Exclusive: Interview with Parlors - CelebMix

People who preach adventure often hide the efforts they put in by working multiple jobs and tiring themselves to be able to live up to their claim. But Parlors have tried to initiate the conversation on a realistic note. They use their music to showcase important aspects of their lives and work hard to create narratives that would resonate with their listeners.

In an interview with CelebMix, Parlors talk about their influences and their new song “State Lines”. Check out the complete interview below:

Hi! Can you please tell our readers a bit about yourself?

Hey! Our group is made up of brothers Matt and Dan Fullam, Hart Mechlin on guitar and Matt DaSilva on bass. We all grew up in the tri-state area and now call New York City home, with the only exception being our bassist who can’t seem to make the short move across the river from New Jersey.

We would like to know about your musical journey. That is, how did the journey begin and how has it been so far?

The two Matts in the band and Dan have been playing together since we were kids, pushing the outer limits of what our parents would allow out of our Fender amps. We wrote some tunes on and off over the years and even did a few rounds of demos, but we never really had anything we felt was worth releasing prior to moving into the city. Hart and Dan met in college and quickly found common ground musically, which made Hart’s transition into the group seamless. We’re proud of the tunes on the self-titled EP that just came out, but we still feel that our best is yet to come musically as we continue to hone our songwriting skills.

Do you have any musical influences? 

Growing up, NYC classic rock station Q104.3 was always on in the car so we’d be remiss to not include host Ken Dashow’s healthy diet of the Stones, Zeppelin, and Hendrix as influential on us. In terms of modern acts, we’re really fond of the Arctic Monkeys’ ability to change sonic directions every album, and we also really like the eerie catchiness from groups like Queens of the Stone Age and Timber Timbre. Hart has a great ear for some of the cool electronic music that is being produced by artists like Whethan and Bipolar Sunshine, and in rehearsal we always like bringing that world into ours a bit to see what we can create.

Would you like to tell us about your approach (musically) towards your songs? We liked the dramatic vibe of your song.  So, we would like to know more.

Typically, our songs are born from a guitar progression or bass riff put into a loop pedal at our apartment (luckily for our neighbors, the walls are brick). We then start layering some guitar leads and ad-hoc lyric ideas to find some melodies that might stick. That ‘drama’ you referenced probably refers to our tendency to enjoy minor chords, but we still try to keep those progressions upbeat with what is layered on top.

What kind of messages would you wish to convey through your work?

With some poetic license taken into account, our songs are simply depictions of relationships or other real-life experiences we share as twenty-something city dwellers. The idea is to make these stories as unique as possible without ever dipping into the territory of pretending to be anything we’re not (we all still have day jobs and are far from rock stars) — but hopefully people can connect to the stories and also catch some of the references to our favorite books, movies, or songs that we sometimes sneak into the lyrics.

Please tell us about your new song “State Lines”.

The chorus progression of ‘State Lines’ was something we’ve had for awhile, and once Hart came up with the lead riff for the intro and pre-chorus we felt like there was something there that really summed up the sound we had been looking for. The storyline developed after meeting a group of people in a shared cab who were only in town for a day. The lyrics build off the idea of going along for the ride with people you have just met, and will be on to another city by the next day. All trespassing references in the song are completely fictional!

We are currently putting the final songwriting touches on a new single, which we are eager to record early in 2019. We hope to have at least a few more singles out by the end of next year as well!

So, what do you think about their new single “State Lines”. Share your thoughts via tweet @CelebMix. 

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