Bands typically break up after college. People move away, grow apart, or j… Read Full Bio ↴Bands typically break up after college. People move away, grow apart, or just shrivel up and get jobs. It was good while it lasted, right? But what happens when the music is so good, the band’s listeners so devout, the ambition to keep creating so strong that even the time-draining power of day jobs can’t get in the way? Such is the story of Faded Paper Figures, whose “day jobs” are not exactly easy gigs: Heather Alden is in residency after graduating from medical school (a real doctor!), John Williams is a full-time professor of English at Yale (just published his first book), and Kael Alden writes music for a production company in Los Angeles called Robot Repair (his music appearing in several Hollywood films, TV shows, video games and ads). How did all this come together? And how do they possibly keep it all going?
Kael and Heather married in 2005, and shortly thereafter moved to Irvine, CA, where they met John Williams, who was also in the area doing a PhD in comparative literature at UC Irvine. Heather was studying biology, and Kael was already hard at work creating music for film and TV projects. One afternoon in the fall of 2007, looking for a distraction from writing his dissertation, John suggested to Kael and Heather that they write some music together. Within three weeks they had written a few songs, and put them up online (on ye olde Myspace). The response from listeners was fast and overwhelming, so much so that they were motivated to continue writing and release a full album, Dynamo, in 2008. After playing some shows in southern California, the band won “Best Electronic Band” at the OC Music Awards, and was listed by the New York Post as a “new music must-have.” NPR called the band’s debut album “clever, intriguing . . . even beautiful.”
When John graduated and got a job at Yale, and Heather was accepted to medical school at UCLA, the band realized they’d either have to carry on via long-distance songwriting, or else end the band. With Dynamo doing so well, and many more songs still on their way, the band decided to try songwriting bi-coastally. John purchased some home-recording equipment to take with him to Connecticut, while Heather and Kael moved to Los Angeles, where Robot Repair built a beautiful studio space for Kael to work in. During the next three years, the band sent tracks back and forth online, video chatting, and emailing notes to write two more studio albums, New Medium (2010), and The Matter (2012). The band’s sound had matured by this point into something more powerful and intense. Alternately sparse and epic, harmonic and grinding, pensive and playful, FPF was clearly moving beyond their electro-pop beginnings.
By 2013, FPF’s music seemed to be circulating everywhere, with millions of plays on Spotify, LastFM, Hype Machine, and Pandora, and appearances on everything from ABC’s “Grey’s Anatomy” to MTV’s “The Real World,” NBCSports, and E! Then, just as the band was contemplating a fourth album Kael and Heather discovered that they were expecting a baby. Many fans wondered whether Faded Paper Figures would be able to maintain its songwriting work with so much going on. But very little seems to slow them down. If anything, the music now comes with even greater clarity and brilliance, and as a result, the band is now set to release their fourth studio album in August, 2014, titled “Relics.” This most recent album promises to be their most honest, sophisticated, and ambitious, spanning a vast musical and lyrical spectrum, from epic synth-pop anthems on questions of life and death, to quiet, intense meditations on the passage of time. The band seems to have fully mastered not only their signature sound (electronic beats, gorgeous guitar riffs, and beautiful harmonies), but accelerated full force into a brave new world of sitars, analog synths, and even more intense vocals. Whatever emotions and uncanny dreams those day jobs are creating, it seems to be paying off enormously in their musical lives.
Kael and Heather married in 2005, and shortly thereafter moved to Irvine, CA, where they met John Williams, who was also in the area doing a PhD in comparative literature at UC Irvine. Heather was studying biology, and Kael was already hard at work creating music for film and TV projects. One afternoon in the fall of 2007, looking for a distraction from writing his dissertation, John suggested to Kael and Heather that they write some music together. Within three weeks they had written a few songs, and put them up online (on ye olde Myspace). The response from listeners was fast and overwhelming, so much so that they were motivated to continue writing and release a full album, Dynamo, in 2008. After playing some shows in southern California, the band won “Best Electronic Band” at the OC Music Awards, and was listed by the New York Post as a “new music must-have.” NPR called the band’s debut album “clever, intriguing . . . even beautiful.”
When John graduated and got a job at Yale, and Heather was accepted to medical school at UCLA, the band realized they’d either have to carry on via long-distance songwriting, or else end the band. With Dynamo doing so well, and many more songs still on their way, the band decided to try songwriting bi-coastally. John purchased some home-recording equipment to take with him to Connecticut, while Heather and Kael moved to Los Angeles, where Robot Repair built a beautiful studio space for Kael to work in. During the next three years, the band sent tracks back and forth online, video chatting, and emailing notes to write two more studio albums, New Medium (2010), and The Matter (2012). The band’s sound had matured by this point into something more powerful and intense. Alternately sparse and epic, harmonic and grinding, pensive and playful, FPF was clearly moving beyond their electro-pop beginnings.
