Parov Stellas is the person who brought the Charleston back ti life; the person who crafted the irresistible sound of electro jazz and the person that made people concede that a musical journey to the future requires you to have soemthingn from the past in your liggage… Linz born and bred Marcus Fureder, aka Parov Stellar, embellishes his unique underground sound with beautiful vocals and transmits it across the globe. He will be spreading the word in this years Reworks festival in Thessaloniki.
When did you decide to focus on music and what did you do before that? It’s a difficult decision to make; I began experimenting with techno rhythms just for the fun of it, but the results were awful! During that period I worked as a painter and a graphic designer, but that was ten years ago now.
Your music references 30s Jazz and Charleston, what inspired you to draw from that era? I fell in love with this sound from the first time I heard it and I firmly believe that those guys were the first ravers. Charleston as well as some types of Swing were the party music of the time. The most important thing about it is that through this music people celebrated the wild side of life. I wanted to bring this feeling forward and make it relevant to today and that was the result.
Does your music embody a particular mood? It’s more a statement about lifestyle and fashion. I try to avoid thinking about music, because I believe that music is a very sentimental and real thing; it’s the result of how you feel not how you think.
Your own record label, Etage Noir supports many new artists. How do you pick who to work with, does their sound need to be similar to yours? Of course not, that would be really boring!
Do you prefer appearing in festivals rather than clubs? The energy of the crowd in a festival is something unbelievable. I can’t say I don’t like playing in clubs though, the contact with the audience in a club is so immediate.
You will appear in this year’s Reworks, supported by a whole band. What should we expect and what are your expectations? We know the Greek audience well and we can’t wait to be part of this special occasion. The reason we are so eager is that we want to feel the energy of the wonderfully wild Greek audience!
What springs to mind on hearing the word Reworks? What images and feelings? In my work the concept of a “rework” is of great importance; a rework is when you take a track from the past and make it into something new! So I think that the name fits us perfectly!
