Let's put it into perspective a moment. Back in 2011, The Paper Kites were already doing well. That is to say they had played shows with Passenger and Hungry Kids of Hungary, were about to release an EP and had secured a support slot bumping around the country with alt folk gentlemen Boy and Bear. It was a tour that saw this gentle, themselves quite alt folky, five- piece play Sydney's iconic Enmore Theatre in May that year.
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Fast forward to now, and more than 10 million (yes that's right, million!) YouTube views later, The Paper Kites are playing the Enmore again, only this time they are headlining. They'll also be stopping off at our own Transit Bar to say hello.
But what of these YouTube hits, which, along with their mellow and beautiful brand of music, have been vital in establishing The Paper Kites' presence, both here and overseas? Christina Lacy, who performs guitar and vocal duties in the band, says they were surprised by how well clips for songs such as Bloom had done. It wasn't as if they had made, in the band's mind at least, anything super special.
With their debut album peaking at No. 17 on the ARIA charts, The Paper Kites approach everything they do with the same degree of thoroughness and "artistic feeling". Not wanting to put a video up just because that is what bands do, they intended their clips to be an "extension of the art itself". With views for Bloom still "ticking over" at almost 5 million, the girl finds boy narrative intercut with shots of the band clearly has something worth hitting the share button about it.
And while there have been plenty of views from fans around Australia, there is a lot of international love and support out there as well.
A testament to this is the recognition The Paper Kites received while on a tour of North America and Canada with Dallas Green's Juno-award-winning City and Colour.
About landing the amazing City and Colour shows, Lacy says when the band field questions from their management gauging interest in future opportunities they try not to get their hopes up, at least not at first.
When they were surprised with an email about joining City and Colour on the road, "Of course we're interested," was The Paper Kites' reply.
A week later, they had the gig.
"We were so stoked," Lacy says.
Describing Green as welcoming, Lacy was impressed with the size of the touring operation they had the good fortune to be a part of. Getting some brotherly treatment from Green himself, who, because she was the only girl on the tour made sure she was looked after, Lacy described the whole tour as an "honour to be a part of".
Playing their own headline shows while over there, with numbers "bigger then we'd imagined" turning out to see their mostly sold-out performances, Lacy says the response to The Paper Kites was "amazing".
It was a new experience, meeting these surprise fans of the band, Lacy says, as the crowds who attended each show were experiencing the gentle rise of The Paper Kites at the same time the band was. Just shows the influence a few good film clips can have.
The Paper Kites are now touring the country and plan to be making it to play our humble city. Something they have hoped to do for a while, not least because member Dave Powys (guitar) grew up here.
THE PAPER KITES
When: 8pm,Saturday, May 31
With: Phebe Starr, Airling
Tickets: $23.50 via moshtix.com.au