Cale Parks, Musician

You may have seen Cale Parks behind the drum kit in bands like Aloha and White Williams, but he's also stretched his arms as a solo artist, and is easily one of our favorite musicians in the city.

Stereogum describes it best, saying he "takes the experimental blueprint for his band's work and morphs it into a collection of ambient (yet structured) songs, featuring nothing but keyboards, electronic drum sounds, and mallet instruments. Cale's live percussion and fragile vocals add warmth to the otherwise-electro grooves, and the record is a perfect loop for drifting in and out of focus on hazy, lazy days."

Tonight you can catch Mr. Parks live for yourself at Union Hall (tickets), and coming up on June 13th he'll be playing our show at the Northside Festival.

How was SXSW? Fantastic! I saw so many friends from every band I've ever encountered and repeatedly experienced the worst onstage sound I've ever encountered. From what I've gathered, bad sound is a given at SXSW. You just go with the flow and have fun, which I did. So much to do everywhere. I loved it.

Did you see any good bands while there? I watched a super dynamic set by St. Vincent at the 4AD showcase. Annie and her band are next level. I also loved seeing my friends in Passion Pit at Emo's. Their sound was fantastic that night. Other faves included Bear Hand's day party set, Wild Beasts and Dirty Projectors at the Domino Publishing party, and Girls' 12pm set at Emo's Jr was the best breakfast I had all week!

What current bands are you listening to? Currently, I've been listening to Roxy Music's Avalon, OMD's Architecture & Morality, Bat For Lashes' Two Suns, and Here We Go Magic's self titled album.

Do you remember when you first started listening to and playing music? What was the first song you remember hearing? The first song I consciously remember realizing was "Thriller" while being babysat, though, I've been told by my father that he caught me singing baby talk along to Madonna's "Lucky Star" from my car seat. I don't honestly recall that one.

The first time I remember playing music was on my Uncle Monty's drumset. I must have been 4? I just remember the drums being gigantic and feeling overwhelmed.

When you were in an opening band for NIN last year, what was it like meeting Trent/what did you talk about? I met Trent Reznor when White Williams opened for NIN last summer. We spoke briefly before we went on stage. I asked him what was up with the 5 octave marimba that was on the football field sized stage. I guess he had recently taken up playing marimba, and we bonded for a few minutes discussing his 4 mallet technique. That's my Trent Reznor story. Everyone should have one.

Aside from your solo work, you've worked with a lot of bands as well... do you find it easier to collaborate or work on your own? It's much easier defending concepts to yourself. On the downside, you end up sending random demo mixdowns to friends, in place of band members, to tell you what's good or bad. You sometimes send email cc's of unmixed, adrenaline based mp3 ideas to your label, booking agent, and/or manager at the end of the work day. In your mind, it's the best new thing in the world, when in actuality it's just a random excited concept. Yeah, I've gotta stop that.

Is it difficult to separate what you do as a solo musician with what you have created with the bands you work with? I know that my solo work is very very different than the bands I work with, so no, it's very easy to separate the ideas.

What musicians (dead or alive) would be in your ultimate supergroup? All alive: Trisch Keenan (Broadcast) - vocals / Robert Wyatt (Soft Machine) - vocals, drums / Keith Jarrett - keyboards / Vinny Reilly (Durutti Column) - guitars / Paul Simonon (The Clash) - bass / Hans Joachim-Roedelius (Cluster/Harmonia) - samplers, keyboards, CDJ

How was the Anathallo tour? Do you enjoy touring? The Anathallo tour was rough. It was my first solo shows outside of NYC. All the members of Anathallo are so wonderful and I love them all, but it was the first time I had really tried to do what I do solo in a club. Their fans weren't really expecting an experimental electronic percussive dance musician as the support for those shows. Yeah, it was rough. Tours have gotten better since.

I noticed you have a Tumblr... what's this about a cab accident? I just switched my tumblr to my .com actually! Ahh the cab ride...it was nothing really. I faceplanted into the cab's glass partition last Saturday night while leaning forward to tell the driver to "stop here". He hit the breaks to dodge a kid on a bike in Williamsburg. My left eye hit the glass. It's scary with no health insurance, bleeding from your head on the side of North 4th at midnight by yourself. I managed, and have only a small scar now. It was nothing really. Lesson learned, wear a seat belt in a cab.

Please share your strangest "only in New York" story. There are too many random weirdo on the train platform or crackhead at Chipotle stories. I always recall the time I was waiting for the B61 in the north end of Greenpoint. I heard 5 different languages (Polish, English, French, Spanish, Chinese) being spoken around me at the bus stop. As many New Yorker's have experienced, it was just one of those times when you stand in awe of the city. I stood in awe for 15 more minutes waiting for that bus.

Which New Yorker do you most admire? My aunt and uncle in Murray Hill. Coming from the midwest, I've been visiting them since I was 13. Now, I've lived here a few years and seen how much it can take to be a New Yorker. They've changed with the times, with life, and with all that the city brings you. I do admire that.

Given the opportunity, how would you change New York? I have a lot of MTA issues. Some include lower fares, consistent schedules, and local resident walking lanes in the more tourist oriented stations for those with quicker, longer strides.

Under what circumstance have you thought about leaving New York? During extreme economic situations, like the one presently upon us. I love it here more than anything, however, New Yorkers are all a little bit crazy, myself included. I don't want to be here when they all go off the deep end. It could be bad.

Do you have a favorite New York celebrity sighting or encounter? Corey Feldman at the top of the Empire State Building when I was a 13 year old tourist. It was so real then.

Best cheap eat in the city. Acapulco in Greenpoint. Their entire menu went up a dollar last year, but it's still the best and cheapest Mexican.

Best venue to play/hear music. My favorite clubs in the city are Santos Party House and Le Poisson Rouge and they have the sound subs to prove it. Hands down the best sound on and off stage. They're not afraid of smoke machines and dark lighting either. In contrast, I've always wanted to set up a drum kit in the middle of the cathedral of St. John the Divine.

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