Q&A: Danny From ‘As Paradise Falls’

As Paradise Falls have just dropped their brand new single Digital Ritual and have started giving hints towards the mystery new guitarist and vocalist of the band. We had a chat to current guitarist Danny to find out more about what As Paradise Falls have been up to.

 

How are we feeling about being Suicide Silences main support in Bangkok?

Yeah we are mega pumped to get over there and play! We’re stoked to have the opportunity to support a band that is inspiration to ourselves and we’re really keen to meet our Thai fans which will be great too!

 

 

Why did you decide on Digital Ritual as the first track to be released from your upcoming album?

Well given the circumstances we were in with the transition between our old vocalist and our new one, we figured this would be the best way to announce things. Rather than chuck up a huge Facebook post explaining things and telling everyone what was going on, we thought it’d be cool to briefly tell our fans whats going on and then create a visual piece to represent the concept of the album, as well as giving people a snippet of music and showing silhouettes of our new guys.

 

What is the message behind this instrumental track?

The message that the clip is trying to convey is the almost religious connection we have with our technology in this day and age.

In particular social media. It’s the first thing we go to see in the morning and it’s usually the last thing we see at night.

 

How did you come up with the concept for this music video?

The concept came about heavily based on the message we were trying to convey as well as taking into consideration our new members. The song is a short track so the video has to be planned well to acclomplish our goal of conveying the message as well as not revealing the identity of our guitarist or vocalist.

 

Is Digital Ritual a true indication of what to expect from your upcoming LP?

Yeah, I think Digital Ritual has a lot taken from our full length to a certain extent. I believe it shows the more adventurous side of the ambient music as well as the heavy hitting riffs we love to explore. Obviously its only a section of the story our album is telling, so as we progress, you’ll get to see it come together.

 

Who has the most influence during the writing process or is it all pretty even?

I’d say its pretty even across the board. I do a lot of the writing but by the time it reaches the studio its gone past every dude in the band and they’ve picked apart things and re-created or added to create the final studio ready demo. It’s a great process we’ve got and I believe it shows with the attention to detail in the final piece.

 

How do you think APF as a band have grown musically since your 2014 EP ‘Save Yourself’?

I believe we’ve grown a lot and learnt a hell of a lot. We’ve been working hard in the writing process and demoing process and it has paid off with the final piece we have, Its great to look back and see how far we’ve come that’s for sure.

 

I’m sorry to hear you lost a brother last year, was there any second thoughts when it came to deciding whether to keep Glens recorded pieces in your upcoming album?

No not at all. Everything Glen recorded has stayed in right to the final product and of course its amazing to listen to. We have some great memories attached to this music and its just another way Glen will live on. He would be very proud of this final product after all the hard work we put into this.

 

How have the band dynamics changed since As Paradise Falls was joined by a new guitarist and vocalist?

The change has shifted our dynamics and expanded our musical exploration that’s for sure. I believe our vocalist has brought something truly great to this band which will push us to the next level. Our guitarist has brought a great dynamic too, we’ve already started writing more music and some of the stuff hes thrown into the mix already challenges me and helps inspire my writing process also, its a lot of fun.

 

Why have you decided to keep their identity’s a secret?

I think keeping them a secret for now creates a lot more mystery and fun with our fans. It’s a great way that we can engage with everybody and keep our music and direction un-expected until the time is right.

 

What is your most memorable live performance with As Paradise Falls? Where & Why?

Oh there are plenty of great times we’ve had playing together. One that sticks out in my mind is probably our last show with Glen at The Brightside in Brisbane. It was a couple of weeks away from us heading to the studio and we had been rehearsing multiple times a week, writing multiple times a week on top of that and we were just pumped and ready to hit Karma Sound Studios. We played that show and had a great energetic crowd and it was a lot of fun for everyone involved.

 

When you are relaxing, what music do you play in the background?

Currently I’ve been spinning the new Periphery album a lot, it’s so good! Other than that, depending on my mood, Tesseract is a bit of a favourite for me and Twelve Foot Ninja too. That’s just to pick from a heap of music I shuffle through.

 

 

Worst piece of live advice you have ever received?

Thankfully I havent really received much bad advice haha. I did have a terrible sound guy at one show in Newcastle where when I asked him to turn me up in my speaker mid set he turned it down, then turned it off… That wasn’t very cool, pretty funny to look back on though haha.