Q&A with Paranormal Arson

Paranormal Arson, a solo project by Jamie MacDonald from Antigonish, unveiled their first EP titled "Paranormal Arson" on May 19. Jamie, who has been passionately involved in creating loud and heavy music since his teenage years, channels his love for classic death metal and horror into this straightforward, vintage-inspired death metal project.

Can you tell us more about the origin of Paranormal Arson? What inspired you to launch this Death Metal project?

I started playing guitar and bass, along with learning both death metal growls and more hardcore-ish screaming at 16. I played in a few bands, including a post-hardcore band called Sierra Falls, but nothing really took off and eventually adult life kind of took over everything. Once the pandemic hit, I'm all of a sudden stuck in the house. I was still working from home, but I wasn't able to train in powerlifting (my other hobby). The basement workouts could only take up so much time, so I picked the guitar back up. After starting to practice and play again, I got the urge to record and in 2022/2023 there's literally nothing stopping anyone from creating and releasing something!

Some of your music draws inspiration from horror movies and television shows. Could you elaborate on how you incorporated these themes, feelings and voices into your music?

The opening track, "Graverobbing in Texas," is based on the original 1974 "Texas Chain Saw Massacre". It was actually the first song I wrote the music for but the last I wrote lyrics for. I just noticed the riffs had a sense of tension and anxiety to them and thought it was the perfect setting for the song. Death metal is sort of like the horror movies of music, so the two go hand-in-hand.

The last track, "The Name Dies With Me", is based on "Breaking Bad" and "Better Call Saul", collectively my favourite TV series aside from The Simpsons and any pro wrestling. In particular, it focuses on the character arc of Hector Salamanca and his grudge against Gus Fring. Gus methodically takes out his whole family while ensuring Hector only recovered from his stroke enough to know exactly what he's doing. Hector sees the opportunity to take Gus out with him and takes it. It's kind of a bittersweet revenge type story.

Another one of note is "Saitama Bloodbath", which is actually instrumental, but I based the song around the MMA fight between Don Frye and Yoshihiro Takayama. It was basically a hockey fight without skates.

Paranormal Arson is the name of the project, EP and second track and was inspired by the Caledonia Mills Fire Spook incident. How did this event influence you and your music?

I'm from Antigonish County, where Caledonia Mills is located. I just thought having a local "ghost story" that has worldwide reach was pretty cool. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle investigated it, there was a Stephen King novel loosely based on the events. My dad's side of the family is actually originally from Caledonia Mills as well. I never looked into if I'm related or not, but I might be a bit chicken as well!

Can you walk us through your songwriting process?

The riff is king. I never considered myself to be a "lyrics" guy so they almost always come last. I'll typically start while I'm relaxing, watching TV or some YouTube video about Windows 98 computers or whatever. I'll just mess around a bit without paying much attention until something catches my ear, then start going down that rabbit hole to sculpt it. I'll typically build off one riff rather than just writing a bunch of riffs and tossing it into a riff salad. I want each one to play off each other and for each song to have a proper structure with distinct but related parts. I'll usually come up with a theme during the arranging part, then I'll write the lyrics based around all of that.

How would you describe the overall sound and style of Paranormal Arson to someone who has never heard your music before?

Potentially not the best marketing term, but probably "gross." I always liked music, especially extreme metal, to be imperfect. Extreme metal really lends itself to that. It's death metal; it's supposed to sound ugly! That doesn't mean I'm not going to try to get what I can out of the production side, and there's still a ton I need to learn, but I want to make sure anything I do contributes to the overall "ugliness" and doesn't over-polish something that shouldn't be.

Are there any specific messages or themes you aim to convey through your music?

I already talked about the horror themes, which I'm obviously a fan of horror storytelling. However, I'm also half-metalhead and half-punk kid. I didn't really include many social or political themes, aside from the "Fear of Napalm" cover, but I do have some in development that tackle that. Trying to invoke death metal-appropriate imagery while lampooning Tucker Carlson and his legion of morons is proving fun.

What can listeners expect from your self-titled debut EP?

Gross chainsaw guitars, heavy grooves, and most importantly, "when the riff hits but slower."

Looking ahead, how do you envision the evolution of Paranormal Arson as a project?

I have more songs I'm preparing at the moment. I'd like to put out a full-length soon to check that off. I'm really going to focus on learning the mixing and mastering side of things because I think I have a lot of room to grow there. I don't know if I'll turn it into a proper "band," as I do like the flexibility of not having to get multiple working adults together, but I think playing a show or two eventually would be fun.

Is there anything else you would like to add?

The EP is out now on all major streaming platforms. If you can check it out and follow it on your platform of choice, I'll totally be your friend! Also, follow Paranormal Arson on Facebook and myself on Instagram (@jmac.fm for music, @gorillamac for Powerlifting and general life).