The Paper Jets Wiki

Welcome to the The Paper Jets Wiki
Everything there is to know about one of New Jersey's brightest young rock bands!



About
The Paper Jets are an American power pop band from Princeton New Jersey. Formed in 2008, the group currently consists of Brian Erickson on vocals, Michael James Virok on guitar, Scott Austin Miller on bass, and Frank Lettieri Jr. on drums and vocals.

In 2014, they were named one of Philadelphia's Top 25 Local Bands by Radio 104.5 FM, "One of the Concerts You Should Be At" by Void Magazine, and their album, We Are All Strange Friends, was crowned one of New Jersey's Top 20 albums of the year by Jersey Beat Magazine. They received back-to-back "Best Indie/Alt-Rock Band" nominations in 2015 and 2016.

History
From 2005 - 2008, Lettieri, Erickson, and a rotating cast of players performed under a number of different names. It wasn't until the Fall of 2008, when they recruited Bill Lambusta (guitar), and Scottie Maloney (bass), late of indie rock band The Ink Spills that they would permanently change their name to The Paper Jets and stabilize their lineup. The newly-minted band signed on with manager Dave Siegel and made its debut at John & Peter's in New Hope, PA on October 23, 2008.

Pictures Like This One
Following their live debut, The Paper Jets immediately began work on a 14-song album entitled Pictures Like This One. However, after financial difficulties continued to affect both the band and their studio, the album release was cancelled. Lettieri currently holds the master tapes for the unissued record and while there are no plans for release, the band insists that Pictures Like This One will eventually have its day.

Face Forward
As it became increasingly clear that Pictures would be shelved, the group retreated to Lettieri's newly-constructed home studio. Over the course of a single weekend, The Paper Jets managed to record what would become their debut mini-LP, the eight-song Face Forward.  Since the group still held dim hopes that Pictures would one day be released, much of Erickson's material was withheld, prompting the other three members to make significant songwriting contributions.

On June 9, 2009, Face Forward was released and garnered critical praise from a number of local outlets. The ensuing tour was also successful, as the band trekked down to North Carolina to play the annual WE Fest.

Kristen Leu
As the Face Forward tour came to a close, the band briefly took on a fifth member, keyboard player/backing vocalist Kristen Leu from August 2009 - March 2010. Her time in the group was documented on their 2011 DVD, Bored In Town.



Lambusta Leaves
Following Leu's departure, the band decided to start on a new recording project called No Good; another quickly-recorded mini album in the vein of Face Forward. While progress was made on a number of tracks, sessions would eventually stall out. In March 2011, Lambusta was dismissed from the group.

Concert Film & Rarities
The Paper Jets - now playing as a trio with Erickson on vocals and guitar, Maloney on bass, and Lettieri on drums - released Bored In Town, a 40-minute concert film. The DVD was also packaged with Sorta Bored, an 18-song CD of early, pre-Paper Jets recordings. The collection was compiled by Erickson and frequent collaborator Jeff Fiedler. Said Erickson, "Sorta Bored was our way of giving a respectful nod to our past, but also finally putting it behind us; it felt like we had been inextricably tied to all these incomplete projects...for the first time, we were looking ahead." The Bored In Town/Sorta Bored collection is now out of print and unavailable.

"Atlantic City"
The Paper Jets attracted the attention of Face Down Records, a Chesterfield, NJ-based powerpop imprint when label head Mick Chorba caught their performance of Bruce Springsteen's, "Atlantic City." The band subsequently contributed a studio version of, "Atlantic City," to a FDR compilation album entitled, My Hometown: A Tribute to New Jersey. On July 23, 2013, My Hometown was released on Face Down Records (aka The FDR Label).

New Management, New Direction
Following the release of Bored In Town/Sorta Bored, The Paper Jets hired a new manager in Bill Greenwood, an old college friend who spent his post-graduate years working in the music industry and had kept up with the group in the ensuing years. His first assignment as manager was to help the band decide its next move: revisit and complete Pictures Like This One, or begin work on a new concept-oriented song cycle called We Are All Strange Friends. Ultimately the group decided upon the latter option, effectively ending Pictures ' chances of any real-time release.

Tim Ryan
The Strange Friends sessions officially began in June 2011 at Erickson's house in Hopewell, New Jersey before eventually moving to MOSHI Productions in Bordentown, NJ. He put down guitar parts and brought in longtime friend Tim Ryan to lay down keyboard and synthesizer parts. During this period, the pair composed the song, "Misinformed."

On the strength of his performance during the sessions, Tim Ryan was invited to become a full-time member of The Paper Jets. However, in the small hours of the morning on September 29, 2011, while driving Eastbound on Interstate 80 through Rockaway Township, NJ, Tim Ryan lost his life in an automobile accident. He was interred at Holy Sepulchre cemetary in Coram, NY on October 4, 2011.

