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| ::Interviews:: |
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| review & interview content, as well as web site graphics & design, copywrite 2003-2004 Euphonia Online. use of materials granted only with reasonable purposes. |
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| interviewed by robby sumner |
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Ladd Mitchell - Vocals, Guitar Justin Valenti - Guitar Jansen Lee - Bass, Vocals Miles Parkhill - Drums, Vocals |
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| Interview with the whole band April 19th, 2004 |
| E: Park has been around for a couple of years now, and your style has continued to mature with two albums and a countless number of shows. Does the music that you play day in and day out ever get redundant to you? Miles: Well, there is always a song that we have played a million times that is so easy and may seem boring at times... but it's a good song, and people want to hear it. Actually, some songs have gotten better with age, 'cause people sing along, and that always makes us feel good. For some reason, now that we have two albums worth of songs, it's hard for us to pick what we want to play and what people want us to play... too hard to choose. Sometimes I think about putting a "comments box" out before a show and ask the crowd what they want to hear. E: What would you say the average Park fan is like? Justin: Fifteen. Miles: No way. Justin: I don't know... Miles: Smart enough to understand Ladd's lyrics, I would hope... they are not always straightforward. I guess everything is open for interpretation. E: What has changed in the shows you play over the years? Miles: The major change is people coming out to see us. Singing along. We actually go places and see familiar faces--since we have been touring so much, we seem to have friends all over. E: What are some of your favorite places to tour? Miles: California... they show us the love. Ladd: Canada. The kids up there are cooler. Justin: Texas, 'cause of all the hot chicks. E: When you play, do you think that you generally sound like the other bands on the bill? Miles: Well, we have been put on a lot of tours with pop-punk bands, and on shows like that I feel like we really are the odd man out, 'cause we are not pop-punk. But then when we tour with Moneen, I feel like we fit in a bit more. But sometimes not fitting in is better, as long as the kids are willing to listen to something different than what they came to the show to hear. E: Do the artists that you listen to in your free time still influence the way you play and write? Miles: Of course. Whatever you listen to over and over will influence what you write, whether you think about it or not. Jansen: Yes... certain things I hear other bands do make me pay attention to musicianship in my playing. E: What goes through your mind when you see fans singing along at shows and kids wearing Park shirts? Miles: It's awesome to get that kind of support from kids all over. Seeing them wear a shirt or sing a song is the biggest compliment they can give us as a band. E: Do any of you actually own a Park shirt yourselves? Miles: Well, Jansen has several, because he was a fan of Park before he was actually in the band. He was kind of pissed, 'cause now he has all these shirts just lying around. E: How did he end up joining the band? Miles: We needed a bass player and couldn't find anyone in our area who could do the job. Jansen was a guitar player in another band, but [it] had broken up. We thought, if he was down for playing bass, then he would be a good choice, 'cause he could sing, too, and that's the main thing we wanted--someone that could sing back-ups. E: Prior to the formation of the band, what do you think you had that helped in the group's successful development? Ladd: Curiosity... to see how far we could take it. Miles: Yeah. E: How far did you expect it to go? Justin: We didn't really have any goals. Ladd: I never expected to go on tour. Justin: Didn't expect it to go this far. E: In what ways have you tried to be consistent since you all got together? Ladd: I don't want anything to stay consistent. Otherwise we'll be the same old band all the time. I hope it's a consistent change. Miles: I think we will always keep our roots in Springfield, and that's what makes us different from other bands. But we totally want to keep progressing with every song and every record. E: If the band were to end tomorrow--Heaven forbid--do you think you'd be satisfied with what had been accomplished to that point as a band? Miles: Yeah... I would be happy, except knowing that not everyone that wants to see us live has had a chance yet. Ladd: Yeah. Justin: Yeah. E: How is being a music fan different when you're in a band yourself? Jansen: You overanalyze things, musically. Miles: I tend to pay attention to drums and the music, and [I] don't pay attention to lyrics too much... most people probably do the opposite. E: If Park were a cover band, what songs would they perform? Ladd: Police songs. Justin: Beatles. Miles: Metallica. E: Does having such a simplistic band name ever present difficulties? Miles: No difficulties, but it's the end of a lot of jokes that have to do with parking or playing in a park. E: What do you see in the band's future? Miles: More touring. Lots of touring. Hopefully we'll have time to write a new record this year and have something late this year or early next year out. We are going to work on a DVD and either put it on the net or maybe actually try to get someone to put it out for us. We've got lots of tour footage and a video that should be done very soon. E: Well, thanks a lot. I'm sure that with the direction you're going, you'll have a thousand more fans by the end of the week. Miles: That would be great. Thanks so much. |