In the Studio with PærishThe Members: Mathias Court, vocals, guitar; Frédéric Wah, guitar; Martin Dupraz, bass; Loïc Fouquet, drums

Producer: Will YipAdditional Production and Engineering: Justin BartlettStudio: Memory Music Studios

The Origin: Operating entirely on intuition, Parisian alternative rock outfit Pærish developed their alt-emo sound by surrendering to an internal infrasonic frequency — those comforting, heavy vibrations pulsing deep within, becoming the baseline of a soundtrack destined to be pushed outward. This interior wall of fuzz-buzz soaked guitars and celestial indie rock melodies became their purest musical currency — a profound wealth of sound that demanded to be heard beyond the borders of France.Bypassing the localized currents of L'Hexagone, where Chanson Française and musique urbaine tend to rule the sonic terrain, Pærish refused to remain confined by scenes at odds with their alt-rock artistic vision. Instead, they chose to loosen the tourniquet of their musical surroundings by ensuring their more visceral melodies bled outward — a pursuit that initially pulled them away from the heart of Paris. Guided by an autonomous, unwavering conviction and devotion to shoegaze-rock, the band crossed the English Channel to Glasgow, Scotland, to record their 2016 debut, Semi Finalists, alongside producer Bruce Rintoul, known for his work with VUKOVI and Twin Atlantic. The move marked their first real leap of faith into what often felt like a series of impossible artistic challenges.

It was a trajectory driven entirely by a persistent inner voice that refused to quiet down, a pestering whisper that resurfaced during the final stages of the record’s production. Acting on that instinct, the band reached out on a whim to Will Yip — a producer they had been following from across the Atlantic — to master their inaugural effort. Yip, a Grammy-nominated (and now Grammy-winning) producer known for his genre-defining work with bands like Turnstile and Code Orange unexpectedly replied. What followed was a transatlantic creative connection: a rare working relationship that quickly evolved into a strong artistic friendship. Over the course of their subsequent albums, 2021’s Fixed It All and 2023’s You're in both dreams (and you're scared), the shorthand between the band and Yip deepened, with Yip gradually becoming an invisible fifth member of Pærish.

The Production: For their forthcoming album, Rita, that partnership entered its most mature phase yet. Before reuniting with Yip, the band took time between albums to step back, returning home to France to find the physical and mental space needed to elevate their songwriting and pre-production workflow. Spending long hours at guitarist Freddie Wah’s home studio setup, Pærish systematically unpacked the urgent, heavier guitar tones pulsating within them. In doing so, they uncovered an innate call to build a louder, more aggressive sonic palette packed with infectious, crowd-surfing energy. This revitalized direction brought forth a pit-ready drive that harkened back to the denser, classic foundations of alt-rock — capturing the high-velocity sonic sensations that collide simultaneously across a full live crowd, a feeling they had discovered and craved while touring. This process helped the band reconnect to the raw wonder of what made them fall in love with rock music in the first place: a pure, alt-emo fury.Armed with this augmented direction, Pærish arrived at Will Yip’s Memory Music Studios in Philadelphia—his brand-new recording facility following his multi-year tenure at Studio 4 in Conshohocken, PA. Here, Pærish walked through the doors with a meticulous set of well-structured songs, prepared to sit down with a powerhouse producer celebrated for his relentless energy, collaborative songwriting spirit, and legendary ability to bring the absolute best out of artists. Yip’s hyper-focused "song is king" philosophy perfectly complemented the band’s amplified, heavier-hitting energy, ensuring that every high-efficiency session locked into the core emotional message of Pærish’s music. Together, they sculpted solid, custom-built tones that gave Rita its definitive edge, proving that the pairing’s transatlantic signature still held its undeniable creative magic.Paradoxically, while the resulting soundscape felt denser, faster, and more aggressive, the music was born from a noticeably lighter, more stabilized headspace. Lead singer Mathias Court rejects the tired cliché that an artist must be deeply depressed to create their best work, noting that being utterly overwhelmed only serves to freeze creativity. In a modern musical landscape that can often feel like a dead end, choosing to unapologetically be an indie rock band became an anchor of sanity—a declaration that fighting for a seemingly impossible cause was worth the struggle. Through this process, the band realized there is a fine line between destructive misery and what they discovered on this record: productive gravity, "a good darkness.""This new record is very spontaneous, even though it's so heavy and so raw and in-your-face," Court reflects. "I was in a very dark place during the last album. This time, I wanted to go rough, but sometimes you feel like you can  only go ‘rough’ because you're in a better state of mind. It has an aggressiveness to it, but it also has a spontaneity to it… a kind of good darkness if that makes sense."