McGee Steps In
In January 2012, the band hit the road for a three-month college tour, hiring guitarist Jim McGee to help. Following the tour's completion, recording of Strange Friends wrapped. McGee was added to several tracks on the record and invited to join as a permanent member but turned the band down.

Release and Reception
We Are All Strange Friends was released on January 28, 2014. Because advance copies were circulated up to eight months before the album's official street date, pre-release reviews were both prevalent and positive. Jersey Beat Magazine named LP one of New Jersey's Top 20 albums of 2013 (despite it not being officially issued until 2014). The group's fortunes continued as the album's first single, "Cooking Up An Accident" received airplay on influential Philadelphia rock station, Radio 104.5 FM. The station also christened The Paper Jets one of Philadelphia's Top 25 Local Bands.

On December 9, 2014, a special edition of We Are All Strange Friends was issued via the group's Bandcamp page. It featured the original album and four previously-unreleased bonus tracks.

New EP, New Lineup
In August 2014, the band agreed to a record deal with Mick Chorba's FDR Label. The deal would be fulfilled when The Paper Jets released their Almost Nine EP on May 26, 2015. The EP sold steadily and - as with Strange Friends before it - received positive critical reviews.

April 10, 2015 saw the debut of Mike Virok to the band's lineup. A subsequent Northeast US tour was booked with stops in Washington DC, New Haven, Boston, Syracuse, and Buffalo. With a full-time lead guitarist in tow for the first time in three years, the band began debuting new material.

Hiatus, Maloney Leaves
In August 2015, The Paper Jets announced a, "break from the road," via their official website. At the same time, they also revealed that a new album, entitled Everyday Forever, was in the works. During the break, the band focused on outside projects. Lettieri, Virok, and McGee went to Pachyderm Studios in Minneapolis to record some of Lettieri's new material (eventually released under Lettieri's Dust of Days moniker as Analog Mind Bender in August of 2017). They also contributed to local songwriter Ian DG Bennett's Moonboy project. Erickson became the co-host of The Great Albums Podcast and produced the debut album for Princeon-based singer/songwriter Jesse Elliot.

During the hiatus, Scottie Maloney was dismissed from The Paper Jets and was replaced by Scott Austin Miller.

Return To the Stage
Erickson, Lettieri, Virok, and Miller returned to the stage on April 11, 2016 for a warm up set at Asbury Park's Wonder Bar, eight months after the band's most recent appearance. The performance earned critical praise from outlets such as Speak Into My Good Eye who wrote, "They were tight, polished and sounded as thought they have been gigging all along."

On-Stage Reunions With Former Members
The Paper Jets reunited with Bill Lambusta in April of 2013 at Havana in New Hope, PA, inviting him on stage for songs, "You'll Come Around" and "Always Will." Kristen Leu joined Brian for Beatles tribute concert in June of 2017, playing the entire Sgt Pepper album from front-to-back. Jim McGee remains a frequent collaborator/contributor to Frank Lettieri's Dust of Days project.

Discography

 * 2009:  Face Forward


 * 2011:  Bored In Town (concert film)


 * 2011:  Sorta Bored


 * 2013:  My Hometown: A Tribute to New Jersey (FDR Label) - Contributed the song, "Atlantic City"


 * 2014:  We Are All Strange Friends
 * 2015:  Almost Nine (FDR Label)
 * 2018: Everyday Forever

Related Projects
While The Paper Jets remain the prime focus of each of the three principle bandmembers, they maintain a number of extracurricular projects, including:


 * Dust of Days - Frank Lettieri's solo project; he occasionally tours with former member Jim McGee and has released an EP and a full-length


 * Tim Ryan Music - Page started after Tim Ryan's death; occasionally posts new songs, pictures, and memorabilia from Tim's music career
 * Bordentown Guitar Rescue - Mike Virok's guitar repair and custom shop

Studio and Session Work
Both Brian Erickson and Frank Lettieri Jr have been employed as producers/engineers by a number of artists. They have occasionally worked together on a variety of outside projects, as well. Lettieri played drums and engineered Jesse Elliot's album while Erickson produced. Lettiei was also - briefly - the touring drummer for Hannah Zaic & the Damaged Goods, and contributes to Ian DG Bennett's Moonboy project, as well. Erickson tours as a bassist for New Brunswick punk rock band Finding Feebas, as well as Matt Cook's piano rock trio. Virok provided on-the-road guitar-teching for Cold Roses, Miller was employed by Fodera Guitars, and each are late of the band Evangelina & the Boys.

Management & Representation
The Paper Jets are managed by Bill Greenwood