Imagine an instrument takes the world by storm and introduces exceptional, never-before-perceived sounds, spearheaded by avant-garde musical figureheads. This is what electronic duo PARISI have achieved with Roli’s Seaboard – an ‘infinitely expressive’ MIDI controller, the sound of which they brought to the masses via household name collaborations with Ed Sheeran, Fred again.. (including on defining Gen Z lockdown anthem “We’ve Lost Dancing”), Will.i.am and more.
Like Elton John and the piano, Jimi Hendrix and the guitar, Louis Armstrong and the trumpet, the electronic Italian duo define their instrument’s sound. However there’s also a slight difference. Their musical tool is completely new, with vast unexplored potential. They use it to navigate electronic music into new, more organic sounding territories, packed with emotion.
“We’re bringing something so different and unique,” says Marco Parisi – who is joined by his brother, Giampaolo “Jack” Parisi, in completing the electro duo. Using sensor embedded keys rather than levers, the Seaboard allows for articulate expression. It’s electronic, but very alive – its acoustic-like trait complimenting perfectly with the brothers’ scholarly musical upbringing.
Raised in Salerno, Italy, both Marco and Jack were around music from the beginning. Their father, a professional world-touring keyboard player, introduced them to music from a very early age. “We had a room in the house full of instruments. We had an acoustic piano. Speakers. Vinyl players,” explains Marco. Aged two and a half, he learned he could play perfect pitch.
“I was trying to play along with records my dad was playing on vinyl. Phil Collins. Sting. Aretha Franklin. Chicago. Mainly pop stuff,” he says, “and I was getting really good. As soon as something played, I could match it.” One day his dad asked him to pair different notes, which Marco completed with ease. Since then, he says, he “hasn’t missed a note”. This rare talent runs in their musical family, with their father’s brother also playing pitch perfect in his music.
On the other side, Jack’s entry into music came via the drums. He played in a soundproofed room in their dad’s music shop in Salerno. But later on, it was DJing that really took his fancy.
He played “mainly house music: the Defected Records compilations, classic house” and quickly “stopped studying drums and tried to understand electronic music.” Meanwhile, as Jack entered the world of EDM and conferences, Marco headed in the opposite direction and toward classical, his mind opened up with Bach (“perfection”) and Bill Evans (“the number one jazz player of all time in the way he used all the notes available in a chord and how they moved”).
Though they played in jam bands together while growing up, the two brothers went in separate musical ways. Until, eventually, they came and started to produce pop music in Italy by combining their talents in electronic and classical. They released 80s orientated pop and produced tracks for other artists, like Italian rapper Clementino. But Italy was a small market.
“We also understood meritocracy wasn’t a thing”, explains Marco. “If you don’t know someone you can’t get to the next level.”
Their key to unlock the door to leaving Italy came at first via a series of music production videos posted by Marco. These caught the attention of Korg, who asked him to become an ambassador for the brand. One thing led to another and Marco found himself on stage performing a demonstration in front of Jordan Rudess – a member of American progressive metal band Dream Theater, who showed Marco a brand new instrument: Roli’s Seaboard.
“I felt like they had invented the instrument I had dreamt of my entire life,” explains Marco.
The pitch bend and vibrato effects on the instrument fit perfectly with the way Marco moved while playing. He was invited out to Roli’s offices in London and they made him an offer to work with them. Eventually he moved to their office in Dalston, living upstairs and working below during the day. “I found my mental space. I literally spent every day of my life in the office,” he says.
Jack eventually moved over too after Roli announced the release of a new product – one based around the drums. The set-up was perfect. “We had the time to improve our English and create our network. Because we were meeting labels, producers and artists,” says Jack. Marco adds to this: “We were also getting good at instruments that no other musicians knew how to play.”
From 2016 until 2020 they worked with the brand to develop the sound of the instruments, produce commercials and perform product demos for producers, investors and labels. One of those producers: Will.i.am. Who said he liked the product, but wanted to work with the musicians behind it. “He was more interested in us being creatives and musicians rather than in the product,” says Jack.
This route of using product to gain access to producers and musicians led the brothers to Fred again.. – then known as Fred Gibson. Under Fred’s guidance, the Parisi brothers played on four tracks on Ed Sheeran’s ‘No.6 Collaborations Project’ – bringing the Seaboard sound to Sheeran’s collaborations with Ella Mai, H.E.R, Travis Scott and Chance the Rapper & PnB Rock.
Work snowballed from there and the duo found themselves working with Fred and Ed again – on Sheeran’s single “Afterglow”. Which was followed up with Parisi contributions to all three of the Fred again.. Afterlife projects. Meanwhile they were also working with Roli. They’d do a session with Fred, then come back to the office to work on developing the instrument further.
“We wanted to help the brand because we loved it and it was such a deep part of our life, but we also needed to progress,” said Marco. So, in 2020, they made the decision to transition into their own writing and producing full time. PARISI signed a publishing deal in 2020 and then this year, in 2023, they signed their artist project to FFRR in a global joint venture with Major Recordings.
The first fruit from this signing is PARISI’s recent single “U OK?” – a zippy collaboration track with Swedish House Mafia members Steve Angello and Sebastian Ingrosso that leans into techno and house. The track received a show-stopping debut during Swedish House Mafia’s performance at ULTRA – a full circle moment for Jack who grew up listening to them. There’s also a clever sample of Roman Flügel’s techno single “Geht’s noch” – a track he used to DJ out.
Inspiration wise, the duo draw upon classic electronic duos like Daft Punk, Chemical Brothers and Justice. Marco adds that they’re also inspired by “Bach, Brian Eno and soundtracks”. Two different sets of inspirations that manifest in PARISI’s future approach: to combine the emotional, beautiful sonics they produce for artists, with their love of creating pumping club music.
“We’re going to release a few things from both worlds,” says Marco. Some clearly club tracks and some that are more pop. The idea is to challenge themselves and release more PARISI music. “It’s Brian Eno who has said you can’t learn anything from a song that isn’t released yet,” says Marco. On the horizon: more work with Fred again.., more work with Swedish House Mafia, more PARISI tracks and more exploring their instrument, which they’ve come to define.
STRICT 4 TICKET LIMIT. ANY ORDERS EXCEEDING THE ALLOWED AMOUNT ARE SUBJECT TO CANCELLATION WITHOUT NOTICE.
9009 W. Sunset Blvd. West Hollywood, CA 90069 (Get Directions)
