This is an archive of the band profile for Paper Tiger.

Pedro y el Lobo (production, MPC, guitar)
Greg Surmacz (horns/loops, bandleader)
DJ Vital (turntablism, samples, design)
Jim Wiltshire (bass)
Oli Brandon-Davies (drums, electronic drums)
Raphael Attar (rapper/MC)
Tom Henry (keys/synths)
Sabira Jade (vocals)

Paper Tiger began many years ago in a bedroom in suburban Wolverhampton; not the most auspicious of starts admittedly, but sometimes things have a way of transcending their humble beginnings. Music-obsessed teenagers compared notes on African funk compilations, Japanese animation, soundsystem culture, apocalyptic space-rap and Miles Davis' little-known collaboration with Sting. This tension between high-art and popular culture; boundary-pushing and crowd-pleasing; music for the mind and the body, is what gives the band its edge. They've been searching for that holy middle ground ever since.

After years of experimenting with live musicians and technology, the crew wrote, recorded, produced and independently released an album (now sold-out). Their peers reacted with universal praise, and they were even rewarded with airplay from legendary Radio 1 tastemaker Steve Lamacq. Taking their early cues from acts on forward-thinking labels like Ninja Tune, Warp, Stones Throw, Tru Thoughts, Mo' Wax and Def Jux, they continued to evolve; striving to make music with intelligence and technical skill, while remaining funky, vibrant and danceable.

Over the last 2 years and a relocation to Leeds, they've evolved into the line-up you see currently. Between them they have stacks of musical experience and knowledge from which to draw, near-unlimited tools at their disposal, and a seamless blend of electronic wizardy and good old-fashioned jazz chops. Their continuous, uninterrupted live shows of head-nodding future hip-hop, dancefloor-killing broken beat/garage and skanking dubstep have garnered praise from people across the high-low art spectrum (from Mary-Anne Hobbs to the Daily Star) and seen them share stages with The Bug, Jaga Jazzist, Hextatic, Nightmares On Wax, Bonobo, Alice Russell, The Bays, Krafty Kuts, Dub Pistols, Rustie, Hudson Mohawke, Dam Funk, Daedelus, Gaslamp Killer, Freq Nasty and TM Juke to name a few. Their productions have seen collaborations with vocalists Dudley Perkins and Foreign Beggars, as well as released/forthcoming remixes for Sneaky (Big Chill), Stac (Wah Wah 45s), Dark Sky (Ninja Tune), DELS (Big Dada), Submotion Orchestra (Exceptional) and Respite (LuckyMe). Early unreleased tracks have had airplay on Radio 1, 6Music, 1xtra and various local/internet radio stations.

In other words, this is just the beginning; this is a group of individuals that will continue to push things forward, with this and their many other projects..