The Parrots

By Brooke Magalis

While attending university may not have been their strength, we’re certainly glad the guys who make up The Parrots decided to go, if only to meet one another. The Madrid­ based garage rock band got their start in school and have been jamming ever since. The Parrots have a ton of influences, and a lot of them are prevalent in their sound. You can hear The Strokes and The Cramps. Occasionally, like in their song “To The People Who Showed Me Their Love while I was Here,” you can find more than a touch of Pixies. The garage rock The Parrots pump out often sounds like it came straight out of the late eighties, early nineties­­color me impressed. During our interview, The Parrots describe their writing process as “chaotic” at times, and you can hear that in their music. The guitars are nice and crunchy, and the bass is clean. The melody bends into distortion often. The vocals sound like they’re coming through a telephone, and it’s glorious. It sounds like The Parrots are in it to jam hard and give the crowd something that’ll let them get a little crazy. Here in just a few days, June 22nd, The Parrots are releasing a new EP, Weed For The Parrots. You all can check out their first single from the EP, “I’m Not Alone,” on their SoundCloud page.

INTERVIEW

Hey there! I’m glad you all have a second to talk. I’m Brooke Magalis. It’s nice to (virtually) meet you all.

Let’s get rolling…

You all have an interesting sound­­I’m listening to your first EP as I write this. For me, it brings to mind both The Strokes and Jet (in other words, clearly you’re doing something right). What pulls you all to this sound? How would you define your own sound? Do you see yourselves trying to change it up in the future?

The Parrots​: We’ve always listened to rock­’n’­roll and hip hop music. That’s our biggest influence, and The Strokes were very important to us. Our sound is similar to theirs, but just as it is to bands that were a big influence to them, like Television, The Modern Lovers, Iggy Pop, and anything produced by John Cale. But I think that people like Roy Orbison, Jack Nietzche, Brian Wilson, The Creation, The Groupies, The Cramps, and The Beastie Boys played a more important part in the music we write.

I see you all got the chance to play some shows at SXSW­­. How was that? What was your favorite part? Was it a different energy from other shows?

The Parrots​: We loved SXSW. Many bands we listen to played there, and we got to meet them as we played at the same parties. We recommend everyone who goes there next year to visit Hotel Vegas, Spider House, and El Sapo Cantina any day. We’ll be there drinking some beers!

Your publicist tells me you all have a new EP coming out. Do you want to talk about that for a moment? What can we expect from it?

The Parrots​: ​Six songs to get high with your friends to and a memorable hangover.

The question everyone gets asked in these sorts of things: where did you all get your start?

The Parrots​: ​We started university together, but we never were good students, so instead of just smokin’ and drinkin’, we decided to play music as well.

Let’s talk about your setup­­how does songwriting work for you all? Can you describe the process for us? How does the instrumentation come about? The lyrics?

The Parrots​:​We usually come up with ideas playing together in our rehearsal room but, as I don’t have an mp3 player, I like to think about new songs while riding public transportation or walking… We are very chaotic, so every time is different.

Some rapid fire before we go:

In the studio or on the road? Road.

Favorite band to listen to in the car? Fat White Family and The Wu Tang Clan.

Favorite cover to jam with friends? Sanity or Not by Juan Wauters.

Favorite instrument to play? Guitar.

Favorite thing to do on stage? Ritual Sacrifices.