It does. It is the kind of darkness artists can finally thrive in, rather than drown. This newfound mental clarity extended directly into how the music was built at the source during the songwriting and demo process. When starting a track, Court operates entirely out of a pure player's mindset. "I always think as a guitar player in my head," he notes. "I will always be just a guitar player who tries to write songs."His writing process begins with rhythm rather than a pen—layering guitar, bass, or drums while humming nonsensical, mumbled melodies over the top to capture the initial vocal pocket. For Court, constructing melody lines alongside lyrics is an intricate puzzle and a long, patient evolution. To keep from forcing a track or burning out on frustration, he prefers to let the demos breathe. It is a patient, old-school methodology he proudly shares with his ultimate inspiration, Billy Corgan of The Smashing Pumpkins. "Lyrics and the songs are very different things," Court reflects. "But it's very beautiful when you manage to glue them together and make them something unique."

Because of this puzzle-like quality and patient waiting game, the metamorphosis of a song is often beautiful but entirely random. For the sweeping track "Heal," Court presented a highly detailed demo where he had programmed every single layer on a smartphone app, down to a prominently featured flute melody. Conversely, one of the album’s centerpieces, "Prince of Darkness," arrived at the studio as nothing more than a solitary, stripped-back guitar and vocal sketch. Court notes it was the technical prowess of drummer "Lolo" that saved the track, introducing an intricate time signature that pulled the arrangement into its crushing final form. Court summarizes: "There’s no proper way of doing it [writing songs]. You just have to do it every day."This fluid, unpredictable workflow made stepping out of their isolated home setups and into Will Yip’s new, state-of-the-art facility feel like an immense culture shock. For a band accustomed to home studio, small-scale setups, entering those highly specialized tracking rooms was a profound luxury. It presented an elite sonic playground where they could explore how to translate lo-fi, radio-fuzz styled vocals using a wide range of rare analog outboard gear, top-shelf preamps and legendary consoles. Rather than being intimidated, they fully leaned into its sonic possibilities and, more importantly, the luxury of time.The gift of extra time gave them an entire, uninterrupted week dedicated solely to collaborative pre-production with Yip—a rare privilege in high-end studio tracking. For Court, this initial stretch is always the creative peak of the record, stripped of high-stakes pressure and reduced to just the five of them jamming in the live room. They spent those first seven days completely geeking out over sonics. Sessions became methodical experiments on how to build walls of atmospheric sounds. It was this dedication to scrupulous exploration that perfectly interlocked with their shift toward a more aggressive direction.

"We wanted it to be noisier, to be more alive than the previous one," Court reflects. For this, the band leaned heavily into a fuzz-soaked production style, treating the distorted textures as a loud, living, breathing element of the mix. "We had all the time necessary to do everything we wanted... to really take the time to know what we were doing."

After settling on darker guitar tones and lush, layered arrangements, they focused on crafting heavier bridges and choruses, refining lyrics, and finalizing the track listing until the album’s overarching themes crystallized. When the time came to settle on a title, Court kept returning to a distinct childhood memory: a picturesque view of the clock tower of the Church of St. Rita (Église de l'Annonciation) from his family’s apartment in Nice, France. Thinking back to those days, looking out that window with his lucid dreams of being a rock star, he realized that while chasing that life can feel entirely impossible, the patron saint of impossible causes was looking out for this strange dream all along. In her mythos and patronage, the band found the ultimate wistful, melancholic sentiment: a symbolic protector of their own beautiful, seemingly desperate dream.

