Papercutz

:PAPERCUTZ
Background information
OriginPortugal Porto, Portugal
GenresPop, electronic
Years active2008–present
LabelsEnchufada
Audiobulb Records
Apegenine recordings
Kilk Records
MembersBruno Miguel
Past membersMelissa Veras
Marisa Pinto
Marcela Freitas
Bruno Ribeiro
Nuno Sarafa
WebsitePAPERCUTZed.com

:PAPERCUTZ (stylized as :papercutz or :PAPERCUTZ) is a Portuguese electronic music act formed as a side project[1] in Porto that became a fully active band in 2008.[2] Bruno Miguel is the only official member of Papercutz and solely responsible for its musical direction. After recordings, Bruno assembles a live band to perform with him which may include musicians used on studio recordings.[3] Past musicians have included vocalists Melissa Veras, a US singer with Portuguese ascendancy born in New York[4] and Portuguese Marisa Pinto, Marcela Freitas as well as instrumentalists Bruno Ribeiro, Nuno Sarafa and Francisco Bernardo, among others.

Annie Nightingale described them as 'interesting and making an original sound'[5] as one of the juries on the UK The People's Music Awards in 2009 where the group performed live and won the off the beaten track category. The same year the debut album Lylac was released on Canadian independent record label Apegenine recordings whose artist roster featured artists such as Montreal's own David Kristian or Khonnor and the single Ultravioleta rmx's included remixes by Riz Maslen (aka Neotropic) and the first ever release by now known The Sight Below just before his signing to Ghostly International.[6] The album was well received by the press and music community and featured in such publications as Textura,[7] Cuemix-magazine,[8] Tokafi,[9] Cylic Defrost,[10] Subba-cultcha[11] Organ Mag[12] with Record Collector comparing Bruno's precision work to that of Four Tet.[13] The group toured in 2009 and 2010 promoting their debut album throughout Europe and U.S. with showcases on festivals such as SXSW[14] and Exit Festival[15] and signed to UK Audiobulb Records a new remix album Do outro lado do espelho (Lylac ambient reworks) spawned out of Lylac's textures with Drowned in Sound calling the album 'notably coherent and engaging' unlike other remix records[16] featuring relevant ambient music artists like Taylor Deupree, Keith Kenniff, ex-member of UK 'shoegaze' icons Slowdive and Lowgold drummer Simon Scott among many others that Bruno personally invited to work on his music.

Producer Bruno Miguel with singer Melissa Veras

By end of 2011 news, came out that the band was working on a new still untitled album.[17] Their new songs made an early debut at the 2012 edition of South by Southwest where it was noted the band had been working with producer Chris Coady in New York City.[18] and were showcasing their new single "Rivers" which presented the band in a beat-heavy, darkened version of their left field dream pop.[19][20] The album The Blur Between Us was released on 10 July 2012 and sees the band growing music wise with a push toward more eclectic sounds[21][22] and personally with Miguel writing and dealing lyrically with feelings of loss for the first time in his adult years.[23] After praises from media such as The Fader defining the album "Beautiful and unsettling music."[24] and XLR8R as "exciting dream pop with layers of pulsating synths" [25]The Blur Between Us mastered by Grammy winner Joe LaPorta was re-released as a special edition in Japan through Tokyo’s Kilk records[26] with major support from Tower Records Japan[27] featuring remixes from electronic music producers such as Sara Abdel-Hamid aka Ikonika or Kyson.[28]

Early 2013, Miguel was selected as a participant Red Bull Music Academy[29] with colleagues Evian Christ, Objekt, Koreless, Suzanne Kraft, Throwing Snow (from Snow Ghosts), Sinjin Hawke, Octa Octa, among others,[30] which brought him back to New York City[31] where the band played new shows[32] and took a couple of months of to record new material for an upcoming EP[33] with big expectation from the likes of MTV Iggy.[34]

By that time Miguel is a requested producer with guest remixes for Morgan Kibby of M83,[35] JMSN,[36] Lucretia Dalt,[37] Nite Jewel's Heart Shaped project,[38] Castratii with vocalist Liela Moss of The Duke Spirit,[39] among others. 

