Paper Bee is a Philly based rock band with choral elements and deep basement roots. Soon after originally forming in New England in 2015, Paper Beerecorded the split recordNow I Know You And See How Wide You Are To The World with Loone. After a few years of small tours and local shows, the band took a several year hiatus when songwriter Nick Berger moved to Philadelphia.A new iteration of the band came together during early pandemic times in 2020 to record their first full length album,Thaw, Freeze, Thaw.
Nick’s songwriting explores the soft centers and the sharp edges of loving relationships and overlapping traumas, as well as questioning the nature of belonging, both in space and within queer bodies. Difficult to pin to one genre, the songs onThaw, Freeze, Thaw incorporate a range of sounds from gentle bedroomy synth to harsh sludgy distortion, introspective finger-picking to cacophonous, crescendoing loops, blast beats, off-kilter time signatures, and many places in between. Threads of repeating chord progressions, rhythms, riffs, and lyrics run throughout the album, tying it all together in a circular arc that leads the listener through a story about where home exists, internally and externally.
While living together during quarantine, bassist Sam Cook-Parrott, drummer Anthony Richards, and Nick on guitar and vocals, dove into sculpting and reworking the album as a much needed creative outlet during the chaos of that time. The dynamic instrumentation reflects the camaraderie and joy of the experience, learning to read one another to seamlessly flow through the songs. Sam’s understated and emotive bass lines, Tony’s driving yetrestrained drumming, as well as vast and intricate vocal harmonies from Cherise Nystrom, Maryn Jones, and Sam create a rich, well rounded, and densely woven soundscape.
Throughout 2021 and 2022 Paper Bee has grown into an engaging and reliable local band in Philly. Without any releases showcasing the current line-up, they’ve managed to perform regularly, building momentum for a much anticipated album. 2023 will see the release of their full-lengthThaw, Freeze, Thawas well as touring and more shows at home.
