Parralox is an Australian

synthpop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a music genre that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s and early 1970s ...

band formed by John von Ahlen in 2008. Originally featuring lead vocalist Rowena "Roxy" Martin and producer, songwriter

John von Ahlen John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second Ep ...

of dance act Nova; the band has undergone a number of line-up changes, most notably the replacement of lead vocalist Roxy with Amii Jackson and the addition of

The Human League The Human League are an English synth-pop band formed in Sheffield in 1977. Initially an experimental electronic music, electronic outfit, the group signed to Virgin Records in 1979 and later attained widespread commercial success with their t ...

's Ian Burden on bass guitar. Their debut single "I Fell in Love with a Drum Machine" released February 2008, caught the attention of the international EDM community propelling the duo from local to international prominence. In 2009, Parralox remixed

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

electronica artist "Lips on Fire" single earning the band an official release on Wonderland Records. Parralox digitally distribute their music through independent label Subterrane Records; in 2009 the band signed to German electro label, Conzoom Records. Parralox have gained support and acclaim from

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and veteran music blogger, Arjan Writes. The band have released 7 albums, 4 EPs and 13 singles. They have performed internationally in Germany, Sweden, Spain, US and England.

History

Background

As a child, John von Ahlen explored music, taking up both the saxophone and clarinet; by high school his focus had switched to piano and synthesisers. In 1993, von Ahlen teamed with international songwriter John Collins and

Grammy The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...

nominee

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together contributing songs to Bass Culture's ''BC Nation'' album, soon signed to

Michael Gudinski Michael Solomon Gudinski AM (22 August 1952 – 2 March 2021) was an Australian record executive and promoter who was a leading figure in the Australian music industry. Born and raised in Melbourne, Gudinski formed the highly successful Austr ...

Mushroom Records Mushroom Records was an Australian flagship record label, founded in 1972 in Melbourne. It published and distributed many successful Australian artists and expanded internationally, until it was merged with Festival Records in 1998. Festival ...

. The label's affiliation with popular Australian soap operas

Neighbours ''Neighbours'' is an Australian television soap opera that has aired since 18 March 1985. It was created by television executive Reg Watson. The Seven Network commissioned the show following the success of Watson's earlier soap '' Sons and ...

and

Home and Away ''Home and Away'' (''H&A'') is an Australian television soap opera. It was created by Alan Bateman and commenced broadcast on the Seven Network on 17 January 1988. Bateman came up with the concept of the show during a trip to Kangaroo Point, N ...

facilitated the Collins/von Ahlen penned, "Love Will Find A Way" featuring Susie Ahern appearing in a 1995

' episode, aired on

Network Ten Network 10 (commonly known as the 10 Network, Channel 10 or simply 10) is an Australian commercial television network. It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Paramount Global's Paramount Networks UK & Australia, UK & Australia division and is o ...

. Von Ahlen, would produce and write with a number of bands including dance act Nova (1992–1996), electronic band, Discotron (1995–1998) and

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, goth cabaret-pop outfit, The Tenth Stage (2006) before forming Parralox in 2008.

Formation

Originally introduced to Roxy by John Collins, von Ahlen enlisted the classically trained vocalist to join him on the Parralox project in 2007. The pair had been working together since their 2004 win at the coveted MusicOz Awards, where Roxy won Best Dance Artist with the duo's "Electric Nights" entry. Splitting her time between Australia and the UK, singer/songwriter Roxy became the band's first lead vocalist.

2008–2009: ''Electricity'' and ''State of Decay''

In August 2008, Parralox released their debut album ''Electricity''; made available for digital download and accompanied by the

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CD version ''Electricity (Limited Edition)'', the album achieved the sixth-highest position atop the British alternative music store, MusicNonStop.co.uk sales chart. By November 2008, the band were performing overseas in London alongside Northern Kind and Red Blooded Women. ''Electricity'' spawned the songs "Sharper Than a Knife" and "X Minus One"; the latter licensed to Nick Bitzenis and George Geranios' Athens based, Undo Records/ EMI Greece's compilation album of new electronic pop music, ''Electronically Yours Vol 1''. The band's growing popularity was confirmed when Hollywood

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championed the band's first US single, "Sharper Than a Knife". The successful independent release of ''Electricity'' led to the band signing with German label, Conzoom Records in 2009. A change of line up that same year saw Roxy replaced by Amii Jackson on vocals and the addition of

's Ian Burden on bass guitar. The daughter of Brian Jackson, lead guitarist for Scottish punk band The Zips, Amii recorded on four of the band's following seven albums, beginning with ''State of Decay'' released 13 November 2009.