Court reflects on how that instinct carries them through the improbability of it all: "I think the title of Rita is a very emo message—her being a protector over people dealing with impossible, desperate causes… but also full of hope, and being together all these years. She protects this whole idea of being in a band."

Photo Courtesy of Big Picture MediaThe post In the Studio with Pærish first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.

South Korea’s FTC opens probe into HYBE and ADOR over NewJeans’ DanielleDanielle's attorney, Jung Jong-chae, who filed the complaint, said the FTC began investigating on June 4.
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AllMusic Has Rated All 4 Lauryn Hill Albums — Including The Miseducation of Lauryn HillTwo albums earned 5 stars. One earned 4. One earned 2.5. AllMusic has rated all four albums in Lauryn Hill's 28-year catalog — here's the definitive breakdown, album by album.

Kirk Franklin Honored, NSAI Rise ProgramKirk Franklin Honored

With 30+ years of hits, multi-Grammy winning artist-songwriter-producer Kirk Franklin receives SoundExchange’s Hall of Fame Award as one of the most-streamed artists of the past 20 years. Part of inaugural Rise and Rhythm Cruise, he headlines August’s Gospel Garden event in London.

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NSAI Rise Program

The 2026 Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI) Summer Rise Program kicks off this month. For artists ready to pursue an in-depth study of songwriting, the remote interactive program runs for five weeks, July 20 – August 18, with NSAI delivering an incredible group of industry guests ready to answer questions and offer their best insight and advice to help writers improve in their craft.

Topics covered include co-writing, the music business, publisher pitching, and professional songwriter feedback.

Limited to 25 participants, all genres and levels of songwriters are welcome, with details and registration at: nashvillesongwriters.com/RISE / for questions, please email: maxwell@nashvillesongwriters.com.The post Kirk Franklin Honored, NSAI Rise Program first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.

Google says AI training is fair use and copyright should be policed on outputs, not inputsThe tech giant has published a new policy paper outlining the company's preferred approach to AI regulation
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AllMusic Gave These Classic Rock Debut Albums 5 StarsAllMusic rates albums on what they are — not what they predict. These five debut albums earned 5 stars before anyone knew the bands would become legends. The reviews hold up completely.

10 Albums That Were Grunge Before GrungeNirvana, Pearl Jam, and Soundgarden didn't invent grunge — they perfected it. These 10 albums, from 1968 to 1984, built every sludgy riff, raw production choice, and punk attitude that Seattle made famous.

Musical Longevity From a Semi-Pro MusicianI’ve been a bassist since the mid-1980s, mostly at a semi-professional level (i.e., earning money but not making a living from music). I’ve toured across multiple continents, recorded in world-class studios, and realized many of my adolescent dreams. Since arriving in L.A. in 2000, I’ve also been a music journalist. On occasions, I’ve acted as manager, booking agent, and/or publicist for my bands, so I have experienced many facets of the industry.

At age 52, with an all-original band (I’ve never done the cover/tribute thing), I signed to a prominent indie label, and we released an album regarded as a genre classic. My most recent gig, at age 59, was a rapturous sold-out show in Mexico City last month, with all the trimmings. My playing is better than ever; I’ve never enjoyed it more; and most of my friends are former bandmates.

Accordingly, my strictly subjective tips below are aimed at those seeking longevity—and maximum joy—as a semi-pro musician playing original music rather than someone wanting to “make it big” or survive as a session or tribute player (though these ambitions can certainly overlap).

