#palecurse

aflowerdrops/Mio: Hi B! First off, thank you so much for doing this with me! I’m super excited to discuss you and your music with you. Please introduce yourself to our readers.

B: Hi Mio! Thank you so much for having me! We are super excited to be releasing new music, and doing this interview with you! My name’s B, and I am the frontman in palecurse!

I’m curious about the story/inspiration behind the band’s name. How did you come up with it?

The band name actually came to me one night, when I wasn’t really trying to think of one. I just honestly thought the two words sounded cool together haha! But I typed in palecurse anywhere I could to see if it existed, and it didn’t! So I felt it was meant to be. Upon researching I found something in sort of medieval made up lore that a palecurse was a twisted and unrecognizable soul. So I felt that was sort of a dark beautiful way to represent humans, and I ran with it! It felt like the perfect fit.

What were all of you doing before palecurse, and what made you start the band? Have any of you been in bands before?

So I was in a band for about 10 years prior to this one! We toured a lot of the country (US) and I loved it so much! When that band ended I wanted to keep going, but honestly, I felt pretty lost. I was unsure I would be able to start over again and be confident in that choice. But I felt the music I had worked on was worth hearing and wanted to share it with others. My goals have always been to be a light in the dark. So palecurse came to be! It’s given me new love for music and my community, as well as brought together old friends in our scene who are now part of this with me. I am very excited for what’s to come!

How would you describe the essence of your band’s sound?

I definitely think Emo/rock! We have a punk influence too, but this band feels more on the dark side and I just love that so much!

What were your inspirations (musically or otherwise) in your childhood or in the early days of the band, and have they changed? What inspires you these days?

So this has always been an easy one for me haha! My Chemical Romance is my favorite band. They’re the reason I started playing music! I remember seeing previews for ‘Helena’ when I was only 14, and years later they’re still my biggest inspiration. The only thing that’s changed for me is I have been heavily influenced by Japanese/Korean music. I’m bringing Japanese visuals/singing into the next album after this one releases!

The cover art for “Duplicity” features art by Junji Ito. Does anime/manga inspire you in your music or more visually? How do you connect your visuals to your music?

I would definitely say that anime inspires me big time! I am a tattoo artist as well, and it has greatly changed my love for art/music in a really great way. I feel like the darker anime like Junji [Ito’s work] and many others I enjoy, come out in our visuals and ideas I have for music videos while relating to the overall vibe of PC. I’ve always enjoyed the macabre, but incorporating anime into that is the perfect marriage to me!

I really enjoy “Keep Us Ill”, can you talk a bit about that song?

I’ve always felt songs mean different things to different people which is what makes art so amazing in my opinion. ‘Keep us ill’ was written as a representation of being abandoned/lied to, then said person trying to worm their way back in your life. I felt like the person finally understands that we are all hollow at times but they’re stronger for realizing it and can move forward. It has, I feel, a lot more to it than that, but that’s the gist! My hope is that this song, or a song from this upcoming album reminds people of their worth and strength to keep going; no matter the situation!

The bridge part is amazing, and so are B’s vocals. What was your journey like learning how to sing (so well!!) and for the rest of the band, your instruments?

You’re very kind Mio! I’ve been singing since I was a little girl. I don’t really know if I had some moment where I realized I could maybe sing, but I’ve enjoyed doing it from a very young age. I remember when I was maybe 10 my grandparents getting me a karaoke machine haha! But I sang in my church growing up, my first band and now in palecurse. It’s always felt like my calling, so I’m going to continue to pursue that! Andy plays bass, Josh is on guitar and Danny is our drummer! I’m really stoked about our lineup!

You have really exciting stuff coming up soon, please tell the readers about the new song! What’s it about?

This next song that’s coming out 1.7.25 is called ‘fever’. It’s actually my favorite on the record! It was the very first song written on this upcoming album, and is also my favorite to play. It’s written to depict a fever dream. The manipulation from one person to another. Upon the character realizing they’re being manipulated, they work their way through this dream to figure out what’s real and what isn’t. They then “defeat” or overcome the other person, realize they DO know who they are, and they never needed the other person to begin with. This will later be a music video! So I won’t elaborate too much on it now! :)

I’m looking forward to the release! Thank you again for speaking with me. Is there anything else you wanna say to the readers? If there’s any upcoming shows and stuff you wanna let people know about, feel free to mention those here.

So we will be releasing a full album including the songs that are out, in April! We have upcoming shows in May! They are still TBD, but we will post about them as soon as they’re official! But Mio, I wanted to thank you for your time, kindness and asking to do this interview! I had a great time doing it and sharing a little more about palecurse. It’s my hope that in 2025, we grow, and meet even more people at shows this year! I want this to be a light in a dark place and help people realize they’re not alone; thank you again. We’re all in this race of life together!