An Interview with Iris Paralysis

Iris Paralysis is Marco Giacomo Palumbo-Rodrigues (vocals) & Tobias Mariano Schazmann-Zaera (Synthesizers) 

Interview conducted with Marco Palumbo-Rodrigues

Shock Treeatment: Let’s start things off by telling me how you guys met and decided to start this project.

MPR: Tobi and I met in-person for the first time in 2018 when Miscalculations played in Aachen, Germany but we knew each other for a few years before this. I released a 7” by Tobi’s other synth band Gen Null on No Front Teeth the year before we met. Our good friend Peter Eichhorn, who ran P. Trash Records, passed away in 2018 and Tobi and I were in contact a lot that year as we were working on a tribute compilation to honour Peter that we put out with FDH Records. Tobi asked me to sing guest vocals on the Gen Null track that appeared on the compilation which was the first time we worked together musically.

When we met in Aachen we spoke about starting a synth band together and Iris Paralysis was born. It started out as a studio project and then developed into a live band after our first record came out in 2022.

Shock Treeatment: Did you guys have this particular sound in mind when starting off or did it develop after a while playing or writing together?

MPR: We didn’t have any clue about the direction it would take! Tobi worked on the music and I wrote lyrics and I played around with which vocals would fit with the music and our sound developed pretty organically. I knew that I wanted to have layered vocals so that there would be a high voice and a low one but that’s pretty much the only initial idea I went in with. Lyrically it’s very much in the vein of Miscalculations so I continued writing in that mindset.

Shock Treeatment: And speaking of writing, can you tell me a bit about your writing process? How does a song usually develop for Iris Paralysis?

MPR: Tobi and I will work on our parts of a record at the same time, but individually - so while he is writing the music, I will write sets of lyrics and then I will see what fits with which musical arrangement. The lyrics always fit around the music, never the other way around.

Shock Treeatment: Iris Paralysis’ music lies a bit on the darker side, is that fair to say? So along with the music, the lyrics are also a bit ominous. What influences you lyrically?

MPR: For sure it’s on the darker side of things! Lyrically, I mainly write about death, disease, paranoia and a lot of psychological and philosophical questioning. I don’t really see these subjects as necessarily depressing or negative…but rather as inquisitive and naturally interesting topics that are mostly unanswerable. There is a lot of beauty in these ‘dark’ subjects too. Architecture also plays a major role in my lyric writing, both as the physical representation and also in the metaphorical structural form. The most recurring theme is probably the future but I’d say that that encompasses every subject that I think and write about. I can have a very specific theme in mind or even be relaying a situation that happened but I purposefully make it as vague as I can so that anyone listening to it can definite it however they like, or even relate it to a specific event in their life even if it’s the polar opposite of what I based the song on.

Shock Treeatment: You guys have taken Iris Paralysis to the stage! In fact, you opened for Clan of Xymox. A band I assume is a direct influence to Iris Paralysis? How did that gig come about?

MPR: We have been very lucky with Iris Paralysis in that we seem to get offered really good opening slots! I still can’t believe that we got to play with DAF and, yes, opening for Clan of Xymox this month was an honour for sure. It was at an amazing venue called MOVIE in Bielefeld in North West Germany and the turnout was fantastic. We just got asked by the promoter putting the gig on if we wanted to play…and that was it! We actually just got asked by another promoter who also does shows at that venue as he heard good things from the people at the gig so that’s cool.

Shock Treeatment: You guys just released your incredible new LP Extinguish The Sun earlier this year. Tell me about how the recording process went for that and what can fans expect to hear compared to the previous releases?

MPR: Thank you! I think it’s our best work yet. It’s funny because we actually started writing the third album much earlier but it was sounding very different to what we had in mind so we did a 12” in between our second album and this new one. That was the ‘Dormant Visions’ 12” which is the most atypical release we have done: much more stark and cold and I think the darkest record we have made to date. So, in that sense, ‘Extinguish The Sun’ was quite different to the first two records as we started it twice and it really evolved in that entire process. There are also some songs on the new album that don’t sound like anything else we have done, like ‘Eels Of Deceit’ and ‘No Crisis Goes To Waste’. I think this new album in the most cohesive and coalesces the different aspect of what we do…the darkness, the fear, the hope, the starkness and the joy.

Shock Treeatment: What bands helped influence your sound that you think people might be surprised by?

MPR: I think that would have to be Duran Duran…Tobi and I have spoken about this before and ‘Wild Boys’ was pretty impactful for both of us when we were kids…both the song and the video definitely left a lasting mark. Also, I mentioned earlier about layering my vocals - my mid-voice is very much inspired by Simon Le Bon and his delivery that I have always loved.

Shock Treeatment: You guys decided to release the new LP on Kernkrach Records instead of with Hieb & Stitch this time. What led to that decision?

MPR: Hieb & Stich were amazing to us - an absolute pleasure to work with Thomas and we are massively thankful to him for taking a chance on us and I say taking a chance because Hieb & Stich is a black metal/hardcore label but Thomas loved what we were doing and wanted to put our records out. We did our first two full-lengths and the ‘Dormant Visions’ 12” with H&S (the first album also came out on FDH records in the US) and then Kernkrach were interested in the new album so we spoke to Thomas and all agreed that Kernkrach was more suited to our sound. Tape or Die in Berlin put the new album out on cassette which is out already.

Shock Treeatment: What lies in store for Iris Paralysis in 2026?

MPR: More shows…we are talking to some people in various German cities at the moment…we mainly play in Germany as the synth/coldwave scene is so good. Maybe even another release…we will start writing new stuff very soon.

Shock Treeatment: Where can people go to listen to your music and buy your records?

MPR: We are on all the digital streaming platforms and Badcamp too. You can get copies of our records that are still in print directly from us (or from our BC) and directly from the records labels too. Cheers!