Paper Route (band)

Formation and early years

Chad Howat, JT Daly and co-founding member Andy Smith met while attending Greenville College in Greenville, IL. They first began playing together late at night after a previous musical endeavor, For All The Drifters, had disbanded.

The band's self-titled debut EP was released on August 29, 2006. In December 2006, the band released a Christmas EP titled A Thrill of Hope through Universal Music. A song from the EP, "The Music", was later featured in the 2009 film (500) Days of Summer.

In 2007, Paper Route were featured on Paste magazine's website as artists to watch: "The group produces a refreshing mix of the organic and the electronic, with quality songwriting to match."

In early 2008, their music was featured in the television show One Tree Hill in episodes "Life Is Short" and "Cryin' Won't Help You Now". The band's song "Last Time" was chosen to be the theme song for the 2008 Nike+ Human Race.

Absence (2009–10)

The band's major label debut, Absence, was released on Universal Records on 28 April 2009. The album reached number 13 on the Billboard Heatseekers chart.

In March 2010, Paper Route were named one of '10 Artists to Watch in 2010' by American music website Shred News. In November 2010, the song "Gutter" was featured on TV series CSI: NY in the episode "Hide Sight".

In November 2010, Paper Route announced that Andy Smith left the band.

The Peace of Wild Things (2010–13)

In September 2010, two songs by Paper Route – including "Calm My Soul" – were featured on MTV's show World of Jenks. In June 2011, the song "You Kill Me" from the band's 2008 EP Are We All Forgotten was featured in an episode of MTV's Teen Wolf.

The first single off the band's second studio album was titled "Better Life" and released to iTunes and Amazon on November 1, 2011. A song titled "Sugar" was released as a part of a free compilation album on NoiseTrade on Valentine's Day 2012. JT Daly also created remixes of Switchfoot's songs "The Original" and "Dark Horses" from Switchfoot's critically acclaimed record Vice Verses. The remixes were featured on Switchfoot's EP Vice Re-Verses, which was released in April 2012.

In May 2012, Paper Route were featured in the third episode of BYUtv's Audio-Files. On June 18, 2012, Paper Route announced that their sophomore album, titled The Peace of Wild Things, would be released on September 11, 2012, and that the second single from the album would be "You and I". A music video for the single was released onto YouTube on August 31, 2012. Upon release, The Peace of Wild Things reached number eight on the Billboard Heatseekers chart, and number 164 on the Billboard 200.

In 2013, Paper Route's song "Better Life" was featured in The Vampire Diaries episode, titled "True Lies". On October 6, 2013, the band released a cover of "Royals" by Lorde, followed by a cover of Destiny's Child's "Say My Name" on November 26, 2013.

Real Emotion (2014–present)

On September 24, 2014, Paper Route announced that drummer Gavin McDonald would be leaving the band, pushing back planned October tour dates to December. They are currently writing and recording their third album. The band performed two new songs on a four-city East Coast tour in February 2015, including their new single "Zhivago". The track was released as part of the Ten Out of Tenn compilation album on March 17, 2015.

In July 2015, JT Daly and Chad Howat announced that Nick Aranda was made an official member of the band. The same month, Paper Route announced that they had signed to Kemosabe Records, an offshoot of Sony Music Entertainment. On February 26, 2016, the band released a new single "Laugh About It". Howat's website confirmed that the album would be titled Real Emotion. The second single off the album, titled "Chariots", was released on June 12, 2016. The song was also used as the exclusive trailer and later as soundtrack for FIFA 17 the video game by EA Sports. On September 23, 2016 the album Real Emotion was released.

Touring

From late July through August 2008, Paper Route was part of the Final Riot! Tour, with Paramore, Phantom Planet, and Jack's Mannequin. They toured with Paramore again in 2009 on the band's third album. In 2008 they also toured with Passion Pit. In 2009 they also toured with Copeland and She Wants Revenge. In 2010 they toured with Owl City and Lights. In 2012 they toured with Half Noise, Switchfoot, and Mutemath. In 2013 they toured with Anberlin and also Imagine Dragons. In 2016, Paper Route toured again with MuteMath.

Current members

Former members