Alexander Botwin, better known by his stage name Paper Diamond (formerly Alex B), is an American

electronic music Electronic music is a genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromechanical means (electroac ...

producer from

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the ...

. He signed with

Pretty Lights Derek Vincent Smith (born November 25, 1981), known by his stage name Pretty Lights, is an American electronic music producer. Pretty Lights was originally a music project consisting of Smith and Michal Menert, who left after the release of thei ...

Music in December 2010, and released his first album ''Levitate'' on January 25, 2011.

History

Botwin started out as a

bassist A bassist (also known as a bass player or bass guitarist) is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass (upright bass, contrabass, wood bass), bass guitar (electric bass, acoustic bass), synthbass, keyboard bass or a low br ...

for the dance music Pnuma Trio in 2004. He then created a record label, design company and store owner under the name Elm & Oak in downtown

Boulder, Colorado Boulder is a home rule city that is the county seat and most populous municipality of Boulder County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 108,250 at the 2020 United States census, making it the 12th most populous city in Color ...

. After Pnuma Trio, he began his solo career as a DJ under the name Alex B which has become Paper Diamond as of 2011. After the release of ''Levitate'', his first album, in 2011, he began to play shows and festivals around the country. Starting in 2012 with a US tour that saw him hit the road with

The M Machine The M Machine is an American electronic music duo from San Francisco, California, United States, formed in 2011 and currently consisting of Ben Swardlick and Eric Luttrell. They have released four EPs, a single and two remix collections on Skril ...

, he continued on to play the

Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival (commonly called the Coachella Festival or simply Coachella) is an annual music and arts festival held at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, in the Coachella Valley in the Colorado Desert. ...

, a festival that takes place in April in

Indio, California Indio (Spanish for "Indian") is a city in Riverside County, California, United States, in the Coachella Valley of Southern California's Colorado Desert region. It lies east of Palm Springs, east of Riverside, east of Los Angeles, 148 miles ( ...

. After Coachella he played

Electric Forest Festival Electric Forest is a multi-genre music festival produced by Madison House Presents and Insomniac Events with a focus on electronic music and jam band genres. Original named Rothbury Festival in 2008, it is held in Rothbury, Michigan at the ...

in Rothbury, Michigan in June 2012. He then played

Lollapalooza Lollapalooza (Lolla) is an annual American four-day music festival held in Grant Park in Chicago. It originally started as a touring event in 1991 but several years later made Chicago the permanent location for the annual music festival. Musi ...

Music Festival in Chicago,

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockfo ...

in early August 2012 before heading to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

to play

Electric Zoo Festival Electric Zoo is an annual electronic music festival held over Labor Day weekend in New York City on Randall's Island. The festival represents all genres of electronic music, bringing top international DJs and live acts from multiple countries to ...

at the end of August 2012 on

Randall's Island Randalls Island (sometimes called Randall's Island) and Wards Island are conjoined islands, collectively called Randalls and Wards Islands, in New York County, New York City,

. He then kicked off his own solo Night Vision Tour 2012 in September by releasing a 30-minute mix entitled "Night Vision Tour Mix 2012". He has also played at

Bonnaroo Music Festival The Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival is an American annual four-day music festival developed and founded by Superfly Presents and AC Entertainment. Since its first year in 2002, it has been held at what is now Great Stage Park on a farm in Man ...

in June 2013 in

Manchester, Tennessee Manchester is a city in Coffee County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 12,213 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Coffee County. The city is located halfway between Nashville and Chattanooga on Interstate 24. Manchester i ...

Style

Paper Diamond uses an iPad uploaded with Touch OSC controlling Ableton when doing a live performance.

Discography

Albums

*2011: ''Levitate'' (Pretty Lights Music Label) *2013: Paragon

EPs

*2012: ''Wavesight'' *2014: ''Rain Drops''

Tour Mixes

*2012: Night Vision Tour Mix 2012 *2014: Cold Crush Tour Mix 2014

Remixes

*2011: Hans Zimmer - South of Heaven's Chanting Mermaids Remixed (Paper Diamond Remix) *2012: Throw it in the Bag (

Keri Hilson Keri Lynn Hilson (born December 5, 1982) is an American R&B singer, songwriter and actress. She was born and raised in Decatur, Georgia and spent most of her youth working with producer Anthony Dent as a songwriter and background vocalist for ...

Wiz Khalifa Cameron Jibril Thomaz (born September 8, 1987), better known by his stage name Wiz Khalifa, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and actor. He released his debut album, '' Show and Prove'', in 2006 and signed to Warner Bros. Records in 20 ...

+ Paper Diamond Remix) *2012: Your Making me High (Paper Diamond Electro Remix) *2012: Pretty Boy Swag (Paper Diamond Remix) *2012: Same Old Song (Paper Diamond Remix) *2014: Diplo - Revolution (Paper Diamond Remix) t. Faustix & Imanos and Kai

References

External links

Paper Diamond Official Website

Paper Diamond's SoundCloud
{{Authority control American electronic musicians Remixers Musicians from Colorado Record producers from Colorado