EMQs With Perpetual Paradox
EMQs With Perpetual Paradox
Hi everyone! Welcome to another EMQs interview this time with UK-based Technical Metalcore band, Perpetual Paradox. Huge thanks to their guitarists, Jorge and Ollie, for taking part.
What is your name, what do you play and can you tell us a little bit about the history of the band?
Hey, Jorge and Ollie here, guitarists. Long story short, a bunch of dudes met during and shortly after the pandemic to try and make some music. Jorge and Adrian started the band, then André and Ollie joined. Will joined when we replaced our first drummer. Fast forward to now, and we have our permanent lineup and are just about to drop our first full-length album!
How did you come up with your band name?
Jorge: I had this fixation with the word ‘perpetual’, especially in the context of perpetual motion. Translated to music, this amounts to non-stop reinvention, so basically our ambition to keep trying and doing new things. Adrian came up with the ‘paradox’ bit because he loves the concept of paradoxical scenarios in gaming and movies, mostly, and we liked how it all sounded when it came together!
What Country / Region are you from and what is the Metal / Rock scene like there?
Ollie: That’s a huge question. Jorge is from Portugal, and Adrian is from Spain. There is a Metal scene there, but Metal isn’t as popular there as it is further north. André, our bassist, is from Brazil, which arguably has a bit of a bigger scene. Our drummer, Will, is from England and I’m half English, half Danish, but I grew up in Luxembourg. It’s sort of the same story in Denmark (despite having produced Lars Ulrich and Volbeat), but Luxembourg has a surprisingly large Metal scene!
What is your latest release? (Album, EP, Single, Video)
Jorge: Last year we released “Condemnation” (early April), which was an EP with 5 tracks. Our first LP is “Deathwish”, which is coming out on the 27th of June. We’ve just released our latest single, ‘Ash and Blood’, which came out on the 18th of April.
Who have been your greatest influences?
Jorge: The band definitely has a crazy mix of influences. Adrian loves classic Metalcore like Killswitch or Avenged Sevenfold, Jorge loves Groovier bands like Lamb of God and Gojira, Will is a Heavy Metal lover – especially Iron Maiden. Andre is addicted to Doom and Stoner Rock/ Metal, and finally Oliver loves Thrash bands like Death Angel, and Techy Deathcore like Crown Magnetar, in equal measure.
What first got you into music?
Jorge: I always loved music since I was little. Queen holds an extremely special place in my heart. But it was only when I was 16 that I convinced my mom to buy me my first acoustic guitar after a friend showed me a super-easy System of a Down riff.
Ollie: I don’t really come from a musical family. My mum is into Rock and things like that, but I was never really interested in music. But a friend taught me how to play Smoke on the Water and I was hooked. And then I watched Metallica perform on the Live Shit: Binge and Purge recording from Seattle. That shot of James Hetfield in the purple light on stage playing the intro to ‘Blackened’ was all I needed to decide that guitar was the one for me.
If you could collaborate with a current band or musician who would it be?
Ollie: There are so many insanely good musicians out there, it’s hard to choose. I’m a massive Marty Friedman fan, as well as Chris Broderick, so that would be cool. But I’d also love to spend a day writing riffs with Lorna Shore’s drummer, Austin Archey. That guy is superhuman, and it would be cool to write stuff with a drummer who is so precise. It’s a hard list to pin down. Oli Herbert from All That Remains (RIP) was also such an incredible player, I’d love to have spent a day learning from him.
If you could play any festival in the world, which would you choose and why?
Jorge: That is a hard one. There are a few festivals on our bucket list. I think the ultimate festival would be Wacken for sure. That or maybe Download or Bloodstock. Or Warped Tour, if that ever takes off properly again.
What’s the weirdest gift you have ever received from a fan?
Jorge: We have never received a gift per se (that I remember), but for me, the highlight so far was this dude in Cardiff who asked us to sign his prosthetic leg, that was awesome and very special!
If you had one message for your fans, what would it be?
Ollie: This is going to sound so cliché, but thanks for sticking with us and coming to see us play. We really do appreciate every message, share, or just when someone says ‘sick show’ after we’re done playing. In that vein, keep supporting us – it helps us power through the not-so-fun bits of being in a band and enjoy the fun bits even more. And when the time comes, let us know what you think of our new tunes!