By 2013, FPF’s music seemed to be circulating everywhere, with millions of plays on Spotify, LastFM, Hype Machine, and Pandora, and appearances on everything from ABC’s “Grey’s Anatomy” to MTV’s “The Real World,” NBCSports, and E! Then, just as the band was contemplating a fourth album Kael and Heather discovered that they were expecting a baby. Many fans wondered whether Faded Paper Figures would be able to maintain its songwriting work with so much going on. But very little seems to slow them down. If anything, the music now comes with even greater clarity and brilliance, and as a result, the band is now set to release their fourth studio album in August, 2014, titled “Relics.” This most recent album promises to be their most honest, sophisticated, and ambitious, spanning a vast musical and lyrical spectrum, from epic synth-pop anthems on questions of life and death, to quiet, intense meditations on the passage of time. The band seems to have fully mastered not only their signature sound (electronic beats, gorgeous guitar riffs, and beautiful harmonies), but accelerated full force into a brave new world of sitars, analog synths, and even more intense vocals. Whatever emotions and uncanny dreams those day jobs are creating, it seems to be paying off enormously in their musical lives.
Not the End of the World
Faded Paper Figures Lyrics
We have lyrics for 'Not the End of the World' by these artists:
@Katy_Perry It's not the end of the world No, not the end…
Hear'Say Written by Kennedy / Lever / Percy / Woodcock /…
John Cale You're too soon into the desert The corner of the sun Awoken…
Katy Perry It's not the end of the world No, not the end…
Katy Perry - Smile It's not the end of the world No, not the end…
Katy Perry - Topic It's not the end of the world No, not the end…
Katy Perry Katy Perry It's not the end of the world No, not the end…
We have lyrics for these tracks by Faded Paper Figures:
Being There Moving days are coming Like the traffic, full of broken wor…
Breathing Now you're gone, but your breath is everywhere I still wan…
Changed Changed I feel changed all unwound changed Now. Strang…
Fellaheen Escape the cash dreams back on the road, typewriters crash…
Future Self Almost every thought Fits neatly on this card; I could bel…
Geneva's Gone Geneva's gone, like forgotten songs In a country sleeping w…
Holy Smoke Your eyes burn but you're far from the fires of Rome. Your…
I Fell Off My Name I write heresies and sign my name, Publish and perish all…
Invent It All Again Iron bridges, melodic chimes Things I made for you back the…
Kodachrome Earth It fell into place the whole earth database Kodachrome sho…
Limelight From the Kid to the Gold Rush You can see the…
Logos Signs on every mountain side line highways, stitching deser…
Lost Stars There were still entire empires of California highway I wa…
Metropolis Loud, subaltern city streets, Bellies wild with discontent;…
New Medium There's a light on the floor Shows your just out the…
North by North North by north lest we have to settle down We…
One More Crash I wake up, I see the cracks in the walls I…
Persuaded He won't know Adorno He's an adult with an adcult You can…
Piledrive Piledrive, You wrestle me down in no time, Clotheslined, And…
Polaroid Solution I put on a disguise And put out both your eyes You…
Red State I will be blue in a red state All the long…
Rewind I'm on my way Back to the time, before we were…
San Narciso Out to sea we hear Los Angeles calling each one…
Small Talk Mapping out the Interstate My finger prints a figure eight …
Spare Me You're so devil-may-care like you thought you could barely …
Speechless I've been trying to watch this thing, But the truth is…
The Cold Wars See the wrecking crews go by Leave a broken piece of…
The Persuaded He won't know Adorno He's an adult with an adcult You can…
The Pursuaded He won't know Adorno He's an adult with an adcult You can…
Wake Up Dead How many times will you wake up dead? How many times…
When the Book Ends These days the letter's like a freeze frame All the old wa…
You Know What I Mean My patents are pending For me to say what I wanted…
The lyrics are frequently found in the comments by searching or by filtering for lyric videos
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Remi
okay but HOW ARE THEY NOT MORE FAMOUS
Morgan Davis
i loved the world created in this video. I've always pictured it to be a sad/drunk girl at a bar and the bar tender comforting her with this song
sorou
I'm 300% in love with this
Luda Electric
me too
Graeme Raubenheimer
How is it that more people don't know about you guys? Great track :)
Gvido
oh my GOD YES I LOVE THIS SO MUCH ( ;_;)
i just love you guys a lot omg ( T_T)
Boingalicious
Powerful and poignant, amazing job making this. <3
IchMachFilm
by far the best faded paper figures video yet. awesome work everyone!!
Dylan Kirdahy
I'm starting to feel like your music is more relevant than ever these days... Hope you guys are doing well. Thanks for all the great art
Dan Bee
I love this band, but I need more of Heather Alden's voice. North By North is to die for. I think Heather could really make this band come to life.