The Grand Rapids rock band hosts a record-release show Thursday at The Pyramid Scheme. Check out the Local Spins interview with frontman Sean Stynes.
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Parallelz frontman Sean Stynes considers himself “a Beatles nut” who was blown away in high school by a recording of guitarist Jimi Hendrix performing at Woodstock.
“I remember just listening to that and … it sounded like heavy metal to me. I’d never heard anything like it. It was just so electric,” he recalled.
Those classic rock influences, meshed with more contemporary artists such as Tame Impala, The Strokes and Michael Kiwanuka, have shaped the indie-rock strains of Grand Rapids’ Parallelz in many ways.
“It’s kind of an interesting mix of heavy improvised fuzz guitar with softer introspective songwriting, but I think it works for us,” he said.
That potent mix is on display throughout “Strange Mythologies,” the band’s latest studio album that officially gets released at The Pyramid Scheme on Thursday night. Daisychain, Overdrive Orchestra and Celeste Allison also are on the bill for the 8 p.m. show. Tickets are $15 in advance, online here.
Formed two years ago, the members of Parallelz – Stynes on vocals and guitar, Dan Julian on drums, Brad Watson on bass and Jacob Chapman on keyboards, trumpet and percussion – hit it off quickly, Stynes conceded.
“Absolutely, a hundred percent,” he said. “Just great chemistry with these guys … from the get-go, really.”
The band also features musicians familiar to many West Michigan music fans, with Stynes and Chapman performing together for years in outfits such as Gorgeous Oranges.
Recorded at Stynes’ home studio, five tracks were mixed by Emmy Award-winning, Los Angeles producer and engineer Matt Bishop, who’s worked with the likes of Taylor Swift and The Killers over the years.
“We try our best to go deep on the songwriting and craft original sounds with deep emotional hooks,” Stynes said. “There is also a huge focus on production and experimenting in the recording process. … Our sound is at its core indie-rock, but there are a lot of layers of other influences. We mix in funk, R&B, soul, pop and pyschedelic rock.”
And the shadowy, sometimes melancholy-yet-driving music reflects Stynes’ experience in therapy while “going through some pretty heavy life events.”
“It kind of deals with love and loss, and really, the myths surrounding those things in our culture and in our lives,” he offered. “Therapy has been huge for me this last year, so I think a lot of that went into the record.
“Just understanding yourself and your insecurities and your patterns, and then when going to write the album, being able to have a bigger conversation around those and kind of parodying my own toxic traits with characters has been a big part of the writing.”
Beyond the band’s album-release show, there are plans for “trying to break into the Midwest more” with some smaller tours. Before that, however, Parallelz will play two Traverse City shows – The Coin Slot on Aug. 16 and Workshop Brewing on Aug. 24 – with a Grand Rapids stop at Tip Top Deluxe Bar & Grill on Sept. 6 and at the Part Time Records Fest on Sept. 14.
“It’s a great group of guys and really talented,” Stynes said of his bandmates. “Lucky to have ’em.”
EDITOR’S NOTE: Listen to the interview with Stynes and learn more about Parallelz during this week’s edition of Local Spins on WYCE (88.1 FM and online at wyce.org), airing at 11 a.m. Friday and 5 p.m. Sunday.
LISTEN: Parallelz, “Turning”
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