Know Your Craft

In a business which places heavy emphasis on “who you know,” networking can start taking priority over actual musicianship. Unless you have absolute rock star talent/looks/charisma, this is a mistake. Think of practice (with a metronome!) and lessons as investments in future fun, creative satisfaction, and maybe a career. Because, sooner or later, the recording light will come on and you’ll need to deliver. I once read that after age 25, all a musician has to offer is their chops—an exaggeration but grounded in truth. This doesn’t mean you have to be a virtuoso unless the gig explicitly requires it. I’m a competent bassist, nothing more, but often get gigs specifically because I keep things simple, solid, and play for the song. 

Be A Good Hang

A few years ago, we hired a pro drummer for an Australian tour. He explained that, as he put it, “being a good hang” is crucial to working consistently in the music business. Because, with countless great players to choose from, especially here in L.A., artists are looking for those who’ll also be fun (or at least amiable) when sandwiched together in a van, studio/rehearsal space, or shared hotel room. Most music making will involve one or more of these situations, so “playing well with others” applies on and off stage. (I once heard of a fantastic guitarist who was fired mid-tour because he kept masturbating on the bus and would hog all the fruit on backstage riders!)

Prepare

“Practice for rehearsal, not at rehearsal,” the old saying goes. No one wants to battle traffic for 45 minutes then stand around in silence at an expensive lockout while one member of the band listens to the material and figures out their parts. Do that stuff at home! Of course, this is infinitely more important when auditioning. Humans are naturally lazy and so are inclined to hire the person who walks in knowing their parts without instruction. For example, I was once asked to learn three songs from an album before auditioning for a signed singer. I learned the entire record. We played it front to back at the audition and, while the last notes were still ringing out, the drummer declared, “Right—let’s books some shows.” A year of fantastic international touring followed.

Get a Flexible Job 

Making music the only thing you do doesn’t make you a musician. Because for most of us, being unemployed will only make you a liability to a band: unable to maintain a reliable vehicle or gear and too broke to contribute to rehearsal/recording costs. Plus, it’s hard to practice if you’re living in your car in a CVS parking lot (I knew a drummer who did just that). So, a day job should be embraced as an intrinsic part of being a semi-pro musician rather than resented as a detriment to that pursuit. Flexibility is key: a job or business that will allow you time off to tour. This is precisely why, when I realized I had appropriate ability, I worked feverishly to build a freelance writing career. And if that job can be complementary to your musical dreams, all the better (I’ve learned so much from interviewing rock stars that applies to my own musical efforts).

Get Out There

In an ideal world, we’d all form our dream band with our best mates at high school and spend adulthood touring the world together. In reality, most musicians are making creative compromises most of the time. But it’s important to stay out there playing rather than just sitting at home scouring Craig’s List and waiting for the perfect opportunity. Even if it’s not entirely your style, joining a band will develop your chops and put you around other musicians with whom, or through whom, more apt situations can evolve. If you can really play and are the aforementioned “good hang,” word-of-mouth often does the rest. But you need to be “in the shop window,” demonstrating what you can do. This doesn’t mean a hardcore punker joining a Barry Manilow tribute act—seek out situations that check at least some of your boxes but be ready to be flexible.

Be A Team Player

This should go without saying but is depressingly common. Don’t be that band member who insists on being loudest in the mix or on rehearsals being scheduled/rescheduled around their whims. Musicians exhibit diverse motivations for playing in bands and, counterintuitively, these sometimes don’t include simply contributing to making the best sound possible. I’ve met folks who’ll join a band mostly so they can live rent-free in its lockout or who are lonely and simply seeking a captive audience. Be a team player and seek out team players, because music is almost always a collective endeavor. This will not only yield better creative outcomes but will also make the process way more enjoyable. Because making music, even in the darkest and angriest genres, is supposed to be fun.The post Musical Longevity From a Semi-Pro Musician first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.

The Last Time All 7 BTS Members Were Onstage Together — And What They Said Would Never Happen AgainIn October 2022, BTS performed together as seven members for what fans believed was the last time. Over 50,000 attended in Busan. Tens of millions watched online. Most of them were in tears.

