DENIM CULTURE: PARACHUTE

Concept & Direction Jan-Willem Dikkers

Images by Michael Mundy

Client: Amazon

 

 

Parachute
could be considered a television success story. Their smooth, melodic pop sound is the catchy soundtrack for two Nivea commercials, as well as episodes of MTV’s The City and several CW shows. This exposure helped send their debut album, Losing Sleep, to number one on the Amazon charts. The band is now touring to support their latest release, The Way It Was, which includes cool collaborations with artists like Lady Antebellum.

Amazon: Jeans can be all things to people, from a status symbol to a memory trigger. What do they represent to you?
Will: Jeans represent a comfort zone and familiarity. Something that I know I can count on.

A: Do you recall your first pair of jeans?
Kit: Pipes or whatever Belk carried back in the ’90s, but I definitely wished I had JNCOs like Alex.
Johnny: OshKosh overalls; still rock ’em on my chicken farm.

A: Do you have a favorite pair of jeans or jeans style? What do yours say about you?
Nate: Favorite jeans are Nudie Thin Finns. Not sure what they say about me, but they’re comfortable and don’t stretch out.
J: Levi 510s, cause I’m blue collar.

A: What denim style do you wish would go away?
N: I don’t see what is flattering about the new high-waist, saggy crotch, tapered leg, ankle cuff jeans that are out these days. That combines all the worst elements from jean styles all in one ugly cut.

A: In your opinion, which public figure looks best in jeans?
W: Zac Efron is always wearing rad jeans. Barack Obama could use just a little tighter [fit] and he’d be fly.
K: Jennifer Aniston in some of those Smartwater ads.

A: Who would you never want to see in a pair?
W: Biff from Back to the Future.

A: What is your definition of success?
N: My definition of musical success is three-fold: to release great music, to play great live shows, and to have a large fan base that loves both the music and the shows.

A: If it’s true that success is both a blessing and a curse, what is the down side to the accomplishments you have achieved?
K: In our line of work, success comes from logging serious hours out on the road doing what we love to do: playing shows for our fans. Finding enough time for our loved ones has been one of the greater challenges.

A: Who inspires you to do what you do? What do you most like about your line of work?
W: I love seeing other artists raise the bar, then trying to match or exceed that with our own great music. That, and the fans.
K: Bands like our hometown heroes, the Dave Matthews Band, that have put in the hard work where it counts. The groups that have stuck with it through the long hauls and terrible diets and come out on the other side accomplished, grounded and well respected.

A: What decade currently piques your interest and how does it inform your work?
N: I think the band has definitely been digging some ’80s music hard these days. The rock albums like U2’s Boy and Unforgettable Fire, Springsteen, Peter Gabriel’s So. These are all timeless albums that are still killing it 25 years later.

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