Hi, everyone! I got to sit down and shoot the breeze with Cale Parks, a percussionist who currently plays with the band Aloha and formerly a member of White Williams. While Parks is a drummer by trade, he has also dabbled with instruments like the piano and vibraphone as well. On the side of contributing to his current bands, Parks keeps a steady solo career and involves himself with many different projects. In the past, he has performed gigs with the likes of Joan of Arc, Yeasayer, and many others. When I first read about him, I was very eager to learn a lot more about the music career he has had so far.
bazzreviews: Which artists or albums had an impact on you to start a music career? Cale Parks: There is not one true answer I can say. When I was a kid, The Joshua Tree by U2 was a big thing for me. It was one of the first tapes I ever bought. I also got in to synth-driven stuff of the 80s like Depeche Mode and Tears For Fears, and that had more of a self-conscious impact on me. I heard a lot of it in places when I was younger, and got back into it when I became more understanding of it.
br: Was it your original desire to pursue a music career?
C.P.: I never had any other plans, it was always music for me ever since I was a kid.
br: If you weren’t in the music industry right now, what do you think you would be doing?
C.P.: I actually took a career change in the last three years; I now work for a tech company. When my son was born, I did not want to be on the road as much. I and wanted to be with my him while he was growing up. I’ve played for a lot of different bands in the last decade in New York, and I would make my money off of touring. I started to work for a tech company when I was there, but I’m now based remotely in Kansas City.
br: I understand that Aloha was originally only Tony Cavallario and Matthew Gengler for a few years prior before you joined. When did you end up meeting the other members?
C.P.: There was an original drummer who was at college with us at Bowling Green, and he was playing all of their early local shows. I guess he wasn’t that serious about it, and the original vibraphonist Erik Koltnow reached out to me because we were studying music together. He called me while I was on spring break my freshman year, he asked me if I wanted to perform a show with them. I lived in Cincinnati at the time and I said sure. I drove from my parents’ house up to Toledo and learned all the Aloha songs in one afternoon for a show that night in Ann Arbor. After that, I sort of became a member of the band.
br: Was that the same case with White Williams?
C.P.: No, he was another friend of mine. He was originally from Cleveland, and he was going to college in the art program at the University of Cincinnati. Me being from Cincinnati, we ran into each other at the same parties there. Fast-forward a few years, and I’m living in New York City, when we ran into each other again. He’s making music, and he told me he needed a drummer for his band. That’s how I ended up playing with him.
br: I see that you have been involved with many bands other than Aloha and White Williams- do you ever find it too stressful to keep up with so many styles of music?
C.P.: Not really, I actually find it quite enjoyable. I’ve always liked the challenge of learning different types of music. I admire the work ethic of session musicians in the 60s and 70s, and how they had the choice to play with whoever they wanted to play with. I’m always willing to play whatever instrument for any band that approaches me.
br: What specifically fuels your drive to be in so many different projects? Would you say that you are willing to push beyond your limitations?
C.P.: Oh, yeah. If I’m sitting around for a month or two without working on a project, I tend to get bored. When I was touring with bands from New York for three months, I would always be looking for another band to go out with when the tour was winding down.
br: Out of all the bands and artists you’ve performed with, who have been some of your favorites to play with?
C.P.: Everyone, really. At the end of the day, it’s always Aloha. Those guys are great, almost like my brothers. It’s fun playing with them. I really enjoyed playing with the guys in Yeasayer, and they’re all very talented musicians. I also got to play with Joan of Arc out in Chicago for a couple of years after college. I got to go through their “school” of making music with them, because there’s been so many different versions of that group over the years. It was very interesting to see how well those guys work together.
br: How has working with so many different groups helped your music career evolve?
C.P.: Musically, they’re all very different groups with different audiences and methods. I helped grow my career as a musician by learning how to write with Aloha. I knew how to write with them because they were almost like your family. You know how to be with your family because you’ve always done it that way. With Joan of Arc, I learned, “okay, these guys are a band”. They had a lot of records and a big following, and I asked myself, “how do I fit into this puzzle?” and “how do I make my voice heard?” That was a challenge, so I had to figure that out. Yeasayer had an even bigger following and were much more well-known, and coming off of a very successful record. They were looking for a new drummer, so I had to figure out how I fit in. Career-wise, each band has been a different part of my life life. Aloha would mostly just be making gas money for touring and we would never have more than fifty people at a show. With Joan of Arc, they had a larger following, and we had some more money to go out on tour. Ten years later, it was a completely different story with Yeasayer. We got to play on the Main Stage at Coachella and on the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon.
br: Can you describe how you typically make a song?
C.P.: It’s just what I set out to do that day. I like to sit down at a piano or a synthesizer and make, what I think, is a cool chord progression. I will loop it for about three-and-a-half minutes with some changes. I’ll then put together an A-section, a B-section, a chorus and verses. I’ll then put it on a grid in Logic Pro, get a tempo laid out, and I’ll create some drum and rhythm sections. I’ll sit on it for a couple of days, and add or delete things when I think of them. With Aloha stuff, though, it’s about working with Tony (lead singer). He writes most of the Aloha music, but I’ll write some instrumental tracks and give them to him. He’ll write some words over them, and he sings a melody over it. It could be all of us playing in the same room, too, but it’s rare to have that. We all live in four different parts of the country, and we are slow to make music because of that. We are technically still a band, though.
br: What musical goals do you have for the future?
C.P.: I just want continue making music, and hope there’s an audience out there who’ll listen to it. I rarely do interviews, but once in a blue moon, I’ll get a call from someone who wants to. That’s I’m thankful for you calling me, because it gives me hope that there’s someone out there who appreciates what I do.
I want to thank Cale Parks for letting me interview him. For those of you who haven't checked any of his solo or group projects, I urge you to do so. He is a very talented musician who brings a lot to the table. Thanks again for reading this article, and more great content is coming your way soon!
To check out some of the Aloha's music, go to https://aloha.bandcamp.com/
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