While most people are content to leave their past behind, childhood friends Holly Dodson and Cameron Findlay, the former drummer for Crystal Castles, might have known on some level they would eventually end up together. The high school buddies corresponded via email for a long while, crafting lyrics to songs for a band that hadn’t existed yet and bringing their ideas to thevirtual table.
It wasn’t long before their first song, the smoky and synth-driven “Ultralight,” started to catch people’s attention in the cutthroat electronic scene of Toronto, where Findlay and Dodson are based.
The Texan caught up with Findlay in a phone interview for the duo’s first Austin show. Read on to find out about Parallels’ fascination with 1980s ephemera and why Findlay wants to find a gun range in Austin.
The Daily Texan: Hi Cameron, thanks so much for taking the time to speak with me. I take it you’re pretty stoked to be doing this tour — is this the first time you’ve set out?
Cameron Findlay: Well, this is the first lengthy tour for us. We’ve done a few shows, short two-week tours, that kind of thing. This is the first pretty extensive tour across the states we’re doing. We’re very excited about it.
DT: The press release for the upcoming tour name-drops the Hi-NRG genre and artists like Giorgio Moroder, New Order and Depeche Mode. And I have to ask — especially since on the cover of the Salome EP, Holly happens to have crimped hair — does Parallels have a special affinity for
the 1980s?
CF: [laughs] Well that’s sort of the style of music we like to write and listen to, and we felt that imagery fits well with the music we make. But the direction of those photos was all up to the photographer — it worked well with our music and everything, so we went with it.
DT: I really loved the video for “Ultralight” and once I saw it, I immediately recognized a lot of imagery and the same sort of vibe I got when I saw a cult ’80s movie called “Liquid Sky” — are you familiar with it? Was that an influence, if you are?
CF: You know, I’m not sure if [the photographer] had seen that movie, but I have. I think it’s a really cool movie, so I’ll take that as a compliment. I remember watching it and being, like, in awe of its imagery. I’d say it’s fairly influential for us.
DT: What’s the word on the upcoming debut album?
CF: It’s not going to happen until at least a little while after the tour. Hopefully by the end of the year we can get something out, but for now we’re working on new material, constantly. We’re playing a majority of what we’ve recorded live and we do write a little bit on tour, but we’ll have to wait and see about the album.
DT: What are your plans while you’re in Austin?
CF: I want to go to a shooting range! [laughs] In Canada, the laws are a little different about that sort of thing, you know.
