Parcels: “We’re Venturing Back to the Sound that We Know”

Since 2014, Australian band Parcels have been weaving their harmonic pop sounds into the zeitgeist. Not long after making the pilgrimage to Berlin, the five-piece band, composed of Jules Crommelin, Patrick Hetherington, Louie Swain, Noah Hill and Anatole “Toto” Serret, rose to international success. Known first for their disco pop textures that caught the attention of Daft Punk, resulting in a collaboration, the band have smoothly navigated subtle reinventions with each album. Their most recent, 2021’s Day/Night, took a darker tone to the upbeat pop that earned them double platinum on their self-titled debut.

I first met Parcels when I interviewed them in a Berlin cafe in 2015. It was a volleying conversation filled with the type of creative back-and-forth that occurs in youth – a rolling flow of ideas, goals and hopes for the future. Today I meet with the band’s drummer, Toto, on a video call while he’s back home in Australia, the day of the release of their much anticipated new single, Leaveyourlove. While the creative flow is still present, it’s grounded in a calm confidence, the type that only comes from a decade spent honing one’s craft in the music industry. 

The last time I interviewed you was about 8 or 9 years ago when Parcels had just moved to Berlin. Did you have any idea at the time that this project would become this successful?

AS (Laughs) It’s funny because every time we reach a new goal, or some big event happens in the band, there’s 50 percent of you that celebrates, like, ‘Wow how cool.’ But then there’s another 50 percent that’s like, alright, it’s a stepping stone to something else. It’s not necessarily the most healthy way to think, because sometimes it’s good to just take it in and be like, ‘Wow this is great,’ or, ‘What we’ve accomplished already is just something to be proud of.’ But it never feels like, ‘Oh we’ve made it.’ But we’re about to announce the tour for next year and some of the venues are big – like really big – and it’s maybe the first time I’ve felt like, woah. Not that we’ve made it, but this is a big accomplishment.

I know what you mean though, like the goal posts keep moving. 

AS The goal posts keep moving, yeah, that’s a poetic way to say it. 

But I do think it’s important to acknowledge that what you’ve all managed to create is quite impressive. 

AS It’s just the weird things that make you realise. I guess I can really feel it when I walk out on the stage and there’s that many people there, or this concert sold out in this short amount of time. That’s a first hand experience of people liking what we do. So, maybe live is the best way to feel it. But in every other aspect of the band it’s like, oh, it’s not good enough, or it could be better, or reaching more people.

Is there anything you wish you could have told yourself back then? 

AS I feel like I’m pretty proud of the way we’ve navigated it as five individuals. We’ve really put a lot of time and effort into staying friends and making sure everyone is feeling mentally in a good place. Because sometimes it gets hectic. I guess maybe I wouldn’t have guessed that that would be one of the biggest works of the band: making sure everyone is good and feels good with each other. I gotta say, I’m really happy with how we’ve communicated when someone doesn’t feel so good. I would have never thought that would have been such a big part of the last 10 years. But maybe I wouldn’t have wished that anyone would have told me, because it’s been nice to learn. 

The friendship part of what you mentioned is interesting because the connection the five of you have is such a core part of your success. People can really feel that on stage and within your music. 

AS Yeah, we just stop functioning when it’s not feeling good. It can be at any point, and it doesn’t mean anything major, but a lot of the band’s workings rely on the five of us in a room with instruments and that’s actually a really fragile space. Everyone has to be feeling relatively good otherwise nothing gets done. You’re quite open to everyone when you’re there playing your instrument and everyone is listening, and you can hear when it’s like, ‘Oh someone’s not doing so well.’ That’s a big part of it – checking in with everyone and communicating if you don’t feel good. 

How has the band’s creative process evolved over the years?

AS I think in the first few years we really found our feet [as to] what people are interested in doing in [their] roles in the band. I think there’s always been a couple of really strong songwriters, which are Jules and Pat, and we’re maybe more open about it now. Not that it was ever a secret, but it was never something we talked about so explicitly, and now we’ve really grown from talking about it. Also, Noah has come up as a beautiful songwriter and his input keeps growing. Then when you leave the songwriting stage and go into the production or arrangement stage, different members will just naturally gravitate towards certain areas. It’s kind of like entrusting the role to those people. Without [saying] ‘You have to write all the songs,’ it’s more that you have this space, too. I think it’s really nice to have the perspective of 10 years and look at what’s actually happened. Not to say that that’s how it will happen in the future, but that’s a really good length of time to be like this is reality in some way. 

I know you’ve been working on a solo project in the downtime of Parcels, and I think some of the other guys have been, too. How does the individual experimentation play into the dynamic when you come back together as a group?

