PAWS (band)

PAWS

Origin Glasgow, Scotland
Genres Alternative Rock, Punk
Years active 2010-present
Labels FatCat Records, Cath Records
Website www.wehavepaws.com
Members Phillip Taylor
Josh Swinney
Ryan Drever

PAWS are a Scottish alternative rock band formed in Glasgow in 2010. The band consists of Phillip Taylor (Guitar/Vocals), Josh Swinney (Drums), and Ryan Drever (Bass Guitar). To date, they have released two studio albums on FatCat Records. According to the band's website, as of July 2015, they have completed the recording of their third studio album which was produced by Mark Hoppus of Blink 182 .[1]

History

Formation and early years (2010 - 2012)

PAWS formed in 2010 after the disbandment of the Glasgow-based band A Copenhagen Hope which consisted of Taylor, Swinney, Nick Anderson and now former PAWS bass player, Matthew Scott. After Anderson left the group to pursue other artistic projects, the remaining three continued making music together. With the departure of the acoustic guitar that was previously present in A Copenhagen Hope, the band developed a heavier pop rock sound and subsequently changed their name to PAWS. Their first gig was on May 17, 2010 at Stereo Cafe Bar in Glasgow opening for Dum Dum Girls to a sold out crowd. Following this performance, the band played regularly in Glasgow and other parts of Scotland establishing their presence in the Scottish music scene. In their first year, they opened for many other touring acts from the U.S including Ariel Pink, No Age, Wavves and Ty Segall. During this time, PAWS released their first home recordings on hand made compact cassette tapes via Taylor and Swinney's DIY imprint CATH Records.[2]

In 2011 after a performance at Sneaky Petes in Edinburgh opening the bill for Yuck (band) the band spoke with local label Gerry Loves Records for the first time and discussed the potential release of the first PAWS vinyl single. Lekker/Booger was released as a double AA side single on one side of a split 7" single via Gerry Loves Records on August 8, 2011.[3] The band made their first music festival appearances this same summer in Scotland at T in the Park Festival, Wickerman Festival, Belladrum Tartan Heart Festival, Loopallu Festival and Go North Festival. Other notable performances included their first ever London performance at Vice (magazine)'s venue, The Old Blue Last on August 18. Other hometown shows included opening for bands like The Babies and Black Lips.[4]

Misled Youth EP and Cokefloat! (2012 - 2014)

2012 seen PAWS sign with New York/Brighton based label FatCat Records following their performance at 2011's GoNorth Festival in Inverness where they first encountered the labels founder, Alex Knight.[5] On January 15, 2012 PAWS began recording their debut studio album with Rory Attwell on The Lightship 95, a professional recording studio on a 550 tonne ship, permanently moored at Trinity Buoy Wharf, East London.[6] After recording their debut album, the band self recorded their "Misled Youth" EP which was released May 4, 2012 on a limited amount of compact cassette tapes and MP3 download ahead of their full-length debut.[7] They celebrated the release of Misled Youth with a tour of the United Kingdom which included multiple performances at Brighton's The Great Escape Festival and dates opening for the Los Angeles based band, Bleached (formed by sisters Jennifer and Jessica Clavin of Mika Miko).[8] Shortly after the Misled Youth release, PAWS were invited by Canadian rock duo Japandroids to open up the dates on their European tour. This string of dates was PAWS debut tour of mainland Europe when they performed in Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Denmark and Switzerland for the first time. Upon arriving home from the tour, their debut studio album "Cokefloat!" was released on FatCat Records on October 8, 2012[9] and received positive reviews from the music press. Singles from the album such as "Jellyfish" and "Sore Tummy" (which featured a guest vocal from Alice Costelloe of Big Deal (band)) made national BBC Radio play listing. The band also performed multiple live sessions for The BBC which included an appearance on Lauren Laverne's BBC Radio 6 Music show.[10]

To support the album's release, the band toured extensively for the entirety of 2013 and this included their first tour of North America. Shortly after completing a UK tour in February, the band played their first gig in the United States at Glasslands in Brooklyn, NY on March 5, 2013. They subsequently gave three other performances in different parts of New York that same week. The tour continued on through Boston, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C, Hudson, New York before finishing up in Austin, Texas at South by Southwest Festival where they performed ten shows in three days at various venues across the city.[11]Spin (magazine) named PAWS the fourth best band that they seen in a review of that years festival.[12] Once the band arrived home from their debut U.S. tour, they embarked on their second European tour which included dates in France, Luxembourg, Germany, and the Netherlands. Upon completion of this tour, bass player Matthew Scott announced his departure from PAWS and played his final performance with the band on the 4th of May 2013 in Dublin, Ireland. Around this time, Cokefloat! also received a nomination for the prestigious Scottish Album of the Year Award[13]

