the guy that was going to come down to play bass." Tyler had met him at Acres of Books and Pete had heard our CD and liked it. Pete came down, and although his rig was falling apart and he was out of practice-I noticed a sound that I liked. He continued to play with us and in the fall of 2004 Pedro Tavera, from South Gate, California joined the band.

The band was still going thru growing pains. In the winter of 2004, Tyler left the band to form the Sticky Children. Like most of the past members of Paperplanes, Tyler remains a close friend. Drum-less, band-less, Pete and I continued to write songs and roughly record them. We tried out about 10 drummers, but didn't feel like we had met our right musical match with any of them.

So in rolls 2005. New Years eve party, I met Rob Harvick thru mutual friends-John and Trisha. Rob had been to a planes show and had our cd. At that point, Rob was still playing for another band, but in a few months he would be free from that commitment. He notified me after seeing a flyer up around town, advertising for a drummer. In the spring of 2005, Rob Harvick joined the band. Rob is definitely the level headed one of the band. He is a civil engineer in his day job and hockey fan both as a player and a spectator. Rob brings a snap and a thud to the drums, that puts a solid drive to our sound. He even does his best to play along with country tunes.

In the summer of 2005 we recorded "Volcanoes" EP. This was our first real attempt at recording our own records as a band. We learned a lot, I am proud of Volcanoes-although sonically, we have learned a lot more about recording since then. Some of the songs on Volcanoes our my favorite planes songs, and we continue to play songs from this recording in our live sets. And once again, it was recorded, /produced, mixed-everything, by ourselves. How is that for DYI? (it was Mastered by Timothy James).

With the recording of Volcanoes we had a chance to work with what most likely is the most beautiful sounding instrument in the world- the pedal steel guitar. Robs long time friend, Jeremy Long, blessed our record with playing pedal steel. Jeremy is a brilliant guitarist, and he is no slouch on the steel either. We even got to play some shows with Jeremy, which was always an honor to share the stage with such a great musician. Troy joined us a couple times again too, playing mandolin and acoustic guitar at a gig that we recorded live at. This leads us to the newest member of Paperlanes.

I saw an ad for a pedal steel player. Instantly I thought it was Jeremy. No way could there be two pedal steel players in Long Beach! The player was looking to join an "authentic/old style" country band. Well, that wasn't us. But what the heck, I invited him to come down to our studio. The rest is history. Instantly, we all liked Cliff Kane. An easy-going college English teacher with a cool name, Cliff was very easy to get along with from the very start. He liked our music, and of course we loved the pedal steel. Cliff also brings a vast amount of recording knowledge to the table. Back in the 80's, Cliff used to work for Cherokee Studios-one of Los Angeles's prime recording studios. As well, Cliff grew up in San Francisco, where seeing bands like Dead Kennedys and the Flamin' Groovies in local clubs helped form his eclectic taste in music. Cliff has been very helpful with the recording of this new record-bringing our sound to a new level.

So anyway- that's where we are at! We are recording a new record, playing shows, and doing what we always do. Till then, this is the story-at least my version of it. We look forward to coming to your town and playing our amps and drums for you. Hopefully we will see you soon.

- Micah
March 2007