Last Updated on 2026-04-05 by a-indie
“We are not clowns.”
That single line may say everything there is to say about The Parade.
Based in Sweden, they released their debut album 『City of Dreams』 without ever sharing a clear artist photo or revealing who they are.
A pub, a darts match, a woman’s voice singing along to a song long after it stopped playing, and a MiniMoog once used on ABBA recordings.
Every fragment of information surrounding this band is as vivid as a single frame from a film.
In 2026, when algorithms and social media have come to dominate music entirely, The Parade are a rare kind of artist: one whose only compass is honesty toward the music itself.
This article carries the words The Parade shared with us, from the story of how they came together, to the details of recording, their thoughts on the album title, and a message for fans in Japan.
This interview is also The Parade’s very first interview, and it is an exclusive for BELONG Media and A-indie.
Please take this opportunity to listen to 『City of Dreams』 from track one, in order.
How It All Began
Artist: The Parade Interviewer: yabori Translation, editing, and proofreading: BELONG Media and A-indie Photography: Daniel Ersson
-yabori: The story of how The Parade came together is one of the most cinematic I’ve ever come across. A pub, a darts match, and Felicia singing Tim Buckley’s “Song to the Siren” a cappella. Every detail of it is so vivid. I’d love to hear you tell that story in your own words. How did Felicia, John, and Jonas meet, and how did the idea of bringing in a female vocalist come about? And when was the moment you all knew this was going to be a real band?
The Parade: Yes its funny how things turns out sometimes, random counters and path can lead you in funny ways.. it was not Tim Buckleys original version, it was This Mortal Coil’s version in the background playing and Felecia did sing along even after it was stoped playing witch grabed our attention. But before all the pub and dart adventures, John and Jonas had this idea to just make music for pure fun after being stuck in various other projects and the song “Im A Dreamer” was made and felt it has some good potential this one, so after trying out a few singers, we crossed the path we Felicia and it was just perfect match for the band. Everything just did flow really great from the start.
The Meaning Behind the Band Name
-yabori: The name “The Parade” feels like it carries a strong sense of forward momentum. Can you walk me through how you landed on that name, and what it means to you as artists?
The Parade: The name is from a lyric line of a favourite band. We don’t see it as a forward movement, its more of a dreamy view of the side of a “The Parade”, but also that you can get stuck in this “Parade” of something thats just monotone, as in “time for leaving the parade”
Roles and Instruments
-yabori: Could you walk me through each person’s role and what instruments everyone plays? I assume Felicia handles vocals, but does she write the lyrics on her own, or is it a collaborative process between all three of you?
The Parade: Felicia lives far outside of Stockholm, so usually John and Jonas makes a instrumental background, so we have something to work on, so we dont get stuck once we are all together in the studio. When Felicia is in the studio we try to come up with some vocal ideas together, perhaps change some musical things, record some additional parts etc. Everything naturally evolving over time during the process, even in last mixing phase thing could be added or taken out.
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