He’s sympathetic to fans who say they they wish the band would write music that sounded similar to their early work, but questions whether that is really what they actually want. Even at the beginning we had to essentially create a venue because we couldn’t play in pubs.” Anything we’ve ever wanted, we’ve had to make it happen ourselves. At no point have we given up anything that will give someone the leverage to say “Now you must do this.” The team has expanded but the control is held by us. “We pay for those videos,” says a slightly frustrated McCall. In reality, Parkway Drive are still on the same independent labels they signed with for their 2005 debut album Killing With A Smile and are co-managed by guitarist Kilpatrick and their Australian label boss Graham Nixon. Comments heave with conspiracy theories about the band being pushed into a more radio-friendly sound by music industry forces. The reaction to Reverence’s first single “Wishing Wells” was mostly positive, but follow-up singles “The Void” and “Prey” have been panned by fans who prefer the band’s early albums. That’s why you end up writing a record where you don’t give a fuck about anything you’ve done before, because who cares about other people’s opinions on what we should do?”Īnd there are plenty of opinions. Sometimes it doesn’t work out and you can’t point at something that made this happen.
“We were all hit with the reality that sometimes it doesn’t get better.
This emotional climate of death, grief and rage was the catalyst for the themes and motivation behind the creation of Reverence. I felt helpless, seeing it happen and knowing what other people were going through.” “That’s why we pulled out of Leeds Festival,” McCall explains. They shared club show and festival bills with Architects as Searle went in and out of treatment, and were in the middle of a European festival run in August 2016 when they received news of his death.Ī week later, the band member’s partner with cancer died, on the night of the band’s performance at Reading Festival. The band kept on touring, subbing in replacement players as needed. “We had to start dealing with what that meant to all of us - not only as humans, but as a band, like what are we gonna do?” He is visibly emotional, and pauses to take several deep breaths before continuing. “It was like a bomb getting dropped on our world,” says McCall. Then a band member’s partner was also diagnosed with terminal cancer. We’ve toured with them more than we’ve toured with any other band and were like, that’s shit, but you’ll beat it, right?” “We were playing a festival with Architects when Tom told us about his diagnosis,” McCall tells me. McCall’s beloved boston terrier died unexpectedly, touring buddies The Ghost Inside were maimed in a horrific bus crash and close friend Tom Searle from the British band Architects had recently been diagnosed with terminal cancer.
It was a commercial success, landing them their first #1 album in Australia and spots on the top end of massive festival bills across the US and Europe.īut all was not well within the ranks of Parkway. Ire marked a dramatic change in the band’s sound as they cast off breakdowns for stadium-friendly choruses. The kids in board shorts and band t-shirts have become grown men with greying hair and trimmed beards, wearing funeral black and proper trousers. You can see it in the band’s promo photos. The past three years have been the most personally difficult in the band’s 15 year career –– their own plummet towards the depths. And really, with the themes, it was just so fitting.” “Our album artwork has always been reasonably simple and this time I wanted something that would draw people in, but also fit the seriousness of the lyrics. He points out a few rejected reference works on the gallery walls as he explains why “The Fall Of The Damned” was the perfect choice for the cover art of new album Reverence. Each member of the band (McCall, along with guitarists Luke Kilpatrick and Jeff Ling, drummer Ben “Gaz” Gordon and bass player Jia O’Connor) has a designated role in the creation of their music and the running of the business, and McCall is in charge of vocals, lyrics, and coming up with the concepts for the band’s album artwork.
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