MNZ Interview: B Side S01 / E01: Parkdale
Up and coming in the bustling Auckland music scene, the 2023 Smokefree Rockquest Winner, Parkdale, is a band to watch. This indie-rock four-piece has an intentional and well-crafted sound, drawing inspiration from bands such as The Backseat Lovers and Arctic Monkeys.
Made up of Solomon Woods on rhythm guitar and vocals, Will Tinnock-Jones on drums, Emma Wagner on bass and vocals, and Liam Beasley on lead guitar, Parkdale has been a crowd-pleaser. Performing sold-out shows in Tamaki, racking up over 30,000 streams on Spotify for their single Cruel (Wills Summer Song) and now taking out the top spot at Rockquest and being Awarded the ZM Best Song Award, they’ve really made a splash.
Muzic.net.nz's Lucy spoke to the band to get the scoop on their Rockquest experience and upcoming projects:
How long have you been playing and how did you get together as a band?
“We’ve been playing music for about two and a half or three years,” lead vocalist Solomon Woods said. “I met Will in intermediate, and a couple of years later he saw I was making some solo music, and he was like, ‘Wanna join my band?’ and I was like ‘Hell yeah.’” The duo met Emma their bassist at a gig where she was playing guitar, “We thought, ‘Wow, she’d be an amazing bassist.’” Liam joined the band in a very similar way, he was spotted by the now trio playing bass at a gig and thought “Wow, he’d be a killer guitarist, and now we’re the four-piece we are!”
How did you coin the name 'Parkdale'?
“I suggested the name ‘Parkdale’ because that’s the street we do band practice on” Solomon explains, but it wasn’t easily taken to. Originally drummer Will Tinnock-Jones was not impressed by the name, “We’re never naming ourselves that” quoted Solomon. However, the band had a two-week back-and-forth bringing up and shooting down name ideas until ‘Parkdale’ resurfaced, and they decided upon it, considering the meaning behind it.
What did it feel like to find out you were the winning band?
‘Surreal,’ was the agreed feeling. Solomon said it felt, “Quite literally unbelievable. I kind of screamed at the top of my lungs ‘Who made this choice!’, probably not the best thing to say,” “I was just dumbfounded.” Each band member recounts their own experience, all having quite different reactions to the news. “I was screaming, Liam was ecstatic, Will was just in shock,” said Solomon. “We thought everyone was awesome,” Liam remarked, the band talked about the disappointment they had with their performance, “I was close to crying when I walked off stage” Solomon confessed, little did they know they absolutely captured the judges and their audience.
Tell us about your Rockquest experience.
“We almost didn’t actually enter,” recalled Liam. “I got hit by a car” Solomon casually remarked, “It was a hit and run and Rockquest was the next morning.” Having injured both his arms he handed over the guitar playing to Liam, “I learnt the guitar part like, 20 minutes before we went on stage,” said Liam.
Ridiculously humble about their win, drummer Will said, “We thought it was our worst performance that we’d ever done,” “We were maybe hoping for top three.” “‘Buzz’ the other band that we were friends with, we were like, they’re our only hope for joy out of this competition. They have to make the top three. We were just praying they’d make the top three,” Solomon said.
“It was pretty raw,” the band members agreed, “We put on a good show, while it wasn’t the perfect polished performance, it felt quite natural,” said Liam.
How did your two singles come to be released?
“Me and Solomon used to go busking a lot together,” Will explained, with “Just a few drum pieces and an acoustic guitar.” “This random guy on the street that we had never known before said "You guys are really sick, you should come to my house, and I’ll record a song for you for free," so we went to his house, and he recorded a song for us for free.” That’s how Parkdale recorded their song Cruel (Wills Summer Song). For their second single Serenade, the band recorded at Red Bull Studios and collaborated with well-known producer Ben Lawson. The singles process had two quite opposite experiences.
What do you think are the biggest benefits your band will get from the win?
“We’ve got way too much support,” Solomon humbly says, “Rockquest has given us a PR team, and so much support. It’s insane.” The $10,000 financial support for the Rockshop also can’t go unmentioned, the band talks about their plans for the fund. “We can’t be dumb, let’s make a list” the band agreed, “I think we’re going to spend it all on a gong,” Emma joked, “No, but we are going to buy a gong though, because that was an old dream of Parkdale’s,” Solomon says.
The band is keen to tour NZ, which their fans desperately need. Being a part of the Rockquest experience allowed Parkdale to connect with lots of other NZ musicians around the country who could be a part of gigs in the future. “Our future goals are (to play) more festivals, an NZ tour, and releasing more songs,” “Maybe an EP,” teased lead singer Solomon.
The band shared their favourite parts of the competition. “Definitely meeting other bands,” said Solomon, “We met this guy called Flynn Adamson, he is the best, he’s so cool and he’s so kind,” Solomon remarked. Will shared the same favourite experience, of jamming with Flynn. “I’ve improved a lot with singing, a lot,” shared Liam, “It was cool to see.” “I loved watching them,” said Emma, who was performing with another band at the time for Rockquest “She got in the front row, she looked like the ultimate fangirl,” said Liam and Solomon.
Tell us about the songs you performed.
“We performed two songs, Serenade and Deep End” said Solomon. ZM has awarded Parkdale with Best Song for both songs they performed, along with their 1st-place position. “Serenade, old song that I wrote, it’s like a modern-day serenade” Solomon explains. “Deep End is being dragged down by a toxic relationship” said Solomon, “It’s quite one-sided.” He further explained that the themes of Deep End convey the feeling of being drowned and in the deep end, by a person in a relationship. “Deep End is a song that all the different sections sort of take you a bit on a journey” Liam added. “The song’s really happy, it’s really sad though,” said Solomon, about the contrast between the upbeat tempo of Deep End and the lyrics.
Want more of Parkdale?
Follow their Instagram and TikTok!
@parkdaleband on TikTok, and @parkdale.band on Instagram.
Photos courtesy of Smokefree Rockquest.
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