PlanetMosh Keeping it Metal
UK modern instrumental prog crew drop their captivating new concept EP, The Squid, on Friday 12th May. We got the guys to fill us in on their background:
What is the full band line-up?
Instrumental Prog Rock trio: Danny Beardsley – guitars, Dave Wright – drums and Ben Edis – bass.
How and when did the band form?
The band formed officially April 2014, but this current line-up has been together since 2015. We originally set out to mess with some progressive sounds and basically just jam together but we enjoyed it so much we decided to form a real band. We are 2/3 Nottingham and 1/3 Derbyshire. Here’s 4 things that Nottingham has given to the world…..except Danny and Ben…….HP Sauce, Traffic Lights, Ibuprofen and Tarmac.
When and how did the band really start gelling and solidifying?
We focused on the enjoyment of playing our musical instruments and the way we intertwine multiple musical and rhythmic passages together to form one sound. We’ve always gelled from day one to be honest. We’ve all played together before in previous bands which helped, however it was when Ben joined in August 2015 following the departure of the original bass player that we knew we were truly solid. Because we had gelled so well originally it was worrying to have a new member. We weren’t sure if it would work as well. As it turns out it was better than we could have ever imagined.
What are your musical influences?
Extremely diverse. Anything we can draw influence fro. Opeth, Eric Johnson, Between the buried and me, Tesseract, Periphery, Steve Vai, Big Wreck, Steven Wilson, Dorje, Plini, Karnivool, Animals As Leaders, Nick Johnston, The Aristocrats. All these, to name just a few, help to shape our ideas but we also draw a huge amount of inspiration from each other. We each drive the others forward and encourage one another to push the boundaries of our playing and ideas.
Does your band have a motto or philosophy? why create music?
No boundaries! We thrive on starting at A and ending as far away from that as possible but in a reasonable fashion. Being absolutely ridiculous is better than being absolutely boring. Music is everything!
Where did the name of band come from?
A visit to our Manager’s sister who is an actual real life rocket scientist…..no really…..she is a genuine genius. We tasked her with coming up with a name. She has the ultimate collection of science books and after much scouring and suggestion we settled on this one.
Where have you played or toured? please name all countries / regions and recognised bands that you have played with.
Having spent years treading the boards up and down the country and abroad with previous bands we made the conscious decision that this band would just be about playing key shows that we really want to play. That said we have been really lucky. Highlights have been UK Tech Fest, Bloodstock, Macmillan Fest, Wildfire Festival, Camden Rocks and we’ve supported Tesseract, Dorje, Toska and L’Anima.
In your opinion, how is your band different from all the other bands out there?
The Parallax Method is bizarre, intriguing, beautiful yet distorted at first. So many twists and turns, up and downs. But one thing remains true, that we gel together so well through it all.
Our mission is to draw the listener in and take them on a journey, we don’t follow the usual and predictable formula. Music is often expected to be written to a strict familiar formula, but life isn’t like that at all. We are an instrumental Prog Rock trio, we rely on our instruments to speak to our audience and we hope we do it well. The writing process tends to flow and bounce around us all, trying out lots of possibilities before choosing a path to take.
We base all our styles and compositions around a huge factor… TONE! We play in standard tuning and embrace the natural tonal qualities of our instruments.
If a deaf person were to ask you to describe the sound of your music, how would you describe it?
The Parallax Method combine an ultra-modern prog style with old school classic rock tones, genuinely interesting songwriting surprises and refreshing melodic overtones.
Conceptually and visually, The Parallax Method lean on the themes of space and a perpetual battle between the owl and the squid to convey their unique sub-genre of modern prog. Space signifies the vast and epic nature of each track. The owl; wise and powerful, manifests itself in the music in its confident and strategic build ups. The squid; sneaky and sly embodies itself in the surprising twists and turns. And the battle between them often ends in violent stalemate and often betrays the bands humble standard tuning.
Where can we find your social media sites?
www.theparallaxmethod.com
https://www.facebook.com/theparallaxmethod
https://www.instagram.com/theparallaxmethod
