Quick-fire Questions: 10 minutes with Parastatic
Up in Newcastle, Get Carter has wormed its way into lore. Scenes of Michael Caine shuffling along the High Level Bridge are part of the cultural tapestry of the area, as was Gateshead’s Trinity Square car park where the famed shoot-out took place. Alas, it’s no longer there now—its rubbly grave, a reflection of the bipartisan attitudes to brutalism in Britain. This is the theme that rings out on anabolic shoegaze band Parastatic’s latest album.
With propulsive power, the Newcastle band authoritatively utter “tear it down” as the racing whirl of unceasing music reflects this nation’s unrelenting wave of judgement and top-down action that quashes any thoughts of an alternative. In a raucous melee, the record captures the stark realism of Tish Murtha, the slow, unkempt erosion of the Tyne Bridge, and there might even be a hint of the Gallowgate roar in there, too.
Speaking about the lead single ‘Tear It Down’ and its connection to the region and the brutalism that inspired it, the band explained, “We saw the climax of this song representing the fury that some people had towards brutalist buildings finally coming to a conclusion as buildings are demolished, detonated and deconstructed.”
That sense of creation and calamity is echoed in the gathering repetition of the building song. “As the song plays from its calm beginnings, we hear the fervour of protest and anger rise in Late Girl’s spoken word delivery,” they explain. The band’s first new music in ten years, Concrete Reborn, is filled with purpose and artfulness like, well, like brutalism itself.
As the group gathered to head off and perform a run of shows, we caught up with them and squeezed a few quick-fire questions into their busy schedule. Below are Jon Garrard’s rather concise thoughts on everything from The Beatles to the best pub in Newcastle. Enjoy.
Quick-fire Questions with Parastatic:
1. What song would you want played at your funeral?
“‘Blue Marbled Elm Tree’ – King Creosote”.
2. What was the first gig you ever went to?
“Metallica on their Black album tour at Whitley Bay Ice Rink”.
3. What’s your favourite brutalist building?
“Victor Pasmore’s Apollo Pavilion”.
4. If you had to get a lyric tattoo, what would it say?
“‘I’m going to try and see everything as a god damn miracle’, from ‘Bagpipe Blues’ by Tess Parks”.
5. What is the best pub in the world?
“The Cumberland Arms – Byker, Newcastle”.
6. What is the best restaurant in Newcastle?
“That I’ve been to: Boquerones tapas”.
7. Which album have you probably listened to most in your life?
“‘Harvest’ – Neil Young”.
8. You can ensure one person sits down to listen to Concrete Reborn; who would you want it to be?
“Donald Trump, so he can have 40 minutes off trying to destroy the world”.
9. What has been your favourite album of 2025 so far?
“Not been enough of 2025 yet, so I’ll say Tess Park’s Pomegranate from 2024, please. Superb”.
10. What was the last great book you read?
“Man and his Symbols by Carl Jung”.
11. What is one conspiracy theory you kind of believe in?
“Not a single one”.
12. What is the most annoying pop song of recent times?
“Not sure I find any music annoying”.
13. Do you believe in ghosts?
“Not ghosts, but spirits, yes”.
14. What is the ultimate hangover cure?
“Prevention is better than cure!”
15. Are The Beatles overrated?
“Definitely not, though the rest of the band disagree”.
