"My first instrument was actually the piano�[and] in some ways it's still my favorite instrument," the aforementioned singer/drummer (but really the man behind many instruments) Darren Weiss said in an interview with Radio.com.

In walking us through his musical and educational past, all the pieces fall into place. After touring as a drummer in several bands, Weiss decided to leave his whole life behind � moving from L.A. to New York City � to do something completely different. So he enrolled in college and began studying literature. Those studies lead to songwriting and soon Weiss began composing on an acoustic guitar and performing as a folk-ish act.

"Pretty much from the get-go I was always as interested in composition, one way or another, as I was in drumming," Weiss said. "Before I could write songs, as a child, I was always writing little stories, writing poems. I was in art classes. I was always interested in composition. There was never a moment when I decided, 'This is what I'm going to do.' Everything has been a natural progression."

There was, however, a spark: the song "PAPA," which kicks off Weiss and co-songwriter/bassist Danny Presant's first full length album, Tender Madness. That particular song inspired Weiss to put a band together that evolved into the current iteration of PAPA.

"I'm not interested in doing this band, and I'm certainly not interested in touring, unless I can prove to myself that this is the most valuable thing I can do," Weiss says. And there were some kinks to work out when putting the project together, like: which instrument would he, as a multi-instrumentalist, play?

"I was trying to avoid drumming, for some reason even though it's the biggest love in my life," Weiss recalls. "When I moved to New York I was trying to do something different�[But] I felt constantly frustrated with having other people play drums because I just knew exactly what I wanted. I knew exactly the way I wanted to feel and I was having trouble getting there."

So he jumped back behind the drum kit, lined up a few guitar players who were better than himself to hammer out those parts and things started coming together.