2010–2013: ''Metropolis, Metropolism'' and ''Recovery''

Between 2010 and 2013, Parralox released 3 albums, ''Metropolis'' (2010), ''Metropolism'' (2011) and ''Recovery'' (2013). This marked a period of growth and expansion for the band; in an AusPop.com.au review of ''Metropolis'' the site expressed that "Parralox have ever so slowly been developing into a pop act that excites with each and every release". The band toured both at home and abroad performing at

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, UK (2010), Electrocity Festival, Germany (2010), Electronic Summer, Sweden (2012), Poptronik Festival, Spain (2012) and

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, Melbourne (2013). In May 2012, the band's single "Creep" peaked at No. 45 on the US

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Dance/Club chart. In 2013, von Ahlen spoke as an invited EDM panellist at The

Winter Music Conference The Winter Music Conference (WMC) is a week-long electronic music conference, held every March in Miami Beach, Florida, United States since 1985. It is also known as the premiere platform for electronic dance music. The conference brings togethe ...

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; this same year, London based EQ Music launched its new artist management arm and signed the "electronic pop duo". “Eye in the Sky", the second single from ''Recovery'' is a cover of

The Alan Parsons Project The Alan Parsons Project was a British rock music, rock duo formed in London in 1975. Its core membership consisted of producer, audio engineer, musician and composer Alan Parsons, and singer, songwriter and pianist Eric Woolfson. They shared w ...

's 1982 song of the same name. QueerMeUp.com called the song a

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worthy piece of poetry. The song's visuals were co-directed by John Ibrahim and lead singer von Ahlen with "the modern new face of Chadwick Models", high fashion model Rowena Xi Kang.

2014–present: ''Aeronaut'' and ''Subculture''

In February 2014, Parralox released their “Eye In The Sky” EP securing the band's seventh German chart position. In July 2014, they released "Crying on the Dance Floor" featuring new vocalist Johanna Gervin and Francine Ihenacho as guest vocalist. The single climbed to No. 6 on

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's Commercial Pop Chart. On 6 October,

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announced their London performance dates dubbed The Violet Flame Tour with support from Parralox. On 31 October 2014, Parralox released their sixth album, a limited 2CD re-release of ''Electricity'' titled ''Electricity (Expanded)''. On 3 April 2015, Parralox released the band's seventh official album ''Aeronaut'' which positioned John von Ahlen on lead vocals for the second time in the band's career, this according to LexerMusic.com, marks a new era for the electronic pop act. The video accompanying the album's lead single "Aeronaut", is shot on location in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

and is a follow-up collaboration between von Ahlen and creative director John Ibrahim who previously worked on their "Eye in the Sky" video. On 10 March 2015, Parralox's German label, Conzoom announced an eighth studio album from the band, then due for release end of 2015, titled ''Subculture''.

Touring

Parralox have performed live at various festivals including

, Silicon Dreams, Synthetic City, Poptronik,

and Pride Festival, Melbourne. They have also played support slots for

and

Polly Scattergood Polly Scattergood (born 18 October 1986) is an English singer and songwriter. She has been described as wikt:ethereal, ethereal, dark, intense and quirky, while her musical style has been described as "early 21st century electropop, electro-dan ...

in London.

Band members

Current members

* John von Ahlen – synthesisers, vocals (2008–present) * Johanna Gervin – backing vocals (2014–present)

Former members

(partial list) * Rowena "Roxy" Martin – lead vocals (2008–2009) * Amii Jackson – lead vocals (2009–2013) * Ian Burden – bass guitar (2009–2014) * Ryan Adamés – lead vocals (guest 2012) * Francine Ihenacho – lead vocals (guest 2014)

Discography

Studio albums

* Electricity (2008) * State of Decay (2009) * Metropolis (2010) * Metropolism (2011) * Recovery (2013) * Electricity (Expanded) (2014) * Aeronaut (2015) * Subculture (2017) * Genesis (2019)

References

External links

* * {{authority control Australian electronic dance music groups Australian synth-pop groups Electronic music duos