Christian: I play guitar and sing. I played the keyboard bits on our recordings too.

melis: I sing most of the time and play the bass all of the time.

2. How did the band start and how long have you all been writing music together?

aj: the band originally formed in the summer of 1997 with just christian and tara (original singer/bassist). then they asked me to join on drums. christian's been writing the music all along. melissa hopped on in early 99.

melis: I met christian and aj whilst chasing down tullycraft after they didn't show up at a Parcels 1.0 show they were supposed to play. good times.

aj: by "parcels 1.0" melis means the version of the band with tara as the singer.

Christian: After Tara left, we asked Melis who we'd known for a bit by then.

3. How would you best describe The Parcels' sound?

aj: the "sound" has changed a bit since we started. in the beginning it was very minimal and scrappy and I guess twee. over the course of the years we kind of began to rock it up a little. in a good way.

Christian: We're also allowing more influences to filter into what we do. Our newer stuff has bits of punk and Motown in it, but it's all mixed in.

4. If you were each a beverage of your choice, what would you be and why?

aj: I would like to be vitamin water "multi-v" flavor. no other reason than how it's the most awesome drink and, really, who doesn't want to be awesome? my second choice is black currant ribena. for the same reason.

Christian: Black coffee because I'm hot and strong. (Alright, maybe not. I just like coffee, okay?)

Melis: christian stole my answer, except i was going to throw some sugar in there. I was stumped on this one so I asked some of my customers where i bartend but they were all just dirty.

5. Name some of the most influential artists that inspire you to do what you do.

aj: my biggest influences in starting to play drums were matthew fletcher (heavenly), heather dunn (in her tiger trap days), and scott plouf (spinanes, now in built to spill). I guess these days the drummer I look up to is ryan pope (the get up kids). and some I
won't mention.

Christian: My biggest influences are 60s things. Not just Beatles, Byrds, Zombies, etc. but also "bubblegum." I'm into the idea that pop music should not take itself seriously at all.

melis: kim gordon probly had the biggest early influence on me. I remember the first time i saw her and thinking that i *needed* to play the bass. she makes me want to be a rock star. amelia fletcher made me want to be in a pop band.

6. Where was the most enjoyable place you're played at and where would you like The Parcels to play someday?

aj: I think the most enjoyable place we played was at the kindercore expo in summer '00 (athens, ga). it was the best show we've ever played. where would I want to play someday... it doesn't really matter where, I just want to play to a room full of people who are there to see *us* play.

melis: athens was super great, getting to play for that many pop kids. it was such a perfect vibe. but I think the show that really sticks out in my mind was when we got to play with calvin johnson, which for me was kind of thrilling and terrifying at the same time. and to top it off while we were onstage playing amelia came walking in and was bouncing around to everything we played. it's just so incredibly flattering to have someone you really admire to like what you're doing. i thought it was all around an ideal evening. (except for the fact that the sound really sucked and i couldn't hear what i was doing at all.) as far as where i would like us to play...nowhere specific, but i would really love to do some full-on tours, get away from the east coast, do the whole country. and tour japan, of course.

aj: I dunno about japan so much anymore. I'm hearing they're not loving all over american indiepop bands as much as they used to. we'd show up and get a bunch of indifferent kids sitting down and reading or something.

melis: we can still go. I need to get Pocky.

aj: you can get the hot cocoa flavored kind. I haven't seen those over here.

7. If you each could pick a song for the band to cover, what would that song be?

aj: this question is hilarious because christian absolutely HATES covers. me personally, I'd love to cover "second place" by the get up kids but I know that'll never happen because the other two parcels can't stand them. second choice would be "shoulder to the wheel" by saves the day.

Christian: Yeah, AJ's right. Sorry! I'm just more concerned with playing our own songs. I hate going to shows where nobody cares about a band until they start playing some cover and THEN the crowd becomes interested.

melis: we are doomed to never play a cover regardless because we would never be able to agree on what to do. whenever one of us suggests a song it gets shot down almost immediately. usually by aj, because he only wants to do get-up kids songs. and P Diddy. though we have been toying around with a version of Ice Cube's classic "it was a good day". it'll be hot.

aj: me?! you better put away the crack-flavored pocky, we both know christian's the anti-cover one in the band. covering p diddy's "bad boy for life" would be so hott though. I already know the first two lines and the "chorus". we're so set. oh wait, christian also hates bands with drummers who sing. christian hates everything.

