Pete Parada

Peter "Pete" Parada (born July 9, 1974)^[2] is an American drummer who has been a member of several notable musical acts. Parada's drumming career began in 1996 when he joined Steel Prophet and recorded one album with them a year later. Subsequently he joined Face to Face and Saves the Day, and in 2007 became the new drummer for The Offspring. Parada was also associated with the metal band Engine and Rob Halford's solo project Halford, and briefly played drums in the punk band Alkaline Trio. He was also a member of Hot Mess.

Career as a musician

Face to Face

After auditioning 25 different drummers to replace Rob Kurth,^[3] Parada officially joined Face to Face in 1998. He was present on four albums with the band: Ignorance is Bliss, Standards & Practices (both released in 1999), Reactionary (2000) and How to Ruin Everything (2002).

Cited as a seminal California punk group, Face to Face were active until 2003, although they embarked on a farewell tour in the following year. The group had since gone on indefinite hiatus. When frontman Trever Keith resurrected Face to Face in 2008, Parada did not participate because of touring commitments with The Offspring. He was replaced by Danny Thompson (formerly of The Uprising).

Saves the Day

Prior to Face to Face's break up, Parada joined Saves the Day in 2002 to replace former drummer Bryan Newman. He recorded two of the band's albums, In Reverie and Sound the Alarm. He also recorded "Bug sessions volume one", the first in a series of releases containing acoustic versions of their songs.

On March 28, 2007, it was announced that Parada had left the band. He had this to say:

"After four and a half years with Saves The Day, it saddens me to report that I have decided to leave the band. I wish them all the best of luck and look forward to starting fresh with a new band."

The Offspring

Pete Parada along with Noodles, performing with The Offspring in 2009.

On July 27, 2007, The Offspring announced on their official website that Parada would be the band's new drummer, replacing Atom Willard, who departed to focus on Angels & Airwaves.^[4] Josh Freese actually filled in as drummer in the studio for then-upcoming Offspring album, Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace, as Parada had not been chosen yet as Willard's replacement. Parada toured with The Offspring in support of that album.

In June 2009, The Offspring guitarist Noodles told Billboard.com that The Offspring were planning to release a ninth album in 2010, and noted that Parada would be involved in the recording process.^[5] Titled Days Go By, the album was eventually released on June 26, 2012. He became the first official Offspring drummer to play on an Offspring album since Ron Welty in 2000 (Conspiracy Of One). Parada only played on four tracks on that album ("Turning Into You", "Dirty Magic", "Dividing By Zero" and "Slim Pickens Does the Right Thing and Rides the Bomb to Hell"), while Josh Freese played on the rest. According to Holland, Freese played on the majority of tracks due to him living in California other than Parada who has also busy with some additional projects during the recording of Days Go By.

Hot Mess

In 2010, Parada joined a female-fronted rock band called Hot Mess. It consists of Storey Condos on vocals, Ryan Maker on guitar back-up vocals, Marc Anderson on lap steel, Daniel Nelson on keyboards, Hypatia Runcie on bass and Parada on drums. Hot Mess released their debut Learn to Sleep With the Light On on April 22, 2011.

As of January 2012 he is no longer in Hot Mess.

DEVO

In 2011, Parada played 5 shows with the band DEVO.

Selected discography

References

External links

• Pete Parada Official Website
• Pete Parada – BandToBand.com
• Pete Parada discography at Discogs