New Music Critique of MOMARZContact: momarz1842@gmail.comWeb: instagram.com/momarz99Seeking: Review, Label, Film/TVStyle: Electronic

The term “electronic music” can mean almost anything nowadays. Most producers, certainly in pop and hip-hop but elsewhere too, incorporate electronic elements. According to his online bio, MOMARZ “centers his music on piano-rooted melodies, hypnotic percussion sequences, and instrumentals.” That makes for a sound which comfortably blends a warm, nostalgic electronic sound, with something still quite futuristic. “Signals” could score a moody scene in an indie movie effectively, while “Party Moves” is reminiscent of club anthems from the late ‘80s and early ‘90s. All of which is a good thing.The post New Music Critique of MOMARZ first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.

Sony Music Publishing wins Publisher of the Year at 2026 ASCAP Rhythm & Soul AwardsSMP songwriters were recognized across 27 of ASCAP's top-performing R&B, hip-hop and gospel songs of the past year.
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AllMus‍ic Pi‌cks the 10 Gr​ea‌test Alb‌um O‌peners of the '70sThe 1970s treated the album opener as a statement of purpose. AllMusic ranks the 10 greatest — from the Ramones' two-minute punk explosion to Led Zeppelin's 10-minute prog epic.

Foreign Body Signs with Brutal PandaDate Signed: March 2026Label: Brutal PandaType of Music: Noise-Rock, PunkManagement: bob@brutalpandarecords.comBooking: bob@brutalpandarecords.comPublicity: dave@earsplitcompound.com A&R: bob@brutalpandarecords.comWeb: instagram.com/foreignbody_nyc

The members of Brooklyn-based grimy noise-rockers Foreign Body have been knocking around in different bands for the best part of a decade, often crossing paths during their college years. That’s where they met—at school in New York—and the idea of forming a band together took shape during COVID. Foreign Body was born.

“We wanted to try playing a style of music we felt not many other bands were approaching in a meaningful way,” they say.

They certainly achieved that. The music of Foreign Body is devastatingly ferocious and, dig beyond the uncompromising brutality, it’s also razor sharp and intelligent.

“We are a noise rock band that prioritizes aggression and immediacy,” they say. “Our influences lean towards the heavier, noisier, side of the genre. We have no use for Sonic Youth. When we first started playing there was a more overt post punk sound but that has been thoroughly rooted out over time. Now our sound is closer to orthodox blue collar noise rock bands like Flipper or even some power electronics than something like Unwound. In trimming a lot of the whiny moodiness, our sound has become more unified and intense in the process.”

Earlier this year, Foreign Body signed to Brutal Panda, known for its consistently excellent roster, and released the “Strung Out” single.

“It came about through word-of-mouth from our friends in Couch Slut who passed along the album to the team there,” they say. “Given the label’s roster, especially with bands like Cherubs, who we’ve always held as one of the best of our contemporaries, we thought it was a natural fit. Everyone at the label has been supportive of our music, art, and ideas for the release.”

The guys say that the “Strung Out” single is both the opening track of and the best distillation of their forthcoming full-length album.

“Despite being the first track, it was ultimately one of the last songs we wrote for the album, as we thought it needed something that felt more like a kick in the teeth to start,” they say. “We began working on the album almost immediately after our first album Fixed and in a lot of ways addressed the shortcomings of that record. The sound is simultaneously more dynamic and noisier while throwing in a couple of curveballs which we won’t spoil. Thematically it progresses naturally from themes present in the first—fantasy, vices, and a race to the bottom—while also diving further into subjectivity and a more profound sense of disgust.”The post Foreign Body Signs with Brutal Panda first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.

Diljit Dosanjh breaks his own record for biggest North American tour by a Punjabi artist with $32M Aura runLive Nation-promoted run sold more than 225,000 tickets, according to the concert giant.
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The Story Behind Britney Spears' "...Baby One More Time" — The Idea Everyone Rejected FirstMax Martin wrote it half-asleep. TLC passed. The label wanted animation. Then 16-year-old Britney Spears had a better idea than everyone in the room — and "Baby One More Time" changed pop music forever.