Parachute: One Educated Group of Guys

How many bands actually wait until all of its members graduate from college before releasing their album and going out on tour with some of the hottest names in the business?  Parachute, whose members graduated in 2008 and have degrees in subjects ranging from music to computer science had the backing of their record company to finish school before they hit the road in support of the release of their album, 2009’s “Losing Sleep.”  Said lead singer/guitarist/ songwriter and piano player Will Anderson, “We were very lucky to have a label and managers that really wanted us to finish.  I think the main reason was that we were going to be taking that time to finish the record anyway so for us it just made sense.  Our parents were very happy, we were very happy and now, we have our degrees and we are excited to be doing this without any distractions.”

Parachute’s 2009 release “Losing Sleep” contains their hit “She is Love” which topped Billboard’s Heatseekers at #4 and since releasing their album they have been touring with bands like The All-American Rejects, Matt Nathanson, O.A.R. and The Script. But how does an up-and-coming band who is known for playing almost every musical genre heard on today’s airwaves deal with trying to create so many different kinds of music?  “You know, that’s half our problem!”  said Anderson.  “We like so much stuff that it bleeds into our music and so it’s hard to settle on one kind.  But, I would say that we play rock with soul and sing pop songs - it’s a blend of all three of those things.  We like all these kinds of music and a lot more so it isn’t something we see so much as genre specific.”

Even though Parachute is newer on the national scene, Anderson still had some good advice to pass onto other bands: “Practice a lot!” he said.  “When we were in high school we practiced every day after school.  When we went to college, and we went to different colleges, we played every weekend.  If we weren’t playing every weekend, they would drive back and we would have a practice so we were playing four out of seven days a week.  For us, what really worked and what really got us going was practicing as much as we could and writing as much as we could, which you have to do a lot before you can actually get good at it… and take every gig you can get!” he added.

Anderson writes the songs for the band and suggested to those starting out to try writing everyday.  But for him, a song may come within a day or by sections, it all depends on the song.  “Once a song is finished, I bring it to the band and they decide if it is something we can make work or if it’s not meant for the band.  It’s a big collaborative thing and when I write a new song it takes about a month before we start working on it, or trying to play it live.”

Parachute has been together since high school, so it makes sense that Anderson says the band is growing and evolving.  “I think even on ‘Losing Sleep’ if you put the songs in order from the time they were written to the time we were finished you get a snapshot of each song and what point we were at when we wrote it.  Towards the end of the album you could see those songs were a little different than the ones at the beginning and we like what it’s showing people.  Those are the best ten songs we have written in our careers… BUT… that’s not to say we don’t have better ones in us and we think our best is yet to come.”

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INFO:

Who: Parachute opening for Secondhand Serenade
When: Sat, Oct. 3, 5:30pm
Where: The Venue @ The Hub
Cost: $19 in advance, $21 day of - All ages