“The Muscles and Tendons of the Music”


Interview with Ryan Parmenter

By Sergio Vilar

Could Ryan, for those that we ignore the past of Eyestrings, make a small summary of your career well and to be which its main musical influences are?
When I was eleven years old, I learned to play the trombone in my school's band program. Around this time, I also started learning piano by ear. I started writing music in high school, during which I played music and sang in a choir with many friends, including Alan Rutter. Mathew Kennedy, who was in my uncle Matthew Parmenter's band, Discipline, invited me to play music with some other friends when I was finishing college. Soon after that, we founded the band that would become Eyestrings.

My big influences growing up include Genesis (Peter Gabriel), Danny Elfman, King Crimson, Radiohead, and The Beatles, to name a few.

Why did Eyestrings choose how it names for the band? What does it mean?
I was skimming volumes of Shakespeare with my girlfriend, and she happened upon the word in the play “Cymbaline”. The term "eyestrings" means "the muscles and tendons of the eye", and I liked the nervous and interesting feeling that I got from the word.

Which would you say that it is the fundamental component in the music of Eyestrings, it formulates it basic?
Eyestrings tries to make good music in many different ways. For me, the most important function is melody, and getting the most out of melodies through variations, like in good classical music. I am also fascinated by interesting rhythms, so the band is fond of exploring odd meters and placing the same core melody in various rhythmic contexts.

Lyrically, I like to figuratively paint pictures that suggest a story, rather than convey straight narrative. The lyrics and the music each tell parts of the stories.

I should admit you that I was impressed with “Consuption”, it is really a magnificent album. I would like to request you to comment us like it was being given the evolution of the album. For example, the conception of the original idea, the elaboration of the songs and for mainly, the meaning of the disk in their entirety.
The oldest song written for the album was “Groove Seven”, the instrumental, which I wrote in college, before I had a band. The rest of the tracks were all written in 2004 and 2005, specifically for the band.
This was a change from Eyestrings first album, “Burdened Hands”, which was mostly material that was written before the band existed.

So “Consumption” was a more complete Eyestrings project from beginning to end. The main themes running through the album are opression versus autonomy, and claiming control of one's own life. Almost all of the songs are about struggles, facing challenges on different scales, and some songs come to happier outcomes than others.

Could you give me a profile of each one of the songs of the disk?
Some of the tracks, such as “Valid for a Week” and “Code of Tripe” take these themes into a somewhat politically-charged context, whereas the other tracks are closer to the personal realm. “Stagnant” is about struggling with a dull, depressing life, and “Slate Clean” is more about wanting to undo past wrongs. “Lifelines” develops similar themes partly in terms of theology.

What did they find the finished album? Was the result the prospective one?
Eyestrings are very pleased with how “Consumption” turned out. Each member of the band had a lot of great creative input into the album, and I think that shows. There are many nuances, in the writing, performances, and production, and I think that makes for an album that people can listen to many times and continue to find new details to appreciate.

Which the differences are between “Burdened Hands” and “Consumption”? In what did it change your music?
As I mentioned before, “Consumption” was a more complete Eyestrings project than “Buredned Hands”. On the newer album, we had been playing together longer, and we had developed a more distinctive sound as a band.
Since we learned a few things recording the first album, we were able to achieve a much nicer sound on the new album.  Whereas “Burdened Hands” contained an array of songs that I had written mostly before Eyestrings even existed, “Consumption” was almost entirely written for Eyestrings.

Would you say that there is some “concept” type in common after your disks?
“Burdened Hands” was somewhat eclectic--some of the songs had a struggle motif in common, but not all of them. On “Consumption”, there is a definite set of themes running throughout--overcoming struggles on many levels: personal, governmental, social. It's not what I would call a "concept album”, but it is definitely a cohesive album--a thematic and stylistic connection between all of the songs, much more so than our first album.

What type of situations does it inspire them to write your music?
All sorts of situations: personal regrets, dissatisfaction with my government, difficulties reconciling what I see as conflicting facts in the world. The melodies are usually ones that I find when improvising, ones that I love enough to develop. Sometimes words inspire the music, and sometimes it is the other way around.

That message wants to leave the listeners through its lyrics?
As some reviewers have pointed out, although many of the themes on “Consumption” are troubling or dark, the album is ultimately hopeful and optimistic. The message I hope to leave is that each person can help themselves through difficult situations, even if it seems as though some other entity may be in control.

Are new songs working for the next album?
Bob is currently travelling overseas, but Alan, Mathew, and I have been starting some new material. I am also working on a solo album, which will be released in 2006, and prior to the next Eyestrings album. I would guess that Eyestrings will have a new album in 2007.

How musicians, which is the current challenge, after publishing “Consumption”?
Of course the challenge is always to make the best music that we can. “Consumption” was not written to please anyone but Eyestrings, but we have received a very nice public response to it. So I feel confident that we can continue to make the music that we enjoy, and that enough others will also appreciate it that we will sell enough CDs to continue distributing our music. As far as I am concerned, that is success.

Then, how would they say that your musical development will continue in the future?
I think each member of Eyestrings gets more proficient the longer we play, but the trick will be to utilize our skills to creative ends. I am not a fan of music that is merely technically excellent, but not melodically interesting. So I am always interested in developing more beautiful and engaging melodies and variations, and our technical development will make achieving those goals easier.

A final question Ryan. What does it motivate you to make progressive rock instead of any other type of more accessible music?
Progressive rock is a genre that allows one to get the most out of one's musical ideas. Sometimes through long pieces, and sometimes through complex shorter pieces. But I like that there are no rules, no limits.
We feel no pressure to please a specific commercial demographic, so we just aim to fulfill ourselves as musicians, and that's a great position to be in.

Thank you for everything. You have been very kind. Some other comment that you want to add for our readers?
Thank you for the interview, Sergio. I would just like to thank your audience, and to thank all of the supporters of independent bands like Eyestrings. Please feel free to contact us at www.eyestrings.com.

Nucleus interview: 20/12/05