Parasite (band)

Parasite are a band from Surrey, England and were formed in 1998.

1998 to 2003: Early Years

In December 1998, Parasite was formed by Adam Scanlon and Deok-jin Joo, who had previously been in a band called Rapid Fire at school. They were joined shortly after by Rupert Handley, and then by drummer Murray Boyton and keyboard player Patrick Martin.This lineup was short-lived, however, as in 1999 Joo moved back to his home country of South Korea, and keyboard player/percussionist/vocalist Ian Moore joined to replace Martin, who, according to the band's official website, left after "going insane".In 2000 Moore left the band, and the year after both Rupert Handley and Murray Boyton followed him, leaving Adam Scanlon on his own.Not discouraged, he successfully recorded the first Parasite demo, the dark and bizarre "Seismic Activity EP", which consisted of songs and ideas accumulated over the previous few years, and soon he had a new bandmate in the form of bassist Iain Ballantine.The duo added a drum machine to their sound to make up for the lack of a drummer, and released a handful of new self-produced singles and EPs (the "Seismic Activity EP", and the "Infrared" and "Infrared Remix" singles).In 2003, the band's first full-length album, "The Infection" was finished after 5 years of planning and recording, and a third version of "Infrared" was released as a single.Shortly afterwards, Rupert Handley rejoined the band on lead guitar.

2004 to 2006: Scanlon and Saunders

The band's second EP, the "That's Our Name...EP", was released in early 2004, and featured songs recorded throughout the previous year. In March of that year, the band became a duo again after the departure of Ballantine, who had decided he wasn't committed enough to the music. Typically, the lineup continued to be unstable throughout the entire year, as a month later they were joined by drummer Marcus Belassie, and in September by bassist/guitarist/vocalist Will Saunders. At Saunders' suggestion, the band began to practise at the Scout Hut in Shalford, notable for being the place where The Stranglers used to practise before they became well known. It was not long before Belassie decided he wasn't interested any more and left. 2004 closed with two new independent releases, the "That's Our Game...EP" (including another version of "Infrared") and the "You Wouldn't Believe Me...If It Wasn't True" single.In early 2005, Rupert Handley left the band again, leaving Parasite as a duo once again. A month later, the band's second full-length album, "The Ancient Modern", was finished. The second single from this album was "Shoulder To Cry On". The band began to perform live more frequently, trying out new material that the Scanlon/Saunders partnership was now producing. The band's third album, "The Spring Collection", was released late in the year. Saunders departed for Cambodia until early 2006, and Scanlon began studying for a four-year Chemistry degree at the University of East Anglia. In November, another single was released, "Bright And Bubbly".

Since Summer 2006 the band have been collaborating with producer Ben Turk on what they describe as 'the best-sounding music we've ever done', namely new material and new versions of old tracks. The first fruits of this collaboration appeared on the limited edition EP "Selection Pack", only available at gigs around the Christmas 2006 period.

2007 to present: Out With The New

In the Summer of 2007 the band made their first foray into the world of commercially available downloadable music with the download-only single "Master Yoga", available on itunes around June. The band used the experience gained from this release to prepare for the follow up "You Wouldn't Believe Me... If It Wasn't True", released on 29th October 2007 and described as "sardonic, doom laden and mesmerising" by subba-cultcha.com. Both tracks were from the debut "proper" album under the title of "Out With The New" available on CD and download from 19th May 2008. Amidst these releases, on 9th January 2008, Will Saunders amicably left the band after a successful stint lasting for more than three years. He was immediately replaced by Dan Stobbart. A third single from "Out With The New", "Infrared" was released on the band's own Parasite Stuff Recordings Ltd label on the 4th February 2008. On 24th March 2008 Kevin Lennon joined on bass, whilst Stobbart left on the 27th.

Current Line Up

*Adam Scanlon - Vocals, Synth, Rhythm-machine et al
*Kevin Lennon - Bass

Discography

Albums

* Out With The New (available 19th May 2008)

ingles and EPs

* Master Yoga (2007)
* You Wouldn't Believe Me... If It Wasn't True (2007)
* Infrared (2008)

Demo Albums

* The Infection (2003)
* The Ancient Modern (2005)
* The Spring Collection (2005)

Demo Singles and EPs

* The Seismic Activity EP (2001)
* Infrared (2002)
* Infrared Remix (2002)
* Infrared (Rerecording) (2003)
* That's Our Name...EP (2004)
* ...That's Our Game EP (2004)
* You Wouldn't Believe Me... If It Wasn't True (2004)
* Shoulder To Cry On (2005)
* Bright And Bubbly (2005)
* Selection Pack EP (limited edition)(2006)

External links

* [http://www.parasiteofficial.co.uk/ Official Site]
* [http://www.myspace.com/parasiteofficial Parasite on myspace]
* [http://www.purevolume.com/parasiteuk Parasite on purevolume]