Paresis Interviewed by Brutal Resonance

Huge thanks to Steve at Brutal Resonance for asking me some questions!

http://www.brutalresonance.com/interview/paresis-interview-feb-2014/

After reviewing Paresis‘ latest single, Replacer, I thought it was high time to interview the man behind this solo project, Simon Fuller. Take a look to learn of the man, his music, as well as his presence at this year’s Alt-Fest..

Let’s get some introductions in place. What’s your name, what do you do, and how do you do it?

Simon – “I’m Simon. I’m the only member of Paresis. I write everything, I record everything, I perform everything myself. Synths, guitars, vocals, everything. I do everything myself.”

I looked up the name of your project, and it supposed to define loss of voluntary movement or weakness in voluntary movement. How does that play in with the act?

Simon – “It’s a really silly thing. I’m a massive metal head really. And a lot of these classic metal bands just opened up a medical dictionary and stuck a finger in and found a name that was cool. And that’s exactly what I did. I was messing around just making some music myself, and then I thought, ‘Well, better put a name to it.’ I didn’t fancy just calling it Simon Fuller. So, I just went online, opened a medical dictionary, scrolled through, and thought, ‘Oh, well, that sounds cool’. And that’s actually it.”

So it never really played into anything you ever wrote?

Simon – “No, it just sounds really cool to me. It just got stuck, and then it gets to the point where you can’t change iteven if you wanted to, really.”

Have you ever been involved in any other bands or projects before Paresis?

Simon – “Yea, in my hometown growing up. I was always in rock and metal bands as a vocalist. I never played any instruments until Paresis. But nothing ever went anywhere; just did a few local gigs, in school, later on in Peterborough, but just vocals.”

When exactly did Paresis begin?

Simon – “Roughly, I’d say about 2008. I decided I wanted to start making some electronic music. I hadn’t got a clue how to. I just cobbled together a home PC in my bedroom and got some cracked software and started messing around. I went on YouTube for some tutorials. It was all just for me. But, I put a few songs together and showed them to a few friends. That’s kind of the classic thing. And my friends and family said, ‘This is alright. Yea, you should put it online and show some people.’ I put together a small EP in 2009. Five tracks.”

Were you always solo, or did you have any help come in besides on the remixes?

Simon – “A very good, old friend of mine taught me some guitar. . Cause I hadn’t a clue how to play guitar and I decided I wanted to put in some guitar in. The first EP I ever did, which is called ‘EP ’09’ because it came out in 2009, that was all me. And, I just used a lot of presets on synths cause I hadn’t got a clue as to what I was doing, really. Then, I did a first show, a friend of mine put me on a bill with a load of bands from Armalyte Industries. And then Giles from Armalyte said, ‘Let’s put out a CD or something’. So, I recorded three new tracks for that and then that was mixed by a guy down in Australia cause I didn’t know how to mix anything.”

I found something that was pretty interesting that’s kind of a constant argument in this scene, if you would call it that. You pretty much said that some people call you metal and that some people call you electronic, some industrial. At the end you were just like, “Who really cares?” Do you really not care about genre defining?

Simon – “I don’t. I really, really don’t. My whole philosophy, personal and band wise, is just that I make music I want to make at whatever time. Everything I do seems to be a kind of a happy accident. Some tracks turn out more electronic, some tracks turn out more metal. I love just putting real cool sounds together. You know, some people just happen to think, ‘Oh, that’s industrial metal.’ Some people think, ‘Oh, it’s industrial with a bit of metal.’ and some people think, ‘It’s just angry dance music with some guitars in it.’ Whatever people wanna do, but I really don’t care for genres. The only way I use it outside of the band is to say, ‘Would I like this band?’ If you give me three broad genres; is is electronic, is it metal, or what have you. And then you can work out if you like it. I think people get boxed down subgenre after subgenre after subgenre. I really, really don’t care for it. As far as live shows go, I love mixed bills. I love having a punk band on and then an electronic band on and then a metal band on. Have all sorts of different stuff on. That’s what I really love. Mixing everything up; cross pollinating.”

Some bands, when they look back at their works, like you have your EP from ’09, they usually say that their stuff from the beginning was absolute shit. But, as they moved on their music became a lot better. Do you feel this way?

Simon – “Definitely. Quality wise, it’s like a classic thing, ‘If only I knew then what I know now.’ But, there is another side to that. Every time I turn on my computer I want to go back and redo all those old tracks. Because, you listen to them and you cringe at parts that you thought were brilliant then and you don’t, now. But, creatively, it sets you free. If you don’t have the shackles thinking, ‘How am I going to mix this, how am gonna record this,’ and all the other stuff you have to think about, if you don’t have all that then your creativity is set free. You can just put whatever together. So, there are two sides there. But, on the whole, I think what I did was shit.”

Since you say that, was the response to your EP positive for the most part?

Simon – “For the most part, it is what it is. It was a completely unknown guy in his bedroom just putting some sounds together on his cracked software. It was mainly for friends. And then a couple of friends shared a track with their friends and then it kinda went on from there.”

Would you say that your next album, released in 2012, was reviewed better than your original works?

Simon – “Oh, definitely, cause I did that through the record label, Armalyte Industries, which was brilliant. I didn’t have to worry about mixing it or anything; everything was taken care of for me. I worked with Adam in Australia, he mixed it. We sent some stuff back and forth. And, the end of the product was leaps ahead of anything I’ve done previously. Which helped a lot. Releasing things through a label, people think that that automatically has a sort of stature. And people see a pretty CD with brilliant artwork and all that, and it all helps. So, having the contacts through the label really, really, really helped to push it out to different people rather than just to my friends, and friends of friends. And I got a few, really good reviews, actually. So, you know, it’s a step above of what I’ve done previously.”

