Formula Indie Sessions _ Interview with PARIAH
What is your earliest memory connected to music?
From Yesterday by 30 Seconds to Mars is where everything started for us.
That song became a shared reference point, a new beginning and an unreachable standard, especially for Tom, our singer, who was quietly obsessed with it.
We were all drawn to it for different reasons, but it felt like the first crack of light after a long stretch of grey.
That solemn intro hit like an epiphany, like dawn after the darkest night.
Looking back, it wasn’t just a song we loved, it was the moment we realized music could change the atmosphere inside us.
In many ways, PARIAH began there.
How did your passion for creating music begin?
It began with SPLEEN, the first song we ever wrote.
It came from a moment of deep discomfort.
Writing that song felt like therapy, like washing something heavy off our chest.
It was our way to stop sinking.
I know many people carry that same weight.
PARIAH gives us a place to lay it down.
What’s the story behind your current music project?
PARIAH was born from a shared feeling of not belonging.
It started as a very personal need, but quickly turned into something collective.
We realized we weren’t the only ones carrying certain thoughts, doubts, and fears.
PARIAH became a place where those feelings could exist without being judged or fixed.
How would you describe your sound to someone who has never heard your music before?
There’s a strong sense of nostalgia in our music.
It draws heavily from early 2000s emo, post-hardcore, and pop punk, but filtered through a more mature and complex sound language borrowed from modern metal.
We never give up melody or a pop sensibility, that emotional immediacy is essential to us.
In a way, PARIAH sits in between worlds.
We like to think of it as a band for people who feel drawn to heavier music, but need a place to start, something that helps the ear and the emotions adapt without losing connection.
What is one thing you’ve learned that completely changed the way you make music?
That there’s nothing wrong with being “wrong”. Sometimes our deepest insecurities become our greatest strength. Once we accepted that, our music started telling the truth.
What tools, instruments, or software are essential in your creative process?
Honestly, it almost always starts the wrong way.
Out of habit, we still build the first embryonic version of a song in Guitar Pro.
Then everything gets exported as MIDI into Logic, where we re-record the parts from scratch.
And when we finally step into the studio, we tear it all down and start again.
It’s a flawed, repetitive, imperfect process but it works.
Beyond the technical side, the tools don’t really matter.
We can try a thousand sounds, words, or ideas, but the song only truly begins with an epiphany, when something suddenly feels undeniably true.
You don’t analyze it.
You just know
Which indie artist or song are you loving right now?
The one who usually gets obsessed with bands is Tom and lately, he’s been fixated on Sleep Token, especially Even in Arcadia.
Knowing him, it wouldn’t be surprising if traces of that influence eventually surfaced in the new material we’re currently working on.
How have your personal experiences influenced your music and artistic vision?
We’ve always felt out of place, too young for some things, too old for others.
Never enough, always slightly wrong.
In a world obsessed with perfection and happiness-as-a-product, PARIAH became a place where people like us could exist without apology.
A shared wound, but also a shared strength.
What emotions or messages do you hope listeners take from your work?
Just one simple thought:
“Oh… so I’m not the only one who feels this.”
That’s everything.
What’s the most important lesson music has taught you so far?
Working behind the scenes in the music industry for years stripped away a lot of the romantic glow we grew up with.
It’s less magical, less golden than we imagined.
But the dream is still alive—maybe quieter, maybe rougher—but real.
And we’ve learned that “real” is worth more than “perfect”.
What is a dream venue or festival you would love to perform at?
Reading Festival, mid-afternoon.
Not at night, not in lights, just one of the many small names printed in tiny letters on the poster.
There’s something beautiful about belonging to that messy, loud, honest crowd of dreamers.
It feels achievable. And it feels right.
If you could collaborate with any artist, past or present, who would it be and why?
Probably My Chemical Romance.
Their music raised people like us.
They taught us that pain can be theatrical, vulnerable, furious, and healing all at once.
They’re part of the map that led to PARIAH.
Where can our listeners follow and support your music? (Website,Spotify, IG, links)
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/4ntO1oKRrAewGaH0sHLnKs?si=3NAoW1mbRwWK6nv9rVMqMQ
Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/it/artist/pariah/1715345295
IG: @pariah.official
Looking toward the future, what’s your dream for the next chapter of your musical journey?
Seeing someone sing our lyrics back at us.
That’s the moment you know the wound you turned into music touched another wound out there.
And that connection is everything PARIAH stands for.
What do you hope listeners will discover about you along the way?
That PARIAH isn’t just a band.
It’s a refuge, a wound, a call, and maybe even an identity.
If you ever felt lost, rejected, wrong, or confused, these songs are for you.