AS It’s only been helpful, and everyone has been supportive. It’s nice to venture into other types of music, even just listening to other types of music. Working on electronic music [alone] and then coming back together in the studio in Mexico, when we hadn’t seen each other in a while, I was like, I have the opportunity now to bring this expertise of electronic music into the band. As soon as I listened to the songs I thought, oh, what I can really hear now is how important certain elements of this music are that aren’t even apparent in electronic music. I remember listening to the songs in the studio before we were about to record them and being like, oh, the vocals are so important for pop music, that’s all I want to hear. So in one way I can get it all out of my system and then I don’t have to bring it in. 

I noticed in Leaveyourlove, the dynamic was a bit different than previous song structures. Everyone seemed to have their own space to express themselves, while still including the group harmonising that Parcels is known for. It seemed like a good way to bring the band back together from each person’s individual pursuits. Was that intentional?

AS Yeah for sure. [When] that song came about, I think there was the groove and the chorus, and then the three singers were all wanting to all write a verse. Because it’s somewhat of a universal message. We’ve all got our own experience of this feeling. [Taking turns singing verses] is something you see in boy bands a lot , which we all kind of love. Not to say that we’ve gone fully there, but I think it’s really nice. It somehow makes it more personal when you get three perspectives than just one. 

On the rhythm side of things, do you find yourself wanting to introduce any experimental beats while also still honouring the classic pop structure?

AS I think there’s always space to experiment. Especially when we’re in the studio, it’s like full creative mode. It’s not that we have to make pop, it’s just doing what feels good when the five of us are playing. Because that’s the way the song will live in the end. We will finish this album and go on tour and [the songs] will take on a life of their own. It kind of has to feel good when the five of us are playing it, because some songs kind of get left behind, and they’re great songs, but we couldn’t really figure out how to make them work as a band. So, in that sense, it’s like maybe there is space to experiment and then, given the nature of the music, it’s often that simple is better. 

You recorded this song in Oaxaca, Mexico, and your last album was recorded in France. How much does the location play into the creative inspiration of the songs?

AS Massively. It’s not so much, in my experience, the city you’re in so much as the studio. It has a profound impact on what the music will sound like. So you have to be careful in choosing places to record because it’s somehow like the walls creep into the recording, in a way that’s hard to describe. Had we recorded that song in a different place it would sound different for sure. 

Is that more of an energy feeling or an architectural thing?

AS Definitely an energy thing, but I’ll find that hard to describe (laughs). Architecturally, definitely, too. Our last record, Day/Night, we recorded in this gothic-looking house studio on the outskirts of Paris and when I listen to the record now all I can think about is that place. The whole album sounds gothic and we just had the biggest urge to put orchestral strings on there and, at times, really dissonant harmony. Not that the listener will necessarily conjure up the same picture of the house, but it sounds like that place. So yeah, architecture has a big impact, I think. Energy-wise as well, it’s important to feel good and free and open. 

I think I’ve been to that studio, it’s La Frette right?

AS Yeah (laughs), I reckon if you listened back to that album you could hear it, like, ‘Oh yeah, there’s those bricks,’ not in a sonic way but in an energetic way. 

Yeah, the whole time I was thinking, ‘This place is haunted, for sure.’ 

AS (Laughs) In the best way though! It was so beautiful to spend time there. 

Can you give an insight into the vibe of the upcoming album? 

AS I think we’re venturing back to the sound that we know. Perhaps with a little bit more confidence than before. For us, it’s just our version of pop music. I think the songs are really beautiful, I think the songwriters have definitely grown. There are a lot of songs about love, whether it’s losing it or falling in love again, with yourself too. Just giving power to the song and not trying to focus too much on a greater concept for the album. It’s just like, here’s a collection of songs over the last couple of years that have felt the best for us. 

Final question, Toto: Who is your Mastermind?

AS Just because we were talking about him today, the first person that comes to mind is David Lynch. For me, it’s a little bit of a cheesy answer. It’s not that I’m in love with his cinema, I mean I really like it, but the feeling I get from his films is that he’s so sure of the story he’s trying to tell and it’s so obvious that he’s not thinking about the viewer at all. It feels like it’s coming from within and he’s just putting it out. I have no idea if this is true or not, but I feel that whatever is within his mind has eventuated into the thing he’s made so clearly. It hasn’t been compromised. I feel that’s kind of the goal for any creative person – how accurately can you portray the vision that you have within your head. I think he’s someone to look up to in that way. I would aspire to create that – as little friction between the idea and the end result.