The duo of Harry Parsons and Elliott Butt (Sweetboy Musik) in Ctrl+V (pronounced Paste) are like a rock band trapped inside of a nightclub. The Newfoundland rave punk band is influenced by darkwave, hard rock, and a dash of punk music.
Their song, “Curtain,” is about a person being infatuated with someone, and not being able to do anything about it. Parsons was drawn to the symbolism of a curtain and the visual of a curtain closing at the end of a play. Thus, the storyline of the song became a fictional play, in which one character is battling for the affection of another character.
Once the song was written, Ctrl+V sought the guidance of Ted Sablay for feedback (touring guitarist with The Killers and a mentor of Parsons), and had the song mixed by Mark Needham (who mixed The Killers’ debut album, Hot Fuss).
“This song is more or less a ballad, but it’s produced like a heavy/hard-rock song,” says Parsons. “That production style is what Ctrl+V is all about… we take really sweet, romantic, glittery sounds and serve them up heavy.”
We caught up with Ctrl+V below!
What can you share with readers about your new project?
Our band name is Ctrl+V, and it’s pronounced Paste. Our sound is made up of heavy rock music, created using mostly synthetic sounds. I like to call it rave punk. Ctrl+V is a studio project for the time being, with the plan to soon bring our songs to the stage, and perform live and tour. My friend Elliott, who goes by the artist name Sweetboy Musik, co-writes most of the songs with me, and also produces. Ctrl+V kind of came about by accident in 2018, which is when I started dabbling in writing electronic music. I had no plan at all in mind, but it quickly became a real project when my good friend Devon Milley really loved a track that I sent him, and wanted to lay down some vocals on it. That song became our first release, Dusk Rider. I come from a background of playing in bands, as a drummer. I had toured and recorded a lot with different bands, but I felt something really special happen when I came over to the electronic world. I felt like myself and Elliott were able to land on a sound really quickly, which has become the Ctrl+V quintessential sound – a combination of a rock band, but done with synthetic sounds and samples. A rock band trapped in a nightclub! You can hear this on our newest single that just came out, Curtain.
How does this release compare with your other projects you had in the past?
As mentioned, I come from a rock background. I think the main thing that differs from past projects, is the way in which the songs were written and created. In the past, it was usually 3 or 4 people in a room together, just jamming out ideas. With Ctrl+V, I will write an idea, or usually several ideas on my own, in Reason. Once I feel like I have a solid demo of the song fleshed out, I will show it to Elliott, and he helps me pick out the best ideas, We will then usually get in the same room together and start building the demos into the ‘real’ version of the song. I love jamming and I miss playing drums and playing in bands, but I gotta say that I love writing songs the way that we do with Ctrl+V. It’s effective and efficient!
What about this single makes you most proud?
I really love the vibe of our new single Curtain. I am proud of the emotional whirlwind that the song turned into. And I am really proud of the lyrics in this song. Writing lyrics is kind of new to me, but writing this song taught me a lot.
Was there a specific goal you were trying to accomplish with this release?
The only real goal was to hopefully find some people that enjoy the song, and that will become fans of Ctrl+V.
What inspires you to create music? What motivates you to keep going?
I think the main factor is the drive to ultimately make Ctrl+V a live, touring band. It started as a project, and we do take it seriously, but it still kinda feels like a bedroom project… because it kind of is! But I want to take it to the stage and play shows. So that’s my main motivation. Apart from that, I love writing songs. I’ve only delved into songwriting in the past few years, even though I had dabbled with it previously when I was a member of bands. Figuring out what makes a song great is very inspirational for me.
If you could collaborate with anyone – dead or alive, famous or unknown – who would it be and why? If it’s an indie/DIY artist, please include a link so readers can check them out.
Theoretically… Matt Skiba, Ville Valo, Lana Del Rey, Julian Casablancas. I say theoretically because I don’t know how good I would be at collaborating with people who I don’t know. I would love to just ask them to write me a song or something. The reason why I would want to collaborate is simply because they are some of my favourite songwriters, and I think we could make something cool together.
What was the last song you listened to? Favorite all-time bands/artists?
The new song by the Hives, called Bogus Operandi. All time fav bands are Alkaline Trio, The Strokes, HIM, The Killers, and Lana Del Rey.
Where is the best place to find you and stay connected?
Instagram is the best place. We have some other social places, but we are by far the most active on Instagram, so come check us out at @ctrlvmusic for updates and cat content. You can also stream our songs at our Bandcamp, https://listentoctrlv.bandcamp.com/ or any other of your preferred streaming platforms.
I really appreciate your time. Is there anything you’d like to share before we sign off?
Thank you kindly for speaking with us. We look forward to meeting your readers and future rave punk fans on our socials. Dial us in on your Instagrams. Have yourselves a wonderful day.
