Instrumental Brisbane progressive metal band Dr. Parallax certainly can’t ever be accused of rushing things when it comes to releasing music.
I remember seeing the band in Cairns more than 20 years ago, so imagine my surprise when their debut EP Stick and String came across my desk last week.
It is a release more than two decades in the making, and one which Dr. Parallax feels best showcases their extremely eclectic and ridiculously world-class tunes. With a blending of genres punctuated by wildly fluctuating timing and tempo changes, Stick and String features four full songs for your sonic palate plus a wickedly devilish intro and outro that may or may not tie things in together.
“When you actually come into the room and play together as Dr. Parallax it’s this weird unspoken thing where we’ve got these rules.”
John
Sound confusing? Well it is, so HEAVY tracked down band members Elliott, Rashid and John to attempt to make sense of things.
“So far it’s been pretty positive,” Rashid smiled when asked about the early reception for the EP. “We’ve had some very nice things said to us about it. Who knows, they all could be lying to us, but I want to believe they are telling the truth (laughs).”
We ask the boys to talk through what to expect musically.
“Yeah, it’s weird,” Rashid shrugged. “We wanted it to be weird, and it is.”
“Not so much weird, I just think these songs were the ones we were most familiar with,” Elliott picked up. “They were the most solid songs we had at the time, and it was time for us to finally record something. It was good to get them down and properly recorded, instead of doing mud tracks and things that we’ve done in the past.”
In the full interview we discuss why Dr. Parallax has stayed as an instrumental band, how the tracks on Stick and String best showcase their sound, the ‘bookends’ on the EP, how the band brings songs together in the creative process, how they draw the line when it comes to musical experimentation, coming up with song titles with no lyrics to use as a guide, why it has taken so long to release a body of work, upcoming shows and more.
