What Paper Kites Are Most Excited About Trying On Their Debut India Tour

When Australian folk-rock band The Paper Kites announced their first-ever shows in India, it only included two stops in Bengaluru on Mar. 20, 2025, and in Mumbai on Mar. 21, 2025. The demand for a New Delhi show was almost immediate, and, as bassist and synth player Samuel Rasmussen recalls, pushed them to add a third show.

On Mar. 18, 2025, the band behind gentle, introspective songs like “Bloom,” “Featherstone” and “Arms” kicked off their India tour—as part of gig series LiveBox by ticketing platform Skillbox—in Gurugram, Delhi NCR. “I guess there was a lot of feedback through our social media, our management and all sorts of channels that there were a lot of people in Delhi that felt like they were missing out, so we just decided to put on a Delhi show. We did have a few spare days there, so it worked out well,” he tells Rolling Stone India over a video call.

In their spare days between shows, Rasmussen says the band will go “looking around and seeing as much as we can see” in India. He adds, “We have no set plans outside of the shows, but I think any spare moment that we have will go in walking and exploring. We’re really excited about trying different things to eat and to find some [new] experiences.” Understandably, when you’ve been touring the Western world for the most part, there are few differences between major cities in Australia and other countries. “But going through Asia and India, that’ll be different. It’ll be an amazing cultural experience, something very different to home,” he adds.

The Paper Kites arrive in India on the back of releasing their latest album At The Roadhouse in September 2023. Rasmussen says they’ve often seen and interacted with fans from India online and occasionally had a few emails from their management as well. The bassist rationalizes that although there’s always been some demand from fans in India, it doesn’t always translate into “lots and lots of ticket sales.” He adds, “There’s enthusiastic people everywhere. So we see that, and we love that. But I guess also getting to India has been difficult because we spend a lot of time in North America and Europe, and these other places that are a very long way from home. So we have to do these big trips a number of times a year, but this was finally the time that we could make it work.”

India figures in The Papers Kites’ global touring schedule for 2025, which includes the Philippines, Europe, and finally, North America with blues act The Teskey Brothers (who had, incidentally, made their own India debut at the Mahindra Blues Festival 2025 in Mumbai earlier this year).

The band has often been driven by ambitious projects, most notably when they took up and redesigned an old store into an American roadhouse-style setting to write, record and perform songs that would go on to become part of the 16-track At The Roadhouse. Rasmussen admits they’d been toying with an idea like that for years. He continues, “About kind of creating this almost fictional band which was still us, but just with some extra players and that kind of thing, and creating this kind of fictional world where we were operating as this house band.” They would record by day, then haul their instruments onto a stage and perform for locals in the town of Campbells Creek in Australia, just north of Melbourne, by night.

Considering the last census showed about 2,000 residents living in Campbells Creek, it’s safe to say that a free gig every Friday and Saturday night for locals made sure that word got around. The Paper Kites also filmed their performances and turned it into a film that accompanied the album. “It was some really rewarding times of creativity and connection with the local community and playing music. It’s a warm memory for us and was a very wholesome time,” Rasmussen says.

Heavily informed by American folk music, The Paper Kites first started off more as an acoustic act, even incorporating quirky instruments like the lagerphone, which is made from bottle caps as a percussive unit. “I’m not actually sure where that thing is anymore. It’s probably in someone’s basement somewhere,” Rasmussen says with a laugh.

So what makes them Australian? The bassist points to how their lyrics are often inspired by the vast natural expanse of the country to bring a certain “Australian imagery.” He adds, “We sing a bit about the land that we live in and exist in. It’s quite rural out [where we rehearse, an hour east of Melbourne]. You can see the mountains in the distance, there’s a lot of green pastures and valleys, and there’s bushland.”

There’s a quiet tranquility in The Paper Kites’ music, one that’s rich in emotive quality. Rasmussen says they’ll likely stick to the more popular songs as well as a few new songs for their India shows. “[We’re] honoring all these people that have waited a long time, but haven’t had an opportunity to see the band, so we want to try and keep everyone happy and just play the more popular songs from the catalog,” he says.

As they set off for shows in different parts of the world, a new album is also in the works. It’s safe to say that The Paper Kites won’t try and repeat a similar approach as they did for At The Roadhouse, despite how rewarding that was. He says, “I think we like to try something new each time. I can’t see us creating another venue and another story. This time around, I think we’re going to simplify things a little bit.”

Get The Paper Kites India Tour 2025 tickets here.