PARALLELS an interview and break/beats/culture festival coverage last night, i ventured down to the toronto harbor front center for the break beats and culture festival. i was on business, for i was covering the two big acts of the night, Broken Social Scene and Parallells, for the toronto magazine DEAD SEXY. i arrived quite early because i knew from the festival last year that it gets fucking packed really fast, and then you're stuck without a seat or standing behind the tallest guy in the place. i was just early enough that as i passed the amphitheater to meet up with my photographer petia and my editor tom, and i was lucky enough to watch the last half of BSS's sound check. everyone was on stage, even feist. but i'll get more into that later.
walking into the little tented square at the harbor front, i arrived in the little open grassy area just in time to catch the beginning of parallels set. i sat cross legged on the ground, lit a smoke, and got out the note book. i had been hearing a lot about parallels over the last couple months since i was at nxne and they were definitely one of the big buzz bands of the week. also, as an obvious claim to fame, the drummer cameron had been on tour the last few years with crystal castles. i listened to the myspace and really enjoyed what i was hearing; a strange mixture of that underground new york dance rock meets new order meets little itty bitty touches of the cure, depeche mode and the gossip. i was really trying hard to find a distinct comparison music-wise to them, but they were really in an element all their own. as holly, joey and cameron took the stage, all dressed in black, they cranked out great song after great song. it's not easy to play busy music festivals where a lot of people don't really know who you are, or care for that matter. but people stopped, paid attention and even tapped their toes. holly was reminiscent of a scenester stevie nicks in her long, sheer, flowy black dress... but she had the voice of an angel. very tight, very catchy and very awesome. after their killer set, i met up with holly for a brief but awesome chat. and what a sweetheart she was, too!
Shirk: That was an awesome set! So, tell me how Parallels came together; how did you Cameron and Joey meet?
Holly: Cameron and I had been friends for a few years, playing music together for fun. He had been busy the last few years touring with Crystal Castles and were just doing our own thing. We started to write Ultralight together over email and decided to start Parallels right after he quit touring with Crystal Castles. Joey, we had just known him for a long time. He's a good guy.
Shirk: Yeah I've definitely seen Cameron play with them a few times; great drummer. So, I really dug your guys tunes; I'm a huge New Order fan, and definitely felt some touches of their styles in your songs tonight. What would you say were your biggest musical influences when writing Ultralight?
Holly: We never really had any in mind. I mean, we all had our own things we listened to when we were growing up but we never sat and tried to pin point a certain style. When we started recording, we had used a lot of vintage equipment and anolog synths laying around, so... we got what we got!
Shirk: Ultralight, the 12 inch, was just released... what was the process like for writing and working on the album together?
Holly: Cameron and I wrote it. We started over email, then moved into a studio together to complete it. We recorded at this place called Marigold Studios, built in the early 80's late 70's. It was full of lots of cool equipment, and it was a lot of fun. It was very different working in the same room as apposed to over email. We had been solo artists for so long before, but it was a lot of fun.
Shirk: And with Cam being in Crystal Castles for a few years, he got to tour the world, play insane sold out shows, meet lots of cool people... I'm sure he has a lot of stories and learned a lot of good and bad lessons about being in a touring band that massive. Did he bring anything to the table from his past experiences when you all started Parallels?
Holly: I don't know, he would be the better one to ask, haha. I know for sure that he's exhausted! He was on tour non-stop for nearly two years, and Crystal Castles are still touring now. But being on the road, you see the world without really seeing anything at all... it's strange.
Shirk: What are the future goals for Parallels for the upcoming year?
Holly: We are recording and finishing up our album right now, and we hope to have it ready for the fall. We have a music video coming out as well. But mostly, we would just like to play more shows and meet more people.
Shirk: Speaking of shows, what's the worst show you guys have ever played, and the best?
Holly: The best was at the Steamwhistle Brewery; I don't think I have to explain why. And the worst was NXNE last month. It was total chaos; just a food court of bands, plug in and go, lots of distortion.
Shirk: Describe for me Parallels in three words.
Holly: Synth pop trio.
Shirk: And last but not least, what do you consider dead sexy?
Holly: I was going to say Michael Jackson, but that might be too literal.
Shirk: Okay then, let's just say the highest caliber of sexiness then.
Holly: David Bowie.
Shirk: I couldn't have said it better. Thanks Holly!
check out Parallels on myspace
here or catch them when they play the TIME festival later this month in toronto.
after saying my goodbyes to holly, i ran over to the main stage just in time to catch broken social scene's set. the entire area around the amphitheater was fucking ridiculously packed. i saw a few buddies of mine, one of which being the quirky and super talented
brandon sprouse, and he had a pretty good standing spot. i still couldn't see a bloody thing. but they started off with some new tunes, brought feist on stage, and there was an appearance by emily haines and james shaw from metric as they performed a slower acoustic version of their last big single, here comes the sun. amy millian from stars was also there singing backups. i was very pleased that they decided to make their set truly memorable, considering they were very vocal about feeling pretty shitty for canceling their olympic island show only weeks prior. but they had a good reason: they knew the garbage strike wouldn't allow for easy access to the island, and that it wouldn't be a fun cleanup afterwards. but the crowd was amazing. i ran into my two gal pals kara and erica, who randomly ran into the middle of a group of dudes dancing as they wore balloon animal hats. they even shared their hats with them! and while i was watching the soundcheck earlier in the day, i saw how on the side of the stage all of the BSS members had their wives, husbands, friends, kids... everyone was there. and that's why i think i love broken social scene so much; it might sound cheese, but they are truly a family unit based on love and friendship and good times. i bet a lot of the crowd never even heard a broken social scene song before, but everyone was dancing, laughing and being awesome. it was all about unity, and broken social scene is all about unity. it gave me a nice gooey warm feeling inside.
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