PARIAH Interview

Born out of exhaustion and quietly defiant hope, PARIAH’s music is an open letter to anyone who’s risked everything for a dream that keeps breaking their heart. After years spent chasing success in bands and projects that never left the ground, PARIAH was born at rock bottom for vocalist/songwriter Quinn McGraw—a place where grief, purpose, and defiance blur.

“Pendulum,” PARIAH’s debut single, sets the emotional tone—a confession from the heart’s lowest point, chronicling the toxic push and pull of chasing a calling that never fully loves you back. Written in the fallout from yet another broken band, the song personifies music as a wraith that can’t be outrun; a purpose that haunts as much as it heals. The track’s somber energy and lyrical depth make it both a battle cry and a benediction for anyone facing the pain of unrelenting ambition.

Co-written and produced with collaborator Landyn Taylor (Held Dear), with the final mix by Sacha Laskow (Every Hour Kills, ex-Divinity / Nuclear Blast Records), “Pendulum” is a microcosm of PARIAH’s entire vision: emotionally charged, sonically diverse, unflinchingly honest.

At its core, PARIAH is more than heavy music for its own sake—it’s a brutally personal confrontation with faith, failure, grief, and self-undoing, but ultimately, it’s about the possibility of healing and spiritual reclamation. PARIAH is the fight to rebuild a self after losing everything you thought you were supposed to be. It’s about hope, even when it’s fragile. It’s about creating closure and walking away with dignity, not regret.

But PARIAH is also about community—a kind the world rarely offers. “I spent years either isolating myself or trying to fit into spaces that only wanted a version of me — not all of me. Scenes. Friend groups. Even church,” says Quinn. “I was either too much, too different, or felt like I had to quietly fall apart while pretending I was fine. So now, when I think about community, I think about a space where people can actually show up as they are — the space I’ve longed for my whole life. It’s about being in a room where you don’t have to explain your pain for it to be valid. Where you can just be — messed up, healing, raw, real — and know you’re still welcome. That’s what I’m trying to build with PARIAH. Not just fans or followers — but a space where people can bring the stuff they’ve been told to hide and know they’re not alone in it.”

For those caught between giving up and going on, PARIAH is proof that you can always write your own ending—and sometimes, the most powerful thing you can do is simply refuse to let your story end on someone else’s terms.