UK Indie-rock five-piece Paradas have just released their latest single ‘With No Feeling’. The single is featured in their upcoming EP release, After This (20 June 2020). The vocal stylings of Paradas are reminiscent of the band Kings of Leon, and their overall sound sits close to the work of Death Cab For Cutie and Beach Bunny. Paradas have played in over 30 gigs across the UK, playing as support for acts like Red Rum Club and Max Bloom, of Yuck and received extensive support from BBC Radio presenters including BBC Introducing’s Alan Raw and BBC Sussex & BBC Surrey’s Sylvie Blackmore.
In this interview, the band tells us which single is their favourite from the upcoming EP, among other noteworthy details.
Tell us about your band, how long have you guys been performing together? What did inspire you to start?
We are a 5-piece Alternative/Indie Rock Band based in Leeds, UK. We started playing together after meeting on our music degree at Uni. We all share similar tastes in music so it clicked from the start really, we all went to Leeds in the hope that we’d form a band and fortunately that happened for us.
Music industry is super competitive these days, was there a moment in your life that you wanted to give up on music/band? How did you manage to stay focused and achieve what you want?
Sometimes, after a bad gig or when a song doesn’t quite go as expected, you find yourself in a position where you have doubts, but its bouncing back from this and coming back stronger, as well as being open to critique which will stand you in good stead in the industry. It’s never an easy road in music, but your hearts got to be in it if you want to stand a chance, we don’t see ourselves in any other career as we are fully committed and passionate about what we do.
How would you describe your creative processes? Who writes the lyrics to the songs? Are the music and lyrics written in conjunction, or separately? Where does inspiration come from?
Each song, comes from a different creative process. Liam and Matt are behind the writing of the music and lyrics, sometimes they will write together and sometimes they will bring ideas to each other from recording demos at home. We’ve also had a few songs written in a rehearsal, this is always an exciting form of writing as it’s fresh and in the moment but admittedly not as frequent as sat at home with a notepad and logic fired up. After the initial process of writing the foundations of a tune, the rest of the band will help with the arrangement and add their own touches and parts.
What’s your favourite track from the latest album and what other bands/artists are you listening to right now?
Our favourite track from our upcoming EP is our second single ‘Lost Cause’ which will be released on the 17th May. Keep your eyes out for it! A close second is our latest single ‘With No Feeling’ which is out now on all major platforms.
Currently, we have been listening to a lot of Miles Kane, Inhaler, Blossoms as well as Ocean Alley and Mac Demarco. And let’s not forget a few classics as well, in Talking Heads, Steely Dan and the Rolling Stones.
What gig did you enjoy the most so far? Why?
Our latest headline gig in Leeds at Lending Room was a big one for us. It was our last show before lockdown, and it felt like everyone was there for a good time- the atmosphere was class.
