Parachute Youth

Matt K. Von And Johnny Castro are Parachute Youth, an Australian duo originating from Sydney and Adelaide, respectively. Matt and Johnny met in 2010 at a boring shindig: six or seven guys just bonging around the couch. After thirty minutes, they left the less-than-party, went home, got arty, and made their first track. They titled their new creation "It Can't Get Better Than This". By default, the bong had created an incredible team. Previous to their less than spectacular meeting, Matt worked as an Avionics Technician in the Airforce, working on jet fighters (hence the name Parachute Youth). Johnny had played at festivals such as Big Day Out with local outfit Def Starr (playing synthesizers) with some success with their remix of "Fences" by Phoenix. Nothing short of amazing is his mastery of chords, but even more amazing is that Johnny is self taught. After some months, the duo left their hometowns and their girlfriends, sold their cars, and moved to Paris. In the two years since Matt and Johnny first worked together, they have subsequently teamed up with Ajax from Sweat it Out Records who in turn recruited Sam La More to engineer the single "Can't Get Better Than This". At times, it was a difficult process, not wanting to curb the raw appeal of the group, but in the end, Parachute Youth prevailed. A wonderfully hypnotic celebration of life, their debut track soars with unbridled joy, dark melancholy, and drama altogether. Although the boys cite their influences as Joy Division/New Order, The Human League, The Smiths, Depeche Mode, Moloko, Björk, The Cure, The Stone Roses, their sound is completely modern and contemporary swallowing up huge tracts of musical vision and providing for more goosebumps than a Christmas feast. Upon sending their debut track to a few friends, the single quickly spread. "Can't Get Better Than This" was the first played song on Triple J radio in 2012, played just after the stroke of midnight in celebration of the year ahead. The accompanying film clip shot by French Clip Producer Julien Paolini served up nearly 50,000 views in ten days on YouTube. Julien traveled to Burkina Faso under security escort in helicopters, to hire kids to play out a drama (that usually occurs annually but was cancelled in 2012 due to civil strife) in this troubled African republic. Beyond the ever growing Internet hype the band is receiving, Empire Of the Sun heard it, loved it, and posted it on their own social media, garnering even more exposure for the track. When bands don't talk about themselves but take time to promote someone else, you know it must be something special. Having collected more than 1.7million views on YouTube, the official video for "Can't Get Better Than This" has surely become the breakout hit that now has the duo selling out clubs all over Australia. https://www.facebook.com/ParachuteYouth On February 4th, 2014. Parachute Youth announced on their official Facebook page that the two members are no longer pursuing Parachute Youth. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.