Interview: I Am Pariah talk “Charm Before The Storm”!

A month ago, Stoke natives I Am Pariah unveiled the first single of a new EP in “Suck It Up” and for vocalist and lyricist, Benjamin Antony James, his experience of the pandemic as a NHS mental health nurse gave him an alternative perspective as to how he and the band would see the band’s new music eventually realised. Written prior to current world events, like many other bands I Am Pariah were forced to make alternative arrangements for the production…

“When lockdown hit, our EP plans ceased, and we were isolated away from each other.
Initially nothing happened, it felt like everything we’d been working towards was gone. But little did I know, some of the lyrics written for the EP would do more for me than ever intended”, explains Ben.

“I’m a Community Mental Health Nurse for the NHS, and so my focus needed to shift, fast. We were unable to supply around 90% of the help we would usually give to people. We had to adapt to work from home on intermittent shift patterns. Some days I could feel my muscles wasting away in my legs, the next day I was out and about in what felt like the ghost county of Staffordshire. I was only completing the most important of tasks for patients to try and prevent the spread of COVID-19. Every Thursday I would lay in bed resting either annihilated from a shift, or the isolation of homeworking and existing behind a laptop. It was at these times where I either felt drained or inspired when it came to concluding what would be the lyrics to these songs you find on the new ep. The lyrics are now somehow more relevant because of what we’ve all been going through. Finishing the EP got me through that few months to care for my patients, as it allowed me to relate back to a time where on a friday night I could get in the studio, do some crazy rehearsals and blow off some steam. Music is a gift, being a musician and a creative is an incredible thing. I hope that never gets taken away from any of us”.

“This EP was written as an analysis of different aspects of current society”, the band concludes. “It’s about looking further into our lives and realising that things can change at the drop of a hat, for better or worse.”

“Charm Before The Storm” by I Am Pariah is out 27th November with pre-orders here