Close friend, Kacey Underwood of London-based group Big Deal filled in playing bass guitar for PAWS in order to help maintain a booking commitment that was made for the band to perform at Tufnell Park Dome supporting Brooklyn based band Beach Fossils on May 14, 2013.[14]

Ryan Drever was added as the band's official third member shortly after and the new line up embarked on a second U.S tour which included an appearance at New York's Seaport Music Festival as well as dates supporting Fucked Up and Mates Of State. The band returned home from this tour to open for The Breeders at The ABC in Glasgow and then immediately began back to back UK tours which included a hometown Halloween party headline performance, festival appearances as well as stretches of dates with We Are Scientists and The Cribs. On November 2, 2013 Taylor, Swinney and Drever flew to New York to record their second studio album for FatCat Records at the home of Adam Pierce (Mice Parade). The album tracking was completed in twelve days and the band embarked on a coast to coast tour of the U.S. The second leg of which saw them play debut performances on the west coast of the United States in the cities of Seattle, Portland, Oregon, San Francisco and Los Angeles.[15] Their first Los Angeles performance was at The Satellite in the Silver Lake neighbourhood on November 26, 2013.[16] The performance was recorded and later released as live album and limited edition hand made cassette tape via CATH Records.[17]

Youth Culture Forever (2014 - 2015)

The band's 2014 schedule seen the trio complete back to back tours for the entirety of the year in support of the release of their sophomore studio album "Youth Culture Forever". Beginning in February, PAWS embarked on a UK tour that led straight into a three month long tour with friends We Are Scientists. The three month stretch saw the band tour the European circuit for the third time, the United States for the fourth time as well as Canada for the first time.[18] During this two month trek of the U.S, on May 8, 2014 as the band travelled towards The Constellation Room in Santa Ana, California where they were expected to perform that evening. The band were informed that their performance would not go ahead as planned due to a Morrissey concert taking place at the same time in the Constellation Room's sister venue, The Observatory. Upset by their contracted performance becoming abruptly cancelled by the artist, the band took to social media to express their upset, which resulted in viral news media reporting. After much dispute, it was scheduled that both performances would go ahead under the condition that the sold out We Are Scientists and PAWS show would take place once the Morrissey concert had ended.[19] Youth Culture Forever was released in the U.S and Canada on May 5, 2014 and June 2 in the UK/Europe/Rest of the world.[20] The album was received positive reviews from the music press and singles from the album "Tongues" and "Owls Talons Clenching My Heart" made BBC Radio play listing to receive heavy rotation from stations like BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 6 Music.[21] After the album's initial release and the band's return from the We Are Scientists tour they immediately began their promotional headline "YCF" tour. The tour began with UK festival date on May 26 in Leeds at Constellations Festival playing with other acts like Cloud Nothings before they started their headline club performances. The YCF tour took Taylor, Swinney and Drever back to North America for a fifth time. After a two-month coast to coast run with support from Florida band Flashlights (band), the tour ended in New York City on October 26 after multiple performances across the city at CMJ Festival. Youth Culture Forever was placed in many end of year lists by the music press. ABC News placed the album at number 35 in their "Top 50 Albums Of The Year" list[22] and Youth Culture Forever became the band's second studio album to receive a nomination for The Scottish Album Of The Year Award.[23]

(2015 - present)

In July 2015 the band completed their third studio album which is yet to be released and titled. The album was produced by Mark Hoppus of blink-182 and was engineered by James Ingram.[24]

Discography

Studio Albums

Live Albums

Cassettes

7" Singles

References

  1. ↑ "Bio".
  2. ↑ "FatCat Records Artist Bio".
  3. ↑ "Gerry Loves Records".
  4. ↑ "Bio".
  5. ↑ "Fat Cat Records News".
  6. ↑ "Lightship 95 Website".
  7. ↑ "Fat Cat Records Store".
  8. ↑ "The Four Oh Five Music News".
  9. ↑ "FatCat Records".
  10. ↑ "BBC".
  11. ↑ "PAWS Gig Archive".
  12. ↑ "SPIN Magazine".
  13. ↑ "What's On North".
  14. ↑ "RFB".
  15. ↑ "Brooklyn Vegan".
  16. ↑ "The Satellite".
  17. ↑ "CATH Records".
  18. ↑ "Brooklyn Vegan".
  19. ↑ "NME".
  20. ↑ "FatCat Records".
  21. ↑ "BBC".
  22. ↑ "ABC News".
  23. ↑ "The List".
  24. ↑ "Bio".
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