Christian: Christian does not hate everything. I'm not the one in the band who keeps a list of things he hates on his Desktop.

aj: ... for selling me out like that you can put your name on the list too.

8. You've released a few records, mainly with Shelflife Records, how did the relationship with that label start and are there plans for future releases?
(editor's note: apparently, the staff member who conducted this interview did not do their research, we apologize to the band. who was the idiot anyway?)

aj: actually our main label is brentwood estates, where we've released a 7" and a full length cd. the shelflife thing was just a one time compilation appearance... and in each instance, I was friends with the label owner (renee/brentwood, ed/shelflife) and was asked to work with them. there aren't specific plans for future releases right now, but we have "new" songs that I would like to see on recording some day.

9. The recent events have affected us all in some way, how has it affected The Parcels and do you all look at the band differently at all? Are your goals and reasons for being in the band still the same?

aj: the event has definitely affected me in a personal way, living very close to manhattan and working there, but I don't think it's affected the band at all (not to be callous or anything). whatever goals we have they're still pretty much intact.

melis: agreed. initially the band was the last thing on my mind, but i think not playing does more harm than good. it's theraputic. you can't stop doing the things you love.

aj: yeah I think it's spelled therapeutic. I can't stop doing what I love, which is correcting melis's spelling. not really.

melis: i'm smart.

10. What was the first record you ever bought and what were the most recent?

aj: I can't remember the first record I bought... it was probably cassette and I'm gonna venture a guess on megadeth "peace sells" (a timeless piece of metal history). most recently I got the "so impossible" ep by dashboard confessional at their show (good). and most most recently, tguk "eudora".

Christian: I believe it was a U2 tape for me. The last thing I picked up was the new Sloan CD. (And *someone* in the band strongly suggested the new Hey Mercedes EP.)

aj: dude I fucking BOUGHT that for you. sing it again, pal, aren't we bells. there's another one I'd love to cover.

melis: isn't the new sloan kind of old?

Christian: Nah, it's kinda recent. "Pretty Together." And yeah, in a move to get me to listen to more emo, AJ did in fact buy the Hey Mercedes EP for me.

aj: the first track "bells" is an instant classic. everybody ought to recognize.

meils: I don't really know what the first thing i bought was. for some reason the Cure's 'Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me' sticks in my head. most recent record buying day I bought Mum, this Icelandic band that's kind of sigur rossy but a little weirder, Rival Schools, and Bertrand Bergalat.

aj: girls looooove rival schools. why is that?

melis: because walter is a dreamboat. and so sensitive.

aj: that whole "being sensitive" thing is such a thing of the past! nobody falls for that anymore, except maybe for melis. ha ha.

Christian: Yeah, hating everything is in now. Girls love guys who hate everything.

aj: yeah like the girls who wear slipknot shirts and go to the family values tour. am I alientating anyone yet?

11. What would be the best way for a person interested in indiepop to learn more about the genre? Which bands and labels really define the genre?

aj: I would say start towards the beginning across the pond (stuff on the influential british pop labels that I'm sure chrisitan and melissa can tell you more about -- incl. creation, cherry red, el, sarah) and work to the domestic indiepop stuff like on early K records releases, and to the more recent like kindercore and shelflife, etc. bands ... most anything on sarah, K records stuff like beat happening, rose melberg bands (ie: tiger trap, go sailor, the softies) ... I'd say go to some of those sites and check out sound clips and check out their links pages and poke around.

Melis: find a friend who'll make you some mixed tapes. that's how i found out about most of my favorites. from there it's pretty easy to find out about other things. and I've always been a big fan of comps. if you're new to the whole thing you can't go wrong with Pop American Style or the last Kindercore comp. and indiepopradio.com is a really great source too.

Christian: Yeah, I agree about the mix tapes. I can't even list the number of bands I've been tunred on to by 'em.

aj: speaking of mix tapes, let it be known melis has owed me one since fucking 1998. no exaggeration.

12. So what are the immediate and future plans for The Parcels and what can we expect for 2002 and beyond?

aj: parcels plans immediate and future: nothing's really set in stone. I'd hate to make a babe ruth-ian prediction and point to left field only to strike out.

Christian: We did just contribute a song to a forthcoming Cat's Miaow tribute CD, but we don't have too many details about it just now.

melis: except that it's for a kid in hong kong. we're going to record more stuff. we have so many new songs it would be silly not to. when/where they will come out is another question.

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Thank You: AJ and The Parcels.