Credit: Courtesy of Ryan Horns
Local indie band Paper Airplane will be swooping through Columbus this weekend with a new single under their wings.
Led by vocalist, songwriter and guitarist Ryan Horns — an Ohio State alum and faculty member working on communications for ecologists studying AI in conservation efforts — the band will play at Dick’s Den Saturday.
The show is meant to celebrate not only the 20-year anniversary of the band, but also the release of their single “Big Eyes, Big Lies,” which came out Oct. 18. Their fifth album, “In a Great Big Field,” will be released in December, according to Horns.
Horns said he has been playing music since his undergraduate years at Ohio State in the late ‘90s. He said his solo project, titled The Last Hotel, eventually morphed into Paper Airplane in 2005.
Joining Paper Airplane Saturday will be fellow Columbus rock bands The Whiteouts and Boomshanka. The concert will begin at 10 p.m., with Paper Airplane performing last.
Horns said his love for writing was helpful both within his studies and musical pursuits. He said songwriting is a creative outlet for him.
“I might write five songs this week, just because they come into my brain,” Horns said. “And then I’m like, ‘Okay, I’ll try to figure out what chords I’m hearing in my head,’ and then finish the song just like that.”
Much of the inspiration for the band’s upcoming album came from the COVID-19 pandemic and how deeply it affected people, Horns said.
“It became this extreme sense of being in a house all the time and feeling trapped and lonely and you’re like, ‘I can’t do anything, I can’t go anywhere [and] I haven’t talked to anybody in days,’” Horns said. “I think a lot of us were trying to dig out of that.”
Horns said making “In a Great Big Field” was a way to dive into those emotions.
“How can I express myself, and how can I talk about topics that are relevant right now, in terms of anger or distrust or trying to show support for people?” Horns said. “I think that’s where [the album] comes from.”
Horns said the album does not have an overarching narrative that connects the tracks.
“Each song is kind of its own entity as opposed to previous albums,” Horns said.
He also said that this is the band’s most collaborative album.
“[Before], it was really about my vision, and people would help me with that vision,” Horns said. “This is the first time that all of us in the band contribute[d]. I may write the songs, but they come up with guitar parts and they come up with bass parts, and I’m not telling them what to play. I’m just like, ’Play whatever you want. This is the song, how can we make it better?’”
Alongside Horns is lead guitarist Brian Larcey, bassist Adam Dowell, keyboardist and backup singer Mark Sims and drummer David Murphy.
“These guys are some of the most diverse musicians I’ve ever played with,” Dowell said. “It’s more than evident on the new album and at our live shows.”
Horns said the band takes inspiration from artists like Neil Young, Jesus and the Mary Chain, Van Morrison and The Kinks. He said Paper Airplane’s music is considered melodic-rock — but he refers to the band as straight up rock n’ roll.
“I always had this mixture between solid songwriting and punk noise and just weirdness,” Horns said. “So I always try to find a way to turn a basic pop song or rock song and make it [as] weird as I can, and not as predictable.”
Horns said a lot of the lyrics are not something he consciously assigns meaning to.
“I don’t necessarily know what it’s about — it just fits together and a phrase might come to mind, so I’ll sing that,” Horns said. “Sometimes, I’m too close to it to understand what it’s about, but other people can look at the song and say, ‘Oh, well that sounds to me like it’s about this.’”
Horns said he was not always confident enough to share his work — he said he was writing music in his bedroom long before presenting his lyrics to the world.
“I just wrote a ton of songs and never told anybody,” Horns said. “I didn’t want to even bother with performing it live until I was ready. By the late ‘90s, I thought I was getting there, so I started trying to push myself to perform it.”
Horns said taking the stage used to be “terrifying,” but continuously performing helped him get over his initial anxiety and find comfort in performing.
“I’m not the type of guy who’s gonna scream to get everybody’s attention, you know, ‘Put your hands together,’” Horns said. “I’m not that type of guy. I’m more like, ‘Hey guys, this is the next song we’re gonna do’ — you go up there and you’re just trying to connect with people on a conversation level.”
Horns says that making music with the people he cares about is something he’s grateful for after clocking out for the day.
“A bunch of us musicians, we get together and just hang out, have a few beers and talk about everything that’s going on [in] our lives,” Horns said. “It’s mostly dudes, so it’s our moment to connect with one another. A lot of people just go to work and then they come home.”
Dowell said in an email he is also grateful to have the band as an outlet for his own feelings.
“I’m an introvert, so being able to play music with friends allows me to express myself,” Dowell said. “[It’s a] huge stress relief — it sounds cliche, but it’s the truth.”
Horns said the band is very confident that no matter what they play, their music will prevail, and that Paper Airplane will continue to evolve in the years to come.
“I don’t think it’s ever going to stop,” Horns said. “We get together every Thursday and we play music together, and whatever comes out of that, we keep it going.”
Attendees can buy an advanced CD copy of “In a Great Big Field” at the show. Tickets cost $10 and can be purchased at the door.
