Before their show in Stuttgart on May 30th, I sat down with Carsten and David, the two guitarists of Parachutes, and had a little chat. This was my first interview ever, so I'm very grateful for actually getting a chance at all. Since the guys are german, too, we did it in german and for my english-speaking readers I translated everything. Just check the read more!
D: I'm David, I've been a member of Parachutes since around three years and I play the guitar.
C: I'm Carsten, I've been a member of Parachutes since basically forever and I also play the guitar.
Q: You guys were on a break after playing for ten years but are back now. How did it feel to be back in the studio?
C: Basically the break was a good idea. We're a small band but played a lot so we were slightly burned-out. Of course you can't compare it to those US bands which are on the road the whole year, we have our jobs apart from playing in the band, so there's a double burden what makes it more exhausting. We agreed on taking a break from touring but kept on writing songs, we changed our style a little and tried out some new things because we didn't want to be limited to one style anymore. We agreed on making music for ourselves and if people don't like it, that's alright.
Q: What's the new album about?
D: A friend of ours is pretty creative, he also worked on our new video, and he came up with a short story which we really liked so we agreed upon using it - we didn't steal it and claimed it as our own idea. It tells the story of a young man who has everything you could wish for at first sight but he doesn't know how to handle his environment so bit by bit everything collapses.
Q: The only two instrumental songs on this record have german titles. Is there a specific reason for this?
D: I think that was rather coincidence. We created the songs in different ways, we worked a lot in the studio or at home. The instrumental songs came up a long time ago but we never felt the urge to add any vocals.
C: These tracks are where they are for a reason and we chose titles which are relevant concerning the story. Gezeitenwechsel (tide change) is a point on the album where the atmosphere changes suddenly and the protagonist slips more and more into a rather negative phase. Kammerflimmern (ventricular fibrillation) symbolises the sigh at the end where you think "okay, the worst is over".
Q: You guys are on tour with Memphis May Fire. Describe this tour in three words.
C: awesome!
D: We started touring with them yesterday, so let's do three sentences or statements. First: amazing people, second: a lot of beer, and third: finally on tour again.
Q: With which band would you like to tour or work?
C: I think that's different for every band member. Our vocalist, bassist and I can agree on Silverstein, we already played some shows with them but our music fits stylistically pretty well to theirs and we'd love to tour with them.
Q: Who's your guilty pleasure?
C: Look, this is the problem: Since there are iPhones, you can download the most stupid things in the middle of the night when you're really drunk, for example Eurodance or even Shakira.
D: Hold on, I gotta check my phone.
C: Yeah, David is much more stylistically confident than all of us together.
D: I got Kool Savas, for example.
Q: If you could have played in any music video, which one would it be and why?
D: I'd go with All The Small Things by Blink 182 because I've always wanted to appear on tv being naked.
C: I'd say She Wolf by Shakira. I would have loved to dance in that cage, wearing these clothes.
Q: Let's talk about tattoos. Which one is your favourite?
C: My favourite one is this scroll which contents my family and music, the two most important things in my life.
D: You can't see them but they all mean something. The newest I got is a symbol for family because I'm a family man.
Q: Let's have a look at the future. Do you already know which direction you'll head to?
C: We want to play as much as possible. We plan on playing until the end of this year and then we'll talk about what's going to happen next. Maybe a new album, maybe a new video, there are a million options. Maybe we'll even retire!
Q: That's it! Thank you so much, it was a pleasure.
D: Was a pleasure for us, too!
Q: What's the new album about?
D: A friend of ours is pretty creative, he also worked on our new video, and he came up with a short story which we really liked so we agreed upon using it - we didn't steal it and claimed it as our own idea. It tells the story of a young man who has everything you could wish for at first sight but he doesn't know how to handle his environment so bit by bit everything collapses.
Q: The only two instrumental songs on this record have german titles. Is there a specific reason for this?
D: I think that was rather coincidence. We created the songs in different ways, we worked a lot in the studio or at home. The instrumental songs came up a long time ago but we never felt the urge to add any vocals.
C: These tracks are where they are for a reason and we chose titles which are relevant concerning the story. Gezeitenwechsel (tide change) is a point on the album where the atmosphere changes suddenly and the protagonist slips more and more into a rather negative phase. Kammerflimmern (ventricular fibrillation) symbolises the sigh at the end where you think "okay, the worst is over".
Q: You guys are on tour with Memphis May Fire. Describe this tour in three words.
C: awesome!
D: We started touring with them yesterday, so let's do three sentences or statements. First: amazing people, second: a lot of beer, and third: finally on tour again.
Q: With which band would you like to tour or work?
C: I think that's different for every band member. Our vocalist, bassist and I can agree on Silverstein, we already played some shows with them but our music fits stylistically pretty well to theirs and we'd love to tour with them.
Q: Who's your guilty pleasure?
C: Look, this is the problem: Since there are iPhones, you can download the most stupid things in the middle of the night when you're really drunk, for example Eurodance or even Shakira.
D: Hold on, I gotta check my phone.
C: Yeah, David is much more stylistically confident than all of us together.
D: I got Kool Savas, for example.
Q: If you could have played in any music video, which one would it be and why?
D: I'd go with All The Small Things by Blink 182 because I've always wanted to appear on tv being naked.
C: I'd say She Wolf by Shakira. I would have loved to dance in that cage, wearing these clothes.
Q: Let's talk about tattoos. Which one is your favourite?
C: My favourite one is this scroll which contents my family and music, the two most important things in my life.
D: You can't see them but they all mean something. The newest I got is a symbol for family because I'm a family man.
Q: Let's have a look at the future. Do you already know which direction you'll head to?
C: We want to play as much as possible. We plan on playing until the end of this year and then we'll talk about what's going to happen next. Maybe a new album, maybe a new video, there are a million options. Maybe we'll even retire!
Q: That's it! Thank you so much, it was a pleasure.
D: Was a pleasure for us, too!
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