If you could bring one rock star back from the dead, who would it be?
Jorge: FREDDIE FUCKIN MERCURY… pardon my French!
Ollie: Nick Menza or Cliff Burton (can you tell I like Megadeth and Metallica?)
What do you enjoy the most about being a musician? And what do you hate?
Ollie: It’s just fun and rewarding. All the blood, sweat and wanting to rip each other’s heads off is so worth it when we’ve got people moshing and kicking the shit out of each other while we play or people telling us how much they dig the new tunes. It’s such a good feeling when people start paying attention to what we’re doing, too – not because we’re chasing any sort of glory, but it means we’re writing things people enjoy. And the more people listen, and the more people talk about us, the closer we get to sharing the stage with our heroes. So, it’s really rewarding that an art form we all love so much can take us to so many cool places and help us meet so many people.
Of course, being a musician can be a nightmare, too. It’s so much hard work, lots of which people might not realise. Getting your socials right, sorting your EPK and press materials, getting your distro right, actually writing stuff people want to hear, gruelling studio hours, not to mention that none of it is cheap. And that’s just off the top of my head. If you want to do it right, it’s basically a very poorly paid full-time job, at least at first. It’s an unforgiving hobby, but properly rewarding when it pays off.
If you could change one thing about the music industry, what would it be?
Jorge: As it stands, I think I would get rid of merch cuts. Our margins are already tiny. We get that times are tough for everyone, but taking hard-earned profit from the bands filling your venues isn’t the way. I’m not sure what the solution is, but I’m sure there’s a middle ground where everyone wins.
Name one of your all-time favourite albums?
Jorge: “The Blackening” by Machine Head, absolute masterpiece!
Ollie: Either “Rust in Peace” by Megadeth or “Pain Remains” by Lorna Shore. Both era-defining albums.
What’s best? Vinyl, Cassettes, CDs, or Downloads?
Jorge: Everyone is different, definitely downloads are the easiest and cheapest, but I love a good vinyl and still buy them.
What’s the best gig that you have played to date?
Jorge: Personally, last year when we opened for Crypta, what an insane crowd!
Ollie: I had to miss that gig because I was on tour with Pupil Slicer, but my flatmate and other bandmate Tom filled in on guitar, so I like to think I was there by proxy!
If you weren’t a musician, what else would you be doing?
Jorge: We all have full-time jobs still, so we would probably just focus more on them and spend our time going to other bands’ gigs and maybe travel more since we would have that free time.
Which five people would you invite to a dinner party?
Jorge: Can I use the undead card here? Freddy Mercury, Dean Martin, James Hetfield, Wes Borland and Robb Flynn.
Ollie: James Hetfield also, along with Mads Mikkelsen, Rabea Massaad, Adam Neely and my Danish granddad, who passed a few years ago. He gave me my first guitar – I like to think he’d enjoy seeing what that gift has done for me in the 16 years since.
What’s next for the band?
Ollie: Release our singles and album, and then gig absolutely relentlessly. We’re here to stay and won’t stop until we’ve thrown everything we have at this. We believe in this band and what we’re doing, and we’re gonna be merciless in pushing ourselves forward.
What Social Media / Website links do you use to get your music out to people?
Just the usual really:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/perpetualparadoxband/?hl=en
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Perpetualparadox/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgp4_UOeHflXaXwK13JUK5w
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3vlyYDsqLobvIrmuaQjNWh
Website: https://www.perpetualparadox.com
We’re also around on some of the others, like Apple Music, Amazon Music, and so on.
Time for a very British question now. As an alternative to the humble sandwich, is the correct name for a round piece of bread common in the UK either a Bap, a Barm (or Barm Cake), a Batch, a Bun, a Cob, a Muffin, a Roll, or a Tea Cake?
Ollie: Neither of us are British enough to answer this properly, so we’re just going to stick with roll and hope we don’t get murdered.
Thank you for your time. Is there anything else that you would like to add?
Stay true to yourself, always support your local band, they might be the next big thing – and we’ll always say yes to a pint if you’re feeling generous!
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