Singer Catarina Miranda :papercutz European Tour

The band had an hiatus so Bruno could pursue other musical endeavours such as movie scoring[40] and news of a comeback appeared by fall of 2016.[41] Coming back to shows, special dates were announced such as Further Future festival on the Moapa band of Paiute Indians[42][43] and in October 2016 they were confirmed to play at the 31st edition of Eurosonic Noorderslag in Groningen, Netherlands.[44] In 2017 the band released a new well received EP Trust/Surrender [45][46][47] and started touring playing shows and festivals through 2018 to 2019[48] with dates in the U.S.[49][50] Europe,[51][52][53][54] Iceland[55] and Japan in early 2020[56] debuting the release of their new full-length album King Ruiner in March 2020[57] which was produced in NYC with recordings from guest singers Catarina Miranda, Ferri and Lia Bilinsk in Portugal, Germany and Japan.[58]


Due to the COVID-19 pandemic the band focused on playing in their home country and returned to shows throughout US,[59] Europe and Asia in 2022 [60][61][62][63][64] announcing a new album [65] for 2024 recorded in Portugal and Iceland.

  1. ^ "PAPERCUTZ". Enchufada. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
  2. ^ "PAPERCUTZ". Enchufada. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
  3. ^ "Interview with :papercutz". Tokafi.com. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
  4. ^ "introducing :papercutz". www.kaltblut-magazine.com. Archived from the original on 12 November 2013.
  5. ^ "The Peoples Music Awards - listen to free new music from unsigned bands". Thepeoplesmusicawards.com. Archived from the original on 17 September 2013. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
  6. ^ "papercutz – Ultravioleta Rmx's (Apegenine) - Headphone Commute". Headphone Commute. 6 September 2008. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
  7. ^ "textura". Textura.org. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
  8. ^ "cuemix magazine :papercutz lylac". www.cuemix-magazine.com. Archived from the original on 8 July 2011.
  9. ^ "CD Feature/ :papercutz: "Lylac"". Tokafi.com. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
  10. ^ "Cyclic Defrost". Archived from the original on 14 June 2011. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
  11. ^ "lylac album review". www.subba-cultcha.com. Archived from the original on 11 March 2012.
  12. ^ "ORGAN MAGAZINE ON LINE: CONTACT & SWITCH THE OTHER". Organart.demon.co.uk. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
  13. ^ "Do Outro Lado Do Espelho (Lylac Ambient Reworks) - Record Collector Magazine". Recordcollectormag.com. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
  14. ^ Slacker, Inc. "AOL Radio - Listen to Free Online Radio - Free Internet Radio Stations and Music Playlists". Spinner.com. Archived from the original on 9 September 2012. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
  15. ^ "Faith No More, Klaxons & More Join Exit Festival". Clickmusic.com. Archived from the original on 27 February 2012. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
  16. ^ "Articulate Silences, Ambient Sounds #4". DrownedInSound. Archived from the original on 13 September 2015. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
  17. ^ "Papercutz's Ambient Pop Adventure". MTV Iggy. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
  18. ^ "papercutz". SXSW Schedule 2012. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
  19. ^ "Archived copy". migratemusicnews.com. Archived from the original on 29 January 2013. Retrieved 3 February 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  20. ^ "Papercutz – Rivers". MTV Iggy. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
  21. ^ "Prefix Premiere: :PAPERCUTZ, 'Where Beasts Die'". Prefixmag. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
