by Kenneth Morton

Based out of the country of Belgium, Beautiful Dying Day present a mesmerizing kaliedoscope of sound that is wondrous to behold. Core members Parker Deal and James Falck have been pursuing the band for three years now, enduring a revolving door of musicians while unleashing two truly independent releases. Best described as an imaginative amalgamation of screamo and hardcore, here is a recent interview Highwire Daze recently conducted with this dynamic duo...

Where is the band from and what is the music scene like there? You don’t really hear that much about Belgium.
Parker: The band is based in Belgium, however we intend to re-route ourselves later and move somewhere in the states because of various reasons.
James: Yeah, one of the reasons is because the music scene in Belgium is not what you would call ‘agreeing’ with our genre. People tend to listen to rap or various kinds of dance music (techno, etc…) But at times you get some good audiences out there anyways; it helps to open your mind to other kinds of music.

How did the both of you meet and when did you both find out you had this musical chemistry?
Parker: School. :P James said to me one day ‘Hey Parker! If I learn guitar… We could start a band!’ I was like ‘woohoo?’ either way. At that point James didn’t play the guitar, so it didn’t seem like anything was really gonna come out of it; but sure enough he learned / I improved, and we are now the founding members of Beautiful Dying Day.

How frustrating has it been to have a revolving door of musicians in the band?
James: It’s not actually all that ‘frustrating’, or at least to teach the new guys. For drum parts, Parker usually just teaches them, and bass parts we write up the tabs. It is however irritating that there is no one that really can be permanent over here. But we learn to manage.

How important is Christianity in your music? Would you consider Beautiful Dying Day a Christian band?
Parker: I would say that it is very important- I’ve been a Christian practically all my life, and have always looked for a way of ‘expressing’ that; and there’s no better way of doing that than through the thing that I love (that’s music btw :P).
James: I became a Christian a couple of years ago, everyone else in my family is basically atheist, which made it somewhat difficult for me to express myself; but my mom has interesting views so we talk about this stuff sometimes.
Parker: Well, I mean in essence, yeah, I definitely would call us a Christian band. Our lyrics tend to have to do with God, our influence is lil’ baby Jesus, and so on.

Where do you get the ideas for some of your lyrics? Please cite a few song examples and what they are about.
Parker: Well, there’s no specific ‘place’ I get my lyrics from (however, there is a place where I go that I write lyrics better in, for no apparent reason). But they are generally just reflected from the struggles, and concerns and so on that are going on in my life when I’m writing the song. Half of the time, they are an emotion that I feel for no reason that I can understand/know; but those themes/topics seem to be recurring, so I guess they’re important to me.

What is a live Beautiful Dying Day show like to those of us who have yet to see you play.
James: Usually Energetic. The shows we’ve done have been pretty fun, but sadly our fan-base is generally an online one; so we don’t have a very concentrated fan-base in a particular area. (Especially in Belgium, because this isn’t a style very ‘natural’ for Belgians to enjoy, and stuff…)

Have you ever opened for any bigger bands? Who were they and what was the experience like?
Parker: Hahaha.. uh.. Well, we almost did! There was a band that asked us to open for them and a few others (festival type-thing) Such as: Emmure, Misery Signals, and Open The Skies. He never got back to us however, so we never did it.

Parker, please tell me about your solo work and how it differs from your music in Beautiful Dying Day.
Parker: Ha! It’s exactly the same! That was a complete lie! :D Well, I really like doing acoustic stuff too, because that’s what I first learned on, and I have a passion for that too! I plan on being with the band until my mid twenties, or early thirties, and then “gracefully” leaving and only doing my acoustic stuff. (www.myspace.com/parkerdealmusic for more info)

Have you had any label interest at this point?
Parker: Well, I saw the label of this one apple-sauce jar, and let me tell you! It was friggin’ awesome! Hahaha, just joshin’ :P
James: Well, we have had various smaller indie labels that have taken interest in us, but not ones that we would really consider.
Parker: And plus, there’s the fact that we’re in Belgium, so that would make it harder for the really small ones cuz they’d have to pay for a bunch more stuff. (planes, etc…)

In his videos, Parker speaks perfect English without any trace of accent. Are you guys originally from the States? If so, how did you wind up in Belgium?
Parker: I’m actually from Kazakhstan… …I lied again. Yeah! I’m actually from the States, but I grew up in France, and I’ve only lived in America two years of my existence; and that would be Virginia Beach! (represent!) I love it in the States, but I also really like it here. I moved here because my parents are missionaries, so my dad came to plant a church (really religious seeds, I guess) :P
James: I speak perfect English too! (yay) I, however, am not American! I am half English, half German; but I don’t speak a word of German. My dad moved here from Cyprus (I lived there for 5 years before here) for his work.

How would you describe your music to an elderly church lady?
Parker: The Beatles with a twist… Except this twist will sound like death to you. *smile!!*
James: Have you heard music that makes your dentures fall out? Well here it is! Surprise!!
God: You like Christian music? Awesome! You’ll love this!!
Parker: (God wanted to write that :P or… we did, but said it was him)...

Any strange or unusual Myspace stories that you could share?
Parker: Not really! Myspace and Purevolume are our best means of getting out there, and they are awesome!

What’s up next for Beautiful Dying Day?
Parker: We’re making all sorts of new music, as much as we can, and as much as we want! I actually produce and record our stuff, so it is completely free to record for us, which makes it a lot easier to make more music! (Which you guys will hopefully be able to hear soon!)
James: Indeed, we have a new CD called And Yes, There Will Be Screaming (ironic, no?), which will be relatively heavier than Sunrise, Sunset, but hopefully just as pleasant and enjoyable... :-)

Any messages for people who might be into checking your music?
James: Don’t accept car rides from strangers!
Parker: (Unless you’re a little kid and they have an ice cream cone!)
James: Don’t listen to him - he’s delusional...

That was Beautiful Dying Day, the end!

BEAUTIFUL DYING DAY links

Beautiful Dying Day on Myspace: Beautiful Dying Day Official Myspace Page!
The Highwire Daze Home Page: Return to the Main Page!

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