vrijdag 9 mei 2008

There's something about Theo Parrish

Detroit-based DJ/producer Theo Parrish has made a movie for Adidas which completely slipped my attention until today. The 'story line' of this short movie is just as simple as it is beautiful: a camera crew follows Theo Parrish while he walks through the streets of Detroit, collecting everyday sounds to use in a track. As you'll see, there's nothing hip to this movie. We don't see images of skyscrapers and monuments and what not. We get to see the suburbs of the city and the people living in it. At first, it seems nothing special at all but to me, this movie is a piece of art.

Adidas gave Theo a chance to show what his hometown means to him. He loves it so much that he uses sounds from his city to use in his tracks so that other people get to hear a little bit of Detroit. It appears that Theo Parrish wants to give something back to Detroit in his own way. Adidas presented him that opportunity and he grabbed it with both hands.

We don't only get to see what Detroit means for Theo, but he also presents the viewer his ideas on music: "Certain sounds, depending on how they're ranged, take certain shapes. They take up a certain space in my mind. And the influences come everytime I wake up or go out, there's always a certain influx of music that I'm collecting, so those always have an influence. If your records aren't grabbing people emotionally, then you're really not doing anything." He also introduces his views on laptop DJ'ing and today's society wherein "honesty is at an all time low".


The song you hear in the movie, 'There's something about Detroit', is produced by Theo Parrish. It hasn't been released yet but it might this summer. You can read more on Theo Parrish and his point of views in this interview with Resident Advisor.