Parts Per Million took a moment to answer our questions about their music and how they make it. Let’s see what they have to say!
Do you have a story behind your artist name?
Paul McSweeney: Part Per Million is a very small quantity of something in a very large amount of something else. One inch in sixteen miles is a part per million. One minute in two years is a part per million. A lot of what I write about is political or societal in nature, I think a lot about ways I’d like to see change in the world. We are a very small part of it, but there’s always a possibility that an ideal or piece of art can inspire and grow into something bigger and make a difference.
Tell us a bit about your music journey. How has it shaped you?
McSweeney: I grew up playing music but got lost along the way. I fell into drugs and really lived a very animalistic lifestyle, isolated from most everyone. This band started after getting my guitar out of a pawn shop. I met a guy surfing who convinced me to share some of my music I had written through the years and it just grew from there. Eventually it led me back to my guitar teacher and another student of his and here we are.
How would you describe your sound to someone unfamiliar with it?
McSweeney I think we tow the line really well of heavy, but maintain ourselves as a rock band. Grungy, Dirty, and at times melodic. Very similar to Alice in Chains.
What drew you to the genre/instruments you’re playing right now?
McSweeney: Some of my favorites are Devin Townsend, Opeth, and Alice in Chains. I try to incorporate vocal harmonies and some dissonance with some heavy all mixed in there but still maintaining a rock band. I always loved metal, but this band has always been a rock band and that’s what I wanted to do. Something simple that you can tap your foot to but that still gets you to go 20 mph over the speed limit.
What inspires you to write music?
McSweeney: Ten minutes of television or social media gives me more than enough to keep writing. I’ve always been frustrated with our way of life. Eat, sleep, work, repeat until death. Consistently bombarded with fear and fuck yous from above, all while arguing with each other.
Would you tell us about your current project, album/EP, or song you’re promoting?
“CTRL ALT DEL” is about artificial intelligence and the impending idea that we will be replaced eventually.
What do you want your listeners to take away from your music?
McSweeney: Anything they want, honestly. I’ve always taken what I need from it and although I always appreciated what it’s about from the musicians perspective, that’s not always what it’s meant to me. Music is interpreted in so many ways by so many different people. It’s a gift. Sometimes it reminds of a specific moment in time, a person, a place, a pain or pleasure we connect it to. I just hope we create something that makes people feel some type of way, and leaves them with that.
Who are your top three artists right now? If that’s not a fair question, what’s your favorite song right now?
McSweeney: Right now, Sleep Token’s new album, Bad Omens, and Between the Buried and Me. For locals, I’d point out Late 9, Major Moment, and Dead Fiction. All of those guys are getting consistent spins from me.
What’s the easiest way for fans to connect with you?
McSweeney: We have a website www.partspermillionband.com. But if it’s to chat with us I’d say Instagram is the easiest way.
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/parts__per__million/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/partspermillionband
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/55JDrRqJdmkWeqZ0hFftv9?si=guZPOK__QGGvUFLqb5cnRQ&dl_branch=1&nd=1
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxnKCkCkBpdTfcdTiN8F87A
What’s next for you?
McSweeney: We have a few more singles to come right behind this one into early next year.
Bio:
Parts Per Million is an independent rock band from the New England area founded by singer/songwriter Paul McSweeney and guitarist Brian Bailey. The band rounded out its line up with bassist Alex Marks and drummer Brad Griffen.
The band uses each member’s abilities and different influences as the catalyst to form a sound surpassing something to be listened to and become something to be experienced. Parts Per Million intertwines the ‘90s-era heavy rock and grunge while incorporating something that is rarely heard in rock music with four-part singing harmonies, soaring guitar solos, and a chemistry between them that generate a sound that’s unlike anything in today’s rock scene.
In 2020 the band received a Video of the Year nomination for their song “2020 Vision” at the Boston Music Awards. In 2021, they followed up with a gripping and powerful video for “Find the Light” and a personal cover of Childish Gambino’s “Me And Your Mama” with the same vision that’s always been in mind – to change hearts and minds to believe there is always a way through adversity, and that something better is waiting on the other side. What followed was 2022’s “Placebo,” which addressed suicide and gun violence, and 2023’s “CTRL ALT DEL,” a blistering takedown of growing AI technology set for release in October.