  22. ^ Taylor Fife (7 June 2012). "papercutz". XLR8R. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
  23. ^ Duncan Cooper. "Stream Papercutz' Album The Blur Between Us". The FADER. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
  24. ^ "The Fader :papercutz new album The Blur Between Us". The FADER. Retrieved 23 April 2024.
  25. ^ Gentles, Tim (7 May 2013). "xlr8r :papercutz's Brand-New Single". XLR8R. Retrieved 23 April 2024.
  26. ^ ":PAPERCUTZ « kilk records – English". kilk.jp. Retrieved 23 April 2024.
  27. ^ ":Papercutz/ザ・ブラー・ビトウィーン・アス (エクスエテンデッド・ジャパニーズ・エディション)". tower.jp. Retrieved 23 April 2024.
  28. ^ Santana, Christian (13 August 2012). ":papercutz "Rivers (Ikonika Remix)"". XLR8R. Retrieved 23 April 2024.
  29. ^ "Papercutz". Redbullmusciacademy.com. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
  30. ^ "RBMA NYC Participants". Retrieved 18 January 2020.
  31. ^ "Inside the Red Bull Music Academy - New York 2013 • Nialler9". Nialler9. 25 May 2013. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
  32. ^ "That! featuring Mykki Blanco, LE1F, Laurel Halo and more at Glasslands Gallery". Imposemagazine.com. 15 May 2013. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
  33. ^ "ISSUU - Fourculture issue 8 by fourculture". Issuu.com. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
  34. ^ "5 Crucial Electronic Artists You Didn't Hear in 2013". MTV Iggy. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
  35. ^ "Song : White Sea : "Prague" (:Papercutz Remix) « My Old Kentucky Blog".
  36. ^ "JMSN - Walk Away (:PAPERCUTZ Remix)".
  37. ^ Lahmann, Henning (29 January 2013). "Stream: Lucrecia Dalt "The Commotus Remixes"". No Fear of Pop.
  38. ^ "Papercutz remix Heart Shaped Rock". 9 August 2011.
  39. ^ "Download Castratii, "Limits" + Papercutz and Courtship Remixes".
  40. ^ "Papercutz". 18 August 2017.
  41. ^ "Video news of a comeback "a message from the outside"".
  42. ^ "Further Future Lineup". 5 November 2015.
  43. ^ "Interview Five Minutes with :Papercutz". 11 January 2016.
  44. ^ "Eurosonic Noorderslag confirms new acts – Eurosonic Noorderslag". Eurosonic Noorderslag. Archived from the original on 12 October 2016. Retrieved 12 October 2016.
  45. ^ "Listen to the stunning Fever Ray-esque :PAPERCUTZ single - Trust/Surrender". 9 January 2020.
  46. ^ "Music Week Presents: :PAPERCUTZ". 19 December 2016.
  47. ^ "Record of the Day - in tune. Informed. Indispensable".
  48. ^ "PAPERCUTZ announces European Fall tour". 25 September 2018.
  49. ^ "NYC's New Colossus Fest is this week (Full show lineup and panels schedule)". 4 March 2019.
  50. ^ "SXSW Announces Third Wave of Showcase Artists". Billboard. 9 January 2019.
  51. ^ ":papercutz - Electro Portugal". 10 January 2020.
  52. ^ "Festival M4Music 2019". 20 March 2019.
  53. ^ "FOCUS Wales". 31 January 2019.
  54. ^ "Artists revealed for Sound City 2018 - Music Business Worldwide". 30 January 2018.
  55. ^ "15 Bands to See at Iceland Airwaves 2019". 18 October 2019.
  56. ^ ":papercutz - Electro Portugal". 10 January 2020.
  57. ^ "SONG PICK: :PAPERCUTZ - Your Beliefs". 4 November 2019.
  58. ^ "King Ruiner, by :PAPERCUTZ". :PAPERCUTZ. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
  59. ^ Writer, Staff (4 October 2022). "Showcase Artists Announced For Mondo.NYC 2022". CelebrityAccess. Retrieved 19 April 2024.
  60. ^ "RHI - :PAPERCUTZ". www.rhi-think.com. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
  61. ^ "Budapest Concerts". Liszt Fest. Retrieved 19 April 2024.
  62. ^ Alina, Vilcan (29 July 2022). "Ziarul Metropolis". Ziarul Metropolis (in Romanian). Retrieved 19 April 2024.
  63. ^ "indistreet - 잔다리 페스타 2022 live information". indistreet. Retrieved 19 April 2024.
  64. ^ ":PAPERCUTZ Live Japan". iFLYER. Retrieved 19 April 2024.
  65. ^ ":PAPERCUTZ + Ensemble in presentation by historic Portuguese rooms". ineews the best news. Retrieved 19 April 2024.