Χωρίς κατηγορία

Οι Γερμανοί PARA LIA μιλούν στο Hephaestus

11 Απριλίου 2022 by Stelios Trichandiris

Welcome Para Lia! First of all, please introduce us the band!

Hello guys. Thank you for getting in contact. Para Lia is an indie rock duo, founded in 2018 from Cottbus near Berlin in Germany.

If I am correct, your second album “Gone With The Flow” is the album that made the band more known. What was the difference from your debut?

Coming in contact with the New York based artist Louis Renzoni was the inspiration for the second album – it is about the art, the artist, the muse and the relationships between them. The songs and also the cover art by Louis follow this concept and are part of it. The album came with an online 3d exhibition where you can dive into the atmosphere and philosophy: https://www.sophisticatedape.com/gone-with-the-flow-exhibition/

Would you play live shows for a small audience? How do you plan a Para Lia live show?

We don’t do regular live shows, but a small set with an acoustic guitar in hands, spontaneous and without a plan.

How is it living in Cottbus and having an indie rock band?

Cottbus is a city in a German region which is known for coal mining. You find special landscapes here as well as beautiful nature, it’s nice to live here. Cottbus for decades now has a fine music scene and there are a couple of cool indie artists. So it is not an ‘unknown territory’ for indie rock.

Do you have regular jobs? Would you ever like Para Lia to become a full time activity?

Yes, we both have full time regular jobs. One of the reasons why we need a good time management for writing, recording, mixing and stuff. As an indie project Para Lia is not a job which brings some money in. It is passion.

Apparently, your influences come from the 90’s indie rock from both sides of the Atlantic. But what about now? Do you like any new bands that you have heard after 2020?

To be honest we seldom find the time to have an ear on new bands in the mainstream radio. But we discovered a lot of fantastic indie artists and bands from all around the world for instance on Soundcloud, where Para Lia also has an account. A fine experience.

Is it important for you to have a big fan base?

We do not care about numbers – but really love when people become active fans. Feedback always is cool. And people who support indie artists help to keep the music scene colored.

You have a special connection with Greece and after all the band’s name is Greek! Why?

We have a deep connection to Greece and its people for man years now, we have friends there and we love to spend time in Greece – what we do for several times every year. When Para Lia was still ‘unborn’, the first songs were already written but the project was still nameless, we were in Greece for some days and we gave the idea of a band name a thought. And indeed we were sitting on a Greek beach in the evening sun with a cold bottle Retsina– where the idea of the name came in mind. We decided not to use it as single word, so we split it. It made sense, we are two. And so Para Lia was born.

Some people think that the Velvet Underground began everything in alternative rock and that Sonic Youth pretty much closed this chapter for music. What do you answer?

Both of them opened the door for generations of musicians who came after. The history of indie rock still goes on. Sonic Youth is a classic now as Velvet Underground is. And they left tons of inspiration for so many musicians.

Give us a playlist you would use in your car while driving a big distance.

Perfect songs for the wide and open road? Well, Neil Young with Crazy Horse ‘Ramada Inn’, Sonic Youth ‘Sugar Kane’, Dinosaur Jr ‘Just Like Heaven’, Yo La Tengo ‘Today is The Day’ – and don’t forget to add Para Lia’s ‘My Muse’. (The video footage which is the base for the music video was shot while driving in the night from Volos to the Pilion – a song perfect for a car ride).