Paper Dragon are a Bristol group whose music brings studio production and live playing into the same room. Drum and bass is part of that sound, alongside other rave and electronic influences, with the group’s own description placing free parties and sound-system culture at its roots.
Jon Savage and Bruce Turner met while studying music at Bath Spa, first making records together as Playhead. Turner later met Kris Burton through Bristol’s dBS, and the three worked with Ruth Royall as the original Paper Dragon lineup. Royall subsequently left to concentrate on her solo work.
The remaining trio returned with Amplified Nostalgia in 2023. They described wanting to recapture the feeling of the raves they remembered, using instruments, re-recorded sounds, and distortion to give the production more physical texture. Turner’s guitar background and Burton’s engineering experience became part of that process, rather than separate jobs outside the group.
Their catalogue also includes Forget the Rain with Grafix and Lost in a Moment with Jasmine Knight. Those partnerships sit naturally within a project built around exchanging ideas: singers and producers can bring something different, while Paper Dragon keep the recording and performance at the centre of the music.
