Interview with Brady Parks of The National Parks
The National Parks is a four piece, folk influenced, indie-pop band that has a serious knack for writing great songs. Their fourth album – Wildflower is due out June 19th. The album consists of 15 tracks that are well written, beautifully played and expertly mixed. In fact, there were so many aspects to the album that I liked, I almost forgot some of the great things about it until I revisited the album again. I wasn’t the only who fell in love with the bands’ sound. Jessica Frey wrote a “New Listen” article and she a lot of the same reactions that I had.
This is definitely one that needs to be on your radar if you are a fan of this style of music. I caught up with front man and founder of The National Parks – Brady Parks. We discussed the inspiration behind the album and Brady also broke down the project from a production standpoint. When I asked him about the albums’ length Brady told me, “It’s the longest album we’ve done but we couldn’t cut any of them! We just had to put them all on.” :laughs: You just know you’re in store for something potentially magical when you can’t choose and decide to include them all.
One of the first things I wanted to talk about was the sound of the album. Long time collaborator Scott Wiley produced and mixed the album and I wanted to see how the process in the studio with Wiley was like. Brady says, “We did our first album with Scott and since then it’s been this perfect match. We love working with him and because we’ve been working together so long, we feel so comfortable with each other and we know that he knows the direction want to go. So we tell him before each album where we want to take it and he knows how to incorporate who we are as a band and to that sound and direction of the new album. He’s a great partner for us, for sure.”
Brady continues explaining after I ask about the studio environment. I wondered if the sessions were pretty laid back or if it was a “show up, do your work and go home type of concept”. He says, “It’s a little bit of both. I feel like we have a lot of fun in the studio. We’re so close as a band, it’s a really fun process for us to be in there together and creating. But it’s definitely like, hey let’s get to work. Let’s get this done. Let’s make some magic happen, at the same time. It’s this unique and fun process for us where we get to go in and be creative and also feel like we’re being really productive and really making things happen.”
I think this process definitely shows up on the record. The result is a polished finished project but the joy of making it and making it all together, definitely shines through.
The other cool thing about this band is that they aren’t content just making records. And to be totally honest here, they do it well and if that was the only thing they did, it would absolutely be enough for any fan.
In addition to the songs, they film and put out some really warm, eye popping visuals. For the song Time, the band explores some great American landscapes worthy of the bands name. Seriously, there’s mountains, red rocks and a horse. It’s a terrific watch.
You can hear my entire conversation with Brady where we cover much more about the songs and another amazing thing the band has planned. A festival called the Superbloom Music Festival at The OC Tanner Amphitheater at Zion National Park. The lineup was carefully curated by the band and was originally scheduled for August 15th. But due to the COVID-19 crisis those plans had to be pushed back. Make sure to check in with the bands website for more details on the festival.
All of this and more can be heard by clicking on the link to your favorite place to listen to podcasts or by watching the video version on YouTube (below).
-Tommy Marz
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