Interview | Pascalwillnotsurvivethis

Following on from our exclusive premiere of new single 'Gravestone At Surf Point' yesterday, we sat down for an exclusive interview with Pascalwillnotsurvivethis frontman Danny McClelland to talk lockdown life, remaining constantly creative in a changing world and whats coming next...

Hey Danny! Thanks for chatting to us, how you keeping? Is lockdown life what you expected it to be?

I’m keeping well as can be! Never expected a lockdown scenario to happen in my life so living through it is honestly super surreal. Ash and I’ve been keeping busy as much as we can while we can during it, but interested to see how everything unfolds.

‘Gravestone At Surf Point’ and your other new single, ‘Tallulah’, is a beautiful way to reannounce Pascalwillnotsurvivethis for 2020. Stylistically, they’re pole aparts, but it works. What made you pick those two songs?

I always want there to be a place for everything in my music! That goes for genre, EP’s, live recordings, albums and random lo-fi singles. Whether that’s detrimental to people’s experience listening to PWNST I have no clue i’m just happy to be able to do it.

The ‘Castaway’ EP has opened your music up a whole new audience. Were you surprised at the reaction to that release?

Honestly yeah! There’s always a thought in my head when releasing music that just because it’s cathartic to me, it doesn't mean people are going to like these particular songs or even like them enough to go to shows, but Castaway definitely brought in new supporters, our show at The Belfast Empire was the biggest gig we’ve ever played as PWNST, and I’ve definitely played the empire to 2 people before so for that to be packed out just reassured me that something definitely is resonating with someone.

Pascal’s music has always packed an emotional punch, do you ever find it difficult to be so honest in your songwriting?

I still get really scared showing a song to the band or my friends if it’s lyrically heavy, or just written from a dark place. I used to be more terrified of it before people started talking to me at shows or reaching out online to relate to me, those are the conversations I never forget because of how much I longed for them.

Does it, perhaps, make it all the more special to witness the impact those songs have when you play them live?

Oh yeah definitely, I try to interact with the audience a lot too even if there’s not that many people there, I want our sets to feel more like conversation, i’m not afraid to crack a joke with you but i’m also not afraid to speak out about mental health, I’ve had time or two where specifically the audience has sang back the end lyrics to our song ‘Treetops’ and I’ve straight up cried at that.

What was your thought process behind the new video for ‘Gravestone At Surf Point’ and what was going through your mind when you wrote it?

With ‘GASP’ I wanted to highlight both the anxiety and weird creative drive I’ve had over quarantine, we set ourselves a goal to see how much we could do for a makeshift release in 24 hour time frame, we recorded live with drums and guitar in our living room, I tracked in bass with my octave pedal and Ash’s girlfriend, Sophie Duff-McKenzie provided some beautiful harmonies as our honorary quarantine member. The day after we sat with a bunch of vintage clips to see how we could make a tangible music video using just them for absolute giggles.

To be so young, you’ve contributed a lot to Irish music and the scene over here. When you look back on your days playing in WASPS and Born Only Yesterday, how do you feel those experiences have influenced your music now?

I think they were quintessential, I don't write like most other solo artists do with their bands where they’ll bring them parts to play, I’ll usually bring them the structure and all my parts done unless it’s a small detail or something like ‘Castaway’ which I wrote in america with Jamie Hewitt. From being in both BOY and WASPS I learned that other people’s creativity is almost essential if you want your band set up to sound like it has life.

Do you find it difficult remaining constantly creative?

Honestly I would never say I am constantly creative! I try to be as much as possible but I’ve come to appreciate turning my brain off so i don't burn myself out!

Your lofi aesthetic has worked beautifully for Pascal so far, what was it like making ‘Castaway’ while on the road with Jealous of the Birds? How tough was that process?

It was honestly really chill! Jamie and I both used our days off to just work on recording it and figuring out how to use an old iPhone to make this possible, we ran into hurdles a few times but the main worry was that we weren’t going to get it recorded in time to have it completely finished in america but we did and even though it’s not the biggest achievement in the world, to Jamie and myself it was a surreal moment in our lives that warmed our hearts so dearly.

You’ve written a lot of songs, for a lot of different bands. Do you have a favourite or one that means the most to you?

I guess the song that means the most to me since its birth has been Tallulah! So much so that I even named a guitar after it, I sang that everyday after writing it in New Jersey, pining for the comfort of my friends and family as I experienced loss so far away from home. Encoring that song by myself at The Belfast Empire was the single most scariest moment of my life and I loved every second.

You’ve also collaborated a lot with the electronic producer Blxxd. How did that come about? Would you like to work together again?

Syeva is one of my oldest friends from our home in the north coast and really specifically there was a Little Arcadia show in The Atlantic where he was playing with sample pads and I actually pulled him aside after and told him what he was doing was very gnarly and then years later we both have solo monikers on the go, he asked me to do vocals on Tangerine, after working on that and having a class time doing so we decided to do an EP and to answer your last question I would love to work with Syeva again 100% I think he’s a very talented underrated artist and producer, an absolute champion of electronic music in Belfast.

And finally Danny, as a full time musician it must be exhausting keeping so many musical balls in the air. What’s your next big goal in mind for Pascalwillnotsurvivethis?

Our next EP is called ‘Nefelibata’ and focuses on the death of inspiration and pursuing creativity through that. Produced by Matthew McIvore and Ash Hamilton, It was recorded by High Voltage Productions at Zool Records in Belfast. Once we’re able to regroup as a team we can finally start the video production for that EP and get it ready for release, and I for one am so excited to see what energy myself and the pwnst gang bring to the table when it’s time.