A Dirty Dozen with PASCAL PASHAEE from PLUME – September 2026

According to a recent press release: “Rising alternative heavy act PLUME return with their striking new single “My Cortisol Face,” the final release before their highly anticipated debut album Saferooms & Healing Frequencies arrives on September 25 via Arising Empire. Blurring the lines between hyperpop shimmer, emotional metalcore and futuristic electronic production, “My Cortisol Face” captures PLUME at their most vulnerable and volatile. Glittering electronics collide with crushing guitars, ethereal clean vocals and piercing screams, creating a track that feels equally fragile, chaotic and euphoric. Fronted by Pascal Pashaee alongside guitarist David Riederer, keyboardist Luka Lorch and drummer Richard Kilian, PLUME approach their music as more than a collection of songs. Their immersive live performances and carefully constructed visual world form an extension of a sound that refuses to sit comfortably within a single genre.” We get Pascal to discuss new music, influences, and more…

1. Tell us a little about your latest release.  What might a fan or listener not grab the first or second time they listen through?  Are there any hidden nuggets you put in the material or that only diehard fans might find?

Our album Saferooms & Healing Frequencies has a very deliberate flow. For us, the entire album is basically one big saferoom. For the listener, however, it’s more like a video game where only the saferooms feel truly safe. The other songs are more like levels where anything can happen and no level is really like the one before it. As the album progresses, there’s a growing sense of pressure and darkness that slowly takes over the whole experience. Eventually, even the saferooms start to feel affected by that atmosphere. They don’t feel quite as safe anymore. If you really want to experience the album the way we intended it, you have to listen to it front to back. A major inspiration for both the sounds and the overall concept was Silent Hill 3, especially Akira Yamaoka’s soundtrack. If you know the game and the soundtrack, I think you can probably hear a few of those influences here and there.

2. What got you into music, and can you tell us about the moment you realized you wanted to be a musician?

When I was four years old, I was at a Polish birthday party with my parents. A family friend was playing the violin and I was completely fascinated by it. The entire room went quiet, and everyone was just listening to this man and his instrument. I remember that moment really clearly. I knew right then that I wanted to become a musician too. Afterwards, my mom made it possible for me to take violin lessons and I ended up playing the violin from the age of four until I was eighteen. That was really my first introduction to music and in a way, it all started with that one moment of seeing how music could make an entire room stop and listen.

3. Building on that, is there a specific song, album, performer, or live show that guided your musical taste?

When I was around nine years old, my older cousin showed me “Faint” by Linkin Park. Chester’s screams opened up a completely new world to me. There was something about the raw energy of a scream in music that made me feel something I had never experienced before. The combination of heavy guitars and electronic elements just triggered something in my mind. It was intense, emotional, and unlike anything I had heard before. That feeling has stayed with me ever since and definitely shaped the way I experience and create music today.

4. If you could call in any one collaborator to do a song with, who would it be, and why?

I would probably say Charli XCX. Charli is already a huge inspiration for us because her soundscapes really resonate with what’s going on inside our heads. Her approach to pop feels much more unconventional than what you usually hear, and that’s something we really connect with. Whenever I create music, I’m always chasing that feeling I had when I first discovered Linkin Park. That feeling of thinking you’ve heard everything already and that nothing can really surprise you anymore. And then something comes along and completely blows you away. I had that exact feeling when I first heard Charli’s music as well. That’s why I’d absolutely love to have the opportunity to create something with her in the future.

5. What is your favorite activity when out of the studio and/or not on tour?  What do you like to do to unwind?

I’m a big fan of niche fragrances, the 1950’s, and old movies. When I’m not constantly thinking about music (which honestly isn’t very often) you’ll probably find me on Parfumo researching the notes of some obscure fragrance, browsing boutiques that sell ’50s and ’60s clothing, or at the cinema with our guitarist Dave, watching some random Marlon Brando movie.

6. How would you describe your music to someone who’d never listened to you before? What is the one comparison a reviewer or fan has made that made you cringe or you disagreed with?

I’d describe our music as organized chaos. It’s modern, but somehow carries this inexplicable sense of nostalgia. A while ago, someone told us that we sounded like The Smashing Pumpkins, which honestly surprised me a little. I had listened to a few of their songs years ago, but I wouldn’t say they were ever an inspiration for me or a band I consciously drew from. But that’s the beautiful thing about music: everyone interprets it in their own way and hears different things in it. Sometimes people pick up on connections that you never intended or even noticed yourself, and I think that’s really cool.

7. When your band is hanging out together, who cooks, who gets the drinks in, and who is first to crack out the acoustic guitars for a singalong?

Our guitarist is the one who cooks, our drummer Richi takes care of the drinks, and I’m the DJ on the tour bus. So naturally, I’m also the one who ends up picking up the guitar at some point. And Luka, our keyboard player, just enjoys the moment.

8. When was the last time you were starstruck and who was it?

The last time I really felt starstruck was at Munich Airport. From a distance, I noticed someone dressed completely in black, wearing a biker cap and carrying a guitar backpack. The moment he turned around, I immediately recognized the person: Steve Vai. He stood out so much from the hundreds of other people at the airport that he almost seemed to have this kind of aura around him. I went over and started talking to him, and I found out that he had been on vacation in Italy with his wife. At the end of our conversation, he even gave me his guitar pick. It’s still on my desk, and every time I see it, I get goosebumps.

9. What is the best part of being a musician? If you could no longer be a musician for whatever reason, what would be your dream job?

The best thing about being a musician is being able to interpret life in your own way and make those feelings tangible and relatable for other people. I don’t even allow myself to imagine a life where I can’t make music. To me, there’s only one place in this world where I truly belong: On stage, next to my bandmates.

10. What is one question you have always wanted an interviewer to ask – and what is the answer? Conversely, what question are you tired of answering?

“What makes you smell like an old wooden church?” The answer is our own “Saferooms & Healing Frequencies” fragrance, which we created together with smellofthevalley. It’s basically our musical world translated into a scent. A question I find a little exhausting, though, is “How would you describe your sound?” I always struggle with that one. It’s difficult to put something that feels so instinctive and emotional into a few words.

11. Looking back over your career, is there a single moment or situation you feel was a misstep or you would like to have a “do over,” even if it didn’t change your current situation?

Even though I’m someone who tends to overthink a lot, and I often catch myself thinking about the past, I always try to stop myself from getting stuck there. There’s a great quote that has always stayed with me: “The freedom to make my own mistakes is all I ever wanted.”

12. If you could magically go back in time and be a part of the recording sessions for any one record in history, which would you choose – and what does that record mean to you?

If I were actually part of the recording process, I think some of my favorite albums probably wouldn’t sound the way they do now. I’m not sure I’d want to risk that. If I were allowed to be there invisibly though, I’d probably choose something like Purple Rain by Prince. Prince is such an incredible artistic personality, and I feel like there must have been something almost magical about him in the studio. I’d love to just quietly observe that creative process without influencing it in any way.

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Category: Interviews