Paper Parlor, a rising band and their move from bedrooms to venue
October 29, 2016
by Maxwell Reagan
It was after 9 p.m. on the Saturday before Halloween when the lights turned down and the live music began to play. Characters had already begun sauntering in to Sir Ben’s Tavern on Superior Street an hour before. Rick Astley and Boba Fett sat in a corner arguing about whiskey. Mario from Nintendo lounged at a table sipping a cold beer. Laura Croft mingled in the middle of the room with a bow and a quiver of arrows draped over her back. The place was packed with so many people in costumes that it was hard to even maneuver through the little tavern. All the while, Spock was behind the bar serving drinks to these characters.
I sat at the bar feeling a little underdressed wearing my normal jeans and a baseball T. However, I was not here for the costume contest. The characters I was here to see was the young group of karate kids sitting behind me. A group of five dressed in similar fashion of white jackets, kimonos and headbands. This was Paper Parlor, a local band that over the summer had become the regional winners in the 2016 Hard Rock Rising Competition. A competition for unsigned and up and coming artists. In the past months they have completed a short Minnesota tour and released a new EP.
Paper Parlor is a Duluth band that consists of five individuals: Kirdan Wenger (vocals and rhythm guitar), Wilson Johnson (bass), Moriah Skye (lead guitar), Chad Hofland (drums) and the newest addition to the band Zach Shears (bongos). Wenger and Wilson started the band in their hometown of International Falls. Over the years, the two had struggled with finding a permanent drummer and guitarist that could fill out their sound. It wasn’t until they moved to Duluth that they met Skye, Hofland, and Shears (who were students at UMD at the time) that they found more permanent replacements. Since the formation of the band they have released one album Dreamscreen (2015), and three EP’s Winter (2011), Paper Parlor (2013), and Guac N’ Roll (2016).
Earlier in the night, before 8 p.m., I stood outside of Sir Ben’s with the lead guitarist, Moriah Skye. She was talking about the live recording of their newly released EP Guac N’ Roll, which they released in September, when the door to Sir Ben’s flew open. Kirdan Wenger, the lead singer of the band, stepped out on the phone.
“Yeah, here she is,” he said into the phone before handing it to Moriah.
While Moriah was on the phone, Kirdan discussed the conception of the band. It originally started just as two kids playing music together — Kirdan and his childhood friend Wilson Johnson. The two always dug each other’s taste in music growing up together in International Falls. Back in 2010, when the duo was still in high school, they began writing music and experimenting with sound out of Wilson’s bedroom.
“What about the name Paper Parlor? Where did the name come from?”
“We always wanted a name with alliteration,” said Kirdan, scratching his beard recalling the origin of the name. “‘Paper’ because we valued the idea of putting your thoughts and feelings down on paper. ‘Parlor’ came to embody this place where we wrote. Wilson’s bedroom was the paper parlor with papers and notebooks strewn all over the floor.”
Moriah handed the phone back to Kirdan. The two discussed the items they still needed for the show and if Chad was going able to play on the low-quality drum set sitting inside the bar. Their conversation was cut short when a man stepped out onto the patio in black pants and a grey double-breasted chef’s jacket with glasses sticking out of a pocket on his sleeve.
Propping himself up against a table, he said, “You guys want to play midway?” looking at Kirdan and Moriah. “I thought you guys might want a break from playing close.”
“It doesn’t matter to me,” replied Kirdan, “but we should probably ask the rest of the band when they get here.”
I observed as the two musicians talked business with the man in the grey jacket before he stepped away to take a phone call.
“Who was that?”
“That’s Matt Larson,” said Moriah, pausing to take a drag off of her cigarette, “our manager. He has gotten us a lot more shows. We have already done five shows this month. This time last year we had one or two.”
“Hey, we should probably go get the equipment,” Kirdan said.
Moriah shook her head in agreement. I told them I would see them after their set. The two left the patio and walked out into the parking lot before I stepped back into the bar to wait for the show to start.
Paper Parlor plugged in their instruments a little after 10. They were performing midway, sandwiched in between two other bands that were also playing. Almost immediately the group’s instruments started to coalesce with one another to create a unique sound. An alternative sound that seemed to mix folk rock, the blues, and rock n’ roll all together.
The drummer, Chad Hofland, slammed on the drums in a way that looked effortless and kept the tempo for the entire band. The bass player, Wilson Johnson, not wearing a shirt, moved lively about the stage. He’d slap these extremely tasty bass licks that filled out the sound. In the back was Zach Shears banging on a bongo drum, a small instrument with a huge impact. One could hear a noticeable difference when he stopped playing.
The front man was Kirdan, the rhythm guitar and lead singer with a powerful and raspy voice that seemed to be the source of their unique sound. However, it was Moriah, the lead guitar, that was the most interesting to watch. Her fingers glided up and down the neck of the guitar with such speed and relative ease that it didn’t even look like she was pressing down on the steel strings. At points in the show, she would come down from the tiny makeshift stage to interact with the crowd and play for them up close.
After their third or fourth song, Wilson stepped up to the mic, “where would we be without Sir Ben’s tonight?”
“Sober!” yelled someone from the crowd.
Wilson pointed his finger in the direction of whoever had said that and said, “You got that right!”
One of the highlights of the show was the unveiling of a new Paper Parlor song: a one-of-a-kind cover of Carl Douglas’s 1974 song “Kung Fu Fighting.” The song seemed fitting for the attire that they wore and garnished a strong reaction from the crowd.
After their last song the crowd demanded more, clapping and yelling. A woman in front of me started the crowd chant, “One more song!” The band gave in with little difficulty.
After the show, I wandered out the back door in hopes of talking to the band. There they were, all together, surrounded by friends and admirers. I mingled into the inner circle where Wilson, Zach, and Chad stood talking about their set.
“You guys had a much better reception than last night’s show,” I interjected.
The three nodded in agreement and Moriah, who overheard the comment from her chair a few feet away, turned around and stuck out her hand. Chad grabbed her hand and they shook, a handshake that seemed to show accomplishment.
The group had all had some sort of secondary education ranging from physics to mathematics to urban studies. I was surprised that none of their schooling revolved around music, which seemed to be their passion.
“Are you guys in the process of pursuing your degree?” I asked Chad and Zach.
“I definitely want to,” started Chad, “and I probably will, but I am not worried about that right now. I have just graduated. I’m young and have all this free time.”
Zach agreed: “As of right now, music is the focus.”
“Right now,” began Chad, “I just plan on chilling out, listening to the next band, and enjoying this sweet nectar from the Gods,” he smiled lifting up his glass of beer.
Their next show will be held at Whiskey Junction in Minneapolis starting at 9 p.m. on Saturday, November 26th.
