Exclusive Interview with 'THE PARKER STORY'

Pop duo The Parker Story is based in Chicago, Illinois. Parker has been writing and performing for the past 20 years. He began playing the guitar when he was 11 and has since acquired a variety of instruments. His dedication to music is unwavering, and he writes songs that are vocally focused, melodically expressive, and filled with unbridled passion. Early on, Anastasia found solace in music and began to pursue it. She started writing imaginatively in her notebooks and frequently painting images that reflected her feelings while listening to music. She soon started finding her voice thanks to several influential pop musicians. Their musical worlds came together at a nearby hometown festival in the fall of 2019. They talked about their objectives and how they envisioned their newfound lives for every second they were together. It was inevitable that music would command attention. They relocated to the Northside and found a passion for audio engineering there. They wrote, recorded, and produced their first single, “Baby We (Want You To Know),” in a matter of months.
Their second single, “AIRPLANES GO,” debuted on all of the major streaming services. Check out this song and the exclusive interview below:

1. Can you tell us a bit about where you all come from and how it all got started?

THE PARKER STORY: We both grew up in Chicago, same small hometown, different friend groups. Reconnected in the summer of 2019 at a small hometown festival and fell in love at first sight. We’ve both been writing and performing for a long time so it was a perfect match. It wasn’t long before our passion for music heightened and we launched “the parker story”.

2. Did you guys have any formal training or are you self-taught?
THE PARKER STORY: We are both self taught musicians and singers.

3. Who were your first and strongest musical influences and why the name ‘THE PARKER STORY’?
THE PARKER STORY: I (Parker), was into Blink-182 big time when I first started playing guitar. The offspring and Oasis are right up there as well. Now I listen to wide array of music and crave great songs in almost every genre. I especially love The Cure currently. I (Anastasia) was influenced by Michael Jackson big time at an early age. He’s deff my number 1. I used to dance on the living room table to MJ when I was 5, wearing black dance shoes and a fedora hat. I also love Celine Dion, Gwen Stefani, and Chester Bennington. We came up with the name together after taking a lot of pictures together and figuring out who we are.

4. What do you feel are the key elements in your music that should resonate with listeners, and how would you personally describe your sound?
THE PARKER STORY: Hmm, key elements…Melody. We love writing melodies and beats. The back bone beats are what move us to dance and the melody is our sing along. We write and rewrite demos of our songs until they become our favorite new song, then it goes out for mastering and it’s complete. We call ourselves a Pop Duo. We write and record everything ourselves using mostly live instruments but program our beats. Synth is key for us. Arpeggiators and sequencers are our friends for dancing sparkles in our songs. We are pop and love to dance. But we also like to strip it down and chill sometimes.

5. For most artists, originality is first preceded by a phase of learning and, often, emulating others. What was this like for you? How would you describe your own development as an artist and music maker, and the transition towards your own style, which is known as INDIE?
**THE PARKER STORY**:
So our sound has been forever built up in my (Parker) head. I grew up writing and performing pop punk and even got into a pop commercial country phase of writing for awhile. Acoustic shows were also a frequent thing of mine to do to get on stage. So when we launched “the parker story”, we knew exactly what we were going for. It’s a style of music that’s always been in both of us just waiting to escape into the universe. Originally we did consider ourselves INDY/POP but the more we lean into Indy music and study different artists, we are noticing big differences in our craft. For instance we like to write in mostly major keys and love just a good ole traditional pop song with an A-B-A-B-C-B form. We focus most on our voices and telling our story with hooks and melodies. We can’t give away entirely who we are LOL. Indy-yes we are an “independent artist.”

6. What’s your view on the role and function of music as political, cultural, spiritual, and/or social vehicles – and do you try and affront any of these themes in your work, or are you purely interested in music as an expression of technical artistry, personal narrative and entertainment?
THE PARKER STORY:

We promote peace. We want the whole earth and human race to all be a team and to love each other. Our writing is from the heart and personal narratives are always fun to listen to. We are not in it for anything political, cultural, or spiritual. However, God is very real to us and he’s in control of all this. Our faith will always grow stronger. :)

7. Do you feel that your music is giving you back just as much fulfilment as the amount of work you are putting into it, or are you expecting something more, or different in the future?
THE PARKER STORY:

Just getting to listen to a polished, mastered track that we wrote is rewarding enough. We are definitely going after labels but only for the connections we need to reach more people in more places with our music. But just writing, singing, and hearing each others voices on record is perfectly fine.

8. Could you describe your creative processes? How do usually start, and go about shaping ideas into a completed song? Do you usually start with a tune, a beat, or a narrative in your head? And do you collaborate with others in this process?

THE PARKER STORY:

Our creative process: We both have a new tune in our head throughout each day. It’s a constant thing. There’s a million little recording on our phones of us humming melodies or beating on the kitchen table so we don’t forget a cool new beat. If a feeling is strong enough then a narrative will start it off. Acoustic and piano sessions also play a big part for us in finding key and settling our voices in. At this point no, we don’t collaborate with anyone else.

9. What has been the most difficult thing you’ve had to endure in your life or music career so far?
THE PARKER STORY:

It’s difficult for us to still hold our day jobs. We feel like every moment spent doing something that doesn’t make us better writers..is wasted. We’re both pretty much extremists too though lol. Let’s just say we are switching our careers and are work in the music business, doing what we love.

10. On the contrary, what would you consider a successful, proud or significant point in your life or music career so far?

THE PARKER STORY: Our first release we couldn’t be more proud of. Baby We(Want You To Know) shaped up to be more than we anticipated. We have gotten so much love from that release and she’s amazing. We also cannot wait to start performing early next spring of 2023. Walking out onto stages as “the parker story”, ahhhhh we can’t wait! :)