Parade Rainer

By Julia Oller
The Columbus Dispatch

Posted Jan 25, 2018 at 5:00 AM

Hard work doesn’t faze the members of punk foursome Parade Rainer.
They spent 17 songs singing about the daily grind on their sophomore album, aptly titled “Work.”
Not that they’re opposed to having a little fun.
Guitarist/vocalist Chris Lyden formed the band four years ago as a one-off passion project, recruiting friends Eric Butler (guitar, vocals), Nigel Verboon (bass, vocals) and Joey Romano (drums) to record a couple of songs.
“They liked it a lot, and I was kind of surprised they wanted to do it,” Lyden, 33, said. “So here we are, years later.”
Lyden spoke in advance of Parade Rainer’s album release show tonight at Spacebar.

Q: Why write an album all about work?
A: I think that work is an ubiquitous term the way we thought about it, where you can have an attitude about work that can be really pervasive. Especially as we get older, it’s easier to think of everything as work. That’s an idea we wanted to play with.

Q: But did you have a good time making it?
A: I guess we do try to be a little fun in that we try to be enjoyable to listen to and watch, but we also like to use the fact that punk as a genre is often thought of as relatively fun or sophomoric. We try to use that sort of a genre as an interesting way to tell a story that wasn’t necessarily very fun.

Q: Why make a punk album now?
A: It’s always been a genre that — although it’s been popular in the past — it’s been good at being around when it’s not at its most popular. I think that’s when punk is at its best. It’s sort of a fundamentally not-cool genre, to me at least.

Q: Speaking of work, how has being the father of a 1-year-old son impacted being in a band?
A: I think it’s maybe overrated that you can’t do some of those things. It’s just a matter of prioritizing it. If anything, being a parent and in a band makes it more of a commitment when you’re in a band.

— Julia Oller - The Columbus Dispatch