Your latest single release teasing a new album? Because I would love to hear more material from you.

Simon – “Yes, it is. It’s the first single from the album. The album is very, very near completion. I just have to finish off a couple of tracks. Mix them, and give some tweaks to the rest of the tracks, make sure they’re all sitting together and then I’m going to send them off for mastering. So, it’s very close to being finished.”

Do you have a release window set in mind yet, or no?

Simon – “No. There’s no deadline as it were. It will be out this year, hopefully by the end of summer, but you can’t hold me to that.”

Can you tell us about the album, any themes or messages?p

Simon – “I’ve approached it from a classic album point of view. I’m a big fan of listening to albums rather than listening to tracks on their own, and having releases which are essentially a compilation of tracks on their own. A lot of the whole industrial scene is very dance orientated. There’s a lot of dancey tracks and you really don’t get a sense of listening to an album and having a story. And that’s fine, that’s not a problem if that’s what that band and album is all about. But, I do, but it’s probably coming from the metal background, really, an album with a story. That’s not to say it’s a concept album, but this does. It kind of starts off with classic Paresis territory; hard electronics with guitars. And then it dives into doom. It basically gets more and more sad and depressing and much more introspective and a lot more electronic as well. It’s quite a journey. And I’m hoping that by the end of it, listeners are gonna sit there and say, ‘Whoa, what the fuck?’ That it’s a lot different that what you normally get. Hopefully, anyway.”

Also, on your latest single, you had a cover of “What is Love” by Haddaway. Was that just a goof you did for Valentine’s Day?

Simon – “I’ve actually been playing it live for about a year and a half. And I decided that it’s always good to play it live for people that never heard you before. Which is what you normally are when you’re playing first on bills and what have you. No one really bothers to check them out. The one person does beforehand and what have you. So, it’s good to leave someone something to remember. I thought I better do a cover, and I always loved the track. I did it just as a live thing, and it’s gained a little bit of infamy in the UK. I’ve been playing it regularly. People always look out for it. So, I’ve had people bee crying out to me to record it. I couldn’t not, really.”

So, let’s talk about Alt-Fest. How do you feel to be playing in what I would consider one of the largest festivals in Europe?

Simon – “It don’t seem real. It really, really doesn’t. Every time they release a batch of names that are playing, my mouth’s wide open and I’m speechless. The latest group that got announced included Satyricon, one of my favorite bands ever. And just to be able to say that I’m playing at a festival with Satyricon is insane.”

What do you think you’re going to be able to bring to Alt-Fest that other artists won’t be able to?

Simon – “That’s a tough one. I’m hoping, the very nature of the festival is everything alternative, a crossover, so I’m hoping that I’m going to fit in quite well. But, also, being a one man band with electronics and guitars, neither one nor the other, a bit of everything, I’m hoping people will think, ‘Hold on. I’m at this festival because I love everything alternative. And this guy’s bringing everything alternative.’ I don’t see that there are a lot of other bands on the bill, amazing as they are, that do things like that. They’re either metal bands, or electronic bands, or whatever sub genre you like. So, hopefully people will catch me and see that.”

Do you think playing at this festival will shoot your fanbase up?

Simon – “I can hope. I’m gonna be playing fairly early on the SOPHIE stage so it’s if people make the effort to come see the bands that they’ve not necessarily heard of before. If people don’t, then there’s not much chance of that happening, unfortunately. There’s an element of luck with that. I’m hoping to do a lot more promo for the festival and my appearance at it, because if people don’t see me, they won’t know about me.”

Are you going to be offering merchandise at the festival?

Simon – “Oh, yea, definitely. I’m hoping the album will be done by then. But, I can’t promise anything. There will definitely be T-Shirts and my previous EP.”

How many days are you playing and when, exactly?

Simon – “I will be playing on the SOPHIE stage I believe on Friday. It’s not one hundred percent, yet.”

Are any of your label mates going to be present with you at the festival?

Simon – “Loads of us, actually, are billed. Concrete Lung, Je$us Loves Amerika, Petrol Bastard, Digicore, K-Nitrate; I’m sure I’ve missed one out somewhere. There’s loads of us. A family affair.”

Is there anything you can say about Alt-Fest that I haven’t covered?

Simon – “I don’t think so. All I can say about it really is that it’s quite possibly one of the best things to have happened in the UK in quite a long time. It’s one of the things I’ve been crying out for many, many years.”

Are there any bands at Alt-Fest that aren’t present at Alt-Fest as of now that you wish would be?

Simon – “I’d love to see Behemoth. I’ve seen them before at Bloodstock Festival. I loved their latest album, so I’d love to see them on the metal stage. I’m really upset that Alec Empire had to pull out and Atari Teenage Riot, cause I would have loved to see them. That’s a shame. And, my favorite band in the entire world, My Dying Bride. I’d love to see them on the bill.”

Alright, well, that pretty much covers it all. Do you have anything that you want to say for anybody hear reading this?

Simon – “I’d just like to say thank you very much to your kind self. And to everyone who’s reading to check out Paresis online on FaceBook, and on my website. Have a listen to the music; there’s lots of free music. The single that I just released that’s just been reviewed on Brutal Resonance is free to download. Get involved, have a look at everything, the videos on YouTube, and come see us play. That’s the main thing.”

Steven Gullotta – co-editor – 2014