Parcels are an Australian electropop five-piece formed in Byron Bay, Australia, in 2014. Today they are based in Berlin, Germany. The band's line-up is composed of keyboardist Louie Swain, keyboardist/guitarist Patrick Hetherington, bassist Noah Hill, drummer Anatole "Toto" Serret, and guitarist Jules Crommelin.
Signed to French label Kitsuné, the band rose to prominence after collaborating with the electronic duo Daft Punk on the production and writing of their 2017 single "Overnight".
In 2018 Parcels released their self-titled debut record with singles "Tieduprightnow", "Bemyself", "Lightenup" and "Withorwithout". Parcels describe themselves as "sort of a blend between electro-pop and disco-soul".
Formation
Band members Swain, Hetherington, Hill, Serret, and Crommelin all grew up in the beach town of Byron Bay, New South Wales located on the east coast of Australia, known for its bohemian, surf and anti-development culture.
The members attended nearby high schools. Swain, Hetherington, Hill, and Crommelin attended Cape Byron Rudolf Steiner School, Serret attended Byron Bay High School.
Music before Parcels
The band members were involved in a host of musical projects together before the formation of Parcels, playing music together in and out of different bands since they were 13 years old. They played in different groups experimenting with genres of funk, folk, metal and bluegrass. Serret and Crommelin were the only two members of Parcels who had not previously played music together.
Members Swain and Hetherington had formed as an acoustic folk duo named 'Louie and Patrick' releasing two digital albums via Bandcamp, 'We Thought A Kitten Might Lift Our Mother's Spirits' in April 2013 and 'We Are Not Convinced There Has Been Any Significant Improvement' in May 2014.
Swain, Hetherington and non-Parcels members Merryn Boller and Nick Scales had formed as a roots group, uploading to national youth broadcaster Triple J's unearthed website as "The Sugar Spinners' in 2013. The Sugar Spinners won the 2013 BluesFest busking competition.
Swain, Hetherington, Serret and non-Parcels member Jade Deegan formed as a rock, roots band as 'Lifeline'. The band received airplay on Triple J's unearthed station and won a spot at the 2012 Splendour in the Grass line-up.
Swain, Hethrington, Hill and aforementioned non-Parcels vocalist Merryn Boller formed as 'Potato Potato' receiving airplay on national youth broadcaster Triple J's unearthed station and winning a spot at the 2013 Splendour in the Grass line-up.
In their final year of high school in 2014, the five boys, Swain, Hetherington, Hill, Serret and Crommelin, formed as Parcels. The story behind the name 'Parcels' differs from source to source. Consistently, the members report having taken the name from an old train sign that resided at Swain's parents' house. In one interview the sign is said to be seen in Swain's parent's pastry cafè. Another says that Swain stole the sign from their local train station and hung it in his basement.
Byron to Berlin
After six months of playing shows in Australia the band relocated to Berlin, Germany. The band notes watching a video in high school of band The Whitest Boy Alive performing in a shop window in Mitte, Germany as influential to the move, stating that the "huge crowd on the street [...] was super cool". Berlin is known for its culture of music creativity being a hub for new wave, techno, electro and hip-hop and its distinctive subculture flair. The lure of existing in the German city's melting-pot of music and culture has attracted many international artists including David Bowie and Nick Cave, two artists that Parcels has noted as influential to their sound.
The band lived in a small one-bedroom apartment for the first three months with "three [band members] on the bed two on the couch".
For almost the entire first year in Berlin the band did not play any live shows. Their first performance was put together at a small café in Berlin.
History
2015–2016: Clockscared EP and working with Daft Punk
Parcels released their first EP Clockscared on 2 March 2015 while they were starting out in electronic music. The EP has six listed tracks and was an independent release made with a single condenser mic.
The release of Clockscared caught the attention of Parisian label Kitsuné, which signed the band in 2015.
In 2016, Parcels played their first show in France at Paris' Les Bains bar with Daft Punk in the audience. The duo invited Parcels to their studio. Parcels say that they had not initially planned to create a song with Daft Punk, "it was just like, let's get creative together and see what happens".