Tim Crabtree's haunting voice sits at the centre of Paper Beat Scissors' sound with an honesty and rawness that skirts discomfort. The relocated-Brit began the project following a move to Canada's East Coast and soon caught the attention of his adoptive home. The orchestral-inflected eponymous debut album, mixed by Arcade Fire's Jeremy Gara, was released in Canada in 2012. The following years saw Tim tour extensively across North America and Europe, open for the likes of Sun Kil Moon, Great Lake Swimmers, Polaris-Prize Winner Tanya Tagaq and Academy Award Nominee Owen Pallett. The hard work paid off and in 2013 the album was re-released across Europe, gaining positive responses from the likes of the BBC and Rolling Stone Germany. Largely self-taught, Tim's interest in orchestrations saw him arrange his music for chamber ensemble at the 2012 Halifax Jazz Festival, receive Canada Council support for further exploration of orchestration before creating full orchestral arrangements for the first time for this performance with Nova Sinfonia.
PBS has toured Canada and Europe, sharing the stage with the likes of Mark Kozelek (Sun Kil Moon/Red House Painters), Great Lake Swimmers and Dan Mangan. An onstage collaboration with Clogs (regular collaborators and members of the National and My Brightest Diamond) was released as a limited-edition 7 for International Record Store Day 2013. Tim is presently working with engineer Dean Nelson (Beck, Thurston Moore, Bat for Lashes) on a new album. www.paperbeatscissors.com