Label Boss Parcel makes his return to Position Obscure Recordings with a stunning winter EP that continues the producers’ opaque fascination with narrative story arcs and the immediate world around him. Across both sides of the delicately crafted “Moxie Memories” EP, we see dualities at play; conflict & resolution set to methodically transparent dance rhythms that reaffirm ideas of the modern state of dance culture. DMCWORLD checks in with the main man for the lowdown…
Congrats on your latest release, it has charted well on Beatport. Tell us about the creative process for “Moxie Memories”.
I started developing the ideas of the tracks Wallows and Moxie Memories about 1 or 2 years ago. I had some basic ideas sketched out that were mainly the drums, basslines, and some of the chord progressions.
Near the end of 2020, I was digging through my hard drive of ideas to look for a pair that could work well together as an EP. I thought that the combination of Wallows and Moxie Memories could be paired together but they needed a lot more work to develop them into full tracks. I liked the pairing between the two because Wallows was more of a melancholic vibe and Moxie Memories was similar in theme but halfway through that track, I wrote this arp and chord progression that left the listener feeling more uplifted or hopeful. I decided to focus on finishing these tracks and try to turn them into a cohesive EP.
When I work on music, I don’t generally work on a single song from start to completion. I am usually juggling between different songs/concepts and when I get bored of trying to arrange or sketch one of them, I’ll jump to another track where I could be at any point in the project such as mixing, automation, or just sketching. These two tracks just happened to be in a similar phase of creation, and I bounced between the two of them finishing the writing, arranging and mixing.
I am a big fan of chord progressions with synths and basslines and you will hear a lot of that in both songs. I focused on trying to create songs that were driving and dancefloor-friendly but also songs that could be listened to in any setting.
Do you have a specific genre in mind that you want to experiment with within the near future?
I write music in many forms of genres. I write ambient electronic music, hip hop beats, hard-driving techno, pop, and indie music. I have been producing for 16 years and most of these tracks in these genres will never see the light of day because I just love to write music. For PARCEL I have been mainly focused on releasing the ideas that fit into the deep house, melodic house, and techno world but I don’t want to limit my sound as well. It’s just what it currently is and maybe in the future PARCEL will start to sound different or maybe I’ll just come up with another alias to release different genres.
What is your favorite production tool/plugin/feature at the moment?
Fun question! There are so many favorites I use in almost every production.
Hardware: My Roland TR 8 is practically in every track I write, as it’s so fun and easy to use. It’s also so easy to tune to match the key of the track. My Prophet 12 is also a studio staple and I just recently bought an Access Virus that I will want to incorporate into my tracks.
VSTs/Plugins: I use the Waves EQ 8, API 2500 compressor, Serum, and UHE Diva a lot.
Which artist would you love to collaborate with?
Such a hard question. There are so many amazing artists out there and new ones on the rise every month. If I had to choose one, I would say Four Tet. His music has been a huge inspiration for me and everything he touches is amazing. I like his approach to creation and sound design. I feel like he can make amazing music that sounds so simple.
We know you do live twitch streams. How would you describe your channel? Do you see yourself doing live streams on any other platform?
The main channel we have been doing live streams has been my label channel, Position Obscure. This channel is for hosting streams such as live DJ sets for the labels artists and special guests we like to invite to play a set. It can range from all sorts of electronic music and we try to keep it a bit loose and let the artists do their thing.
I am going to start streaming on my own channel, Parcelmusic. This is where I want to start showing more of production in the studio stuff so people can see behind the creative process and interact with me a lot more.
I would love to play more shows on different platforms if I am invited, but I currently feel like the Twitch platform is leading the charge with this. I did recently see a live stream from Agents of Time x Fideles on Bandcamp and thought it was a unique and cool platform to stream on.
What advice would you give to an artist who is now entering the world of electronic music?
Depends on what part of the music world you want to participate in. If it’s a producer/DJ I would say patience, never stop learning, and do it for the pure love of music. I feel like many people want to enter the world of electronic music because they see some DJ on the main stage festival with 50,000 looking up at them, jumping around and waving their hands in the air, and they want to be that person. Well sure, that does maybe seem like fun, but if that’s the reason you want to do this, you should reconsider.
Like me, most producers spend hours and hours of their lives in the studio and sacrificing so much of their personal lives. Saying no to hanging out with friends on the weekend, dealing with the pressures of your family and loved ones telling you to spend your time doing something else to make money, etc. That could be very stressful and discouraging at times, but if you do it out of pure love and joy nothing can detract you. Spend time learning your craft, creating your sound and world as an artist. Don’t expect success overnight and enjoy the journey no matter how hard it might seem. There is also so much to learn and that is what makes it exciting.
You are also the label manager of Position Obscure Recordings. Why did you decide to start your own label?
I released music on different labels before leaping to start my own. I didn’t like the process of spending months creating tracks, and then having to spend more months trying to find labels to release it on. Also, when I started to finally feel that PARCEL developed its sound, choosing the right label to release music on was a big decision process and distracted me from working on the next project or release.
I wanted to create a label where I wasn’t restricted to what to create or write and be able to release music of my choosing. Just to have more control ideally from creation, distribution, and promotion. Also, I know a lot of talented producers in the LA scene and abroad and wanted to give them an outlet to release on if they wanted to and if it fits the label’s style. Not to say I won’t release on any other labels in the future though. I wanted to set up a “home” but depending on the style, track, and timing I might still find other labels to release on.
What´s next for Parcel, can you give our readers a sneak peek at any upcoming projects?
I am aiming to release more music on Position Obscure as PARCEL and have some fun collaborations coming out this year with fellow label artists. Continue with the live streams and hopefully things open where I can start to play live shows again. Overall, just keep on being productive, making music, pushing artists and art, and staying healthy.
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