Alex Botwin says Paper Diamond means "taking nothing and turning it into something."
Alex Botwin is a familiar figure to Memphis music audiences.
For the better part of a decade, he was the bassist for Midtown groove combo Pnuma Trio. Tonight, Botwin, now living in Colorado, returns to the Bluff City for a concert at Newby's. This time, however, he'll take the stage in a new guise, as the one-man dance music outfit known as Paper Diamond.
Just over a year since debuting his alter ego with the critically acclaimed EP Levitate, Botwin has become something of a sensation within the electronic music genre.
"I've played at Red Rocks, played in Japan, done all kinds of huge festivals," says Botwin, who's also had his tracks licensed for Hollywood blockbusters like "Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides" and the forthcoming "Batman: The Dark Knight Rises."
"It's been amazing to see how people have responded to this," he says.
Calling from New Orleans, the 28-year-old Botwin is finishing work on the second Paper Diamond album, Paragon.
"We're actually mixing and mastering the record today. I'm also going to working with (producer and rapper) Mannie Fresh of Cash Money," says Botwin, who has previously collaborated with high-profile hip-hoppers like Wiz Khalifa. "That's been one of the great things about this, is that I'm able to travel around the country and to come to cities and work with artists who inspire me."
Like his debut album, Paragon will also be released as a free online download. "I embrace technology and change. I know how I'm getting my music, how kids are getting their music these days," Botwin says.
"I'm lucky in that with touring I'm able to sustain myself to where I'm able to give away (the albums) for free, and make it attainable for everyone."
The genesis for Paper Diamond came in early 2011 for Botwin, a Kansas City native and formally trained musician.
After seven years with Pnuma Trio, he decided to start exploring a different method of making music.
"I had a serious need to create dance music. I had been doing it on the side with Pnuma, under the Alex B (moniker). Then, once Pnuma slowed down and started to tour less, I realized I still had this overwhelming need to put out this music that I was making," he says.
"That's where the name Paper Diamond came from: it means taking nothing and turning it into something. Simple or complex, this has become my form of self-expression."
Botwin's live shows are an intricate collision of old-school enthusiasm and modern conveniences. Armed with an eye-catching light and production rig, Botwin controls the show wirelessly from his iPad.
"So instead of having to hunch over in a fixed spot with a laptop, I'm able to move around the stage and get pumped up with the people," he says.
That sort of creative engagement extends to Botwin's daily life in Boulder, where he owns his own art gallery/design firm/record label/artist management company called Elm & Oak. Botwin will be discussing his multimedia career as part of a Memphis Music Foundation Q&A session prior to the Newby's show.
"I work on music and art every day and just try and be positive, and spread inspiration," Botwin says. "When it comes down to it, I'm just grateful to be able to go out and perform what I spend so much time devoting myself to."
Paper Diamond
9 p.m. tonight at Newby's, 539 S. Highland. Tickets: $12 in advance. This is an 18-and-over show. Go to newbysmemphis.com.
The Memphis Music Foundation will sponsor a pre-concert Q&A session with Alex Botwin at 7 p.m. at Newby's. The event is free to Music Resource Center members, $5 for nonmembers.
- |
Comments » 0
Be the first to post a comment!
Share your thoughts
Comments are the sole responsibility of the person posting them. You agree not to post comments that are off topic, defamatory, obscene, abusive, threatening or an invasion of privacy. Violators may be banned. Click here for our full user agreement.