“Parksieâ€, started out more by chance than anything else. Late in 2004 in West Yorkshire, guitarist & vocalist Andrew Parker was writing and playing songs with no particular plans to take them any further. Even when he asked bassist and guitarist Simon Fitzpatrick to come over and help him add to a few tracks and eventually record them, it was more of a personal enjoyment goal and not meant with any other motive in mind.
Andrew & Simon first met as late teenagers in 1995, introduced by a mutual friend when he was putting together a band (cockily naming themselves “Sublimeâ€), Although the band didn’t last for too long, ‘Parks’ & ‘Efl’ would remain friends for years to come.
While Andrew virtually gave up playing (apart from a few one off live performances every now and then, usually involving ‘Efl’ ), Simon went on playing regularly in a couple of bands ,notably ‘Rigsby’, with whom he was still playing when asked to contribute to Parks’ acoustic recording.
From early on in the jamming sessions while putting the tracks together, it was pretty clear to both that the partnership worked well, with Andrew writing the basis of the song, putting the lyrics and vocal lines together, and Simon working out and writing lead guitar and bass parts to give the songs more depth. Structuring and arranging came in the jams once the writing was done.
The recording was completed just before Christmas of 2004, and the pair were very happy with the outcome. ‘Invisible Man’, ‘End of the Line’ and ‘Eternity’ were well written and chilled out songs, but there was still no intention to do anything more than keep them for themselves. There were 2 problems… One, the tracks were very well received among friends etc… and two, they had enjoyed writing and recording together so much that Parks & Efl talked about doing it again sometime. Sadly, apart from a few jam sessions once in a while in the following months, it didn’t happen. Simon spent the time between then and early 2007 working on an album with ‘Rigsby’, whilst Andrew concentrated on honing his writing skills. It wasn’t until April 07’ that the pair began working together again.
With a load of new material in his notepad, Andrew again started working with Simon in putting together a new set of tracks, this time with the aim of putting them out to the public. Meanwhile, the songs recorded in 2004 were put up on a ‘MySpace’ website received a positive response from both those within the music industry and the general listener alike. In a few short months, ‘Parksie’ had received offers & requests from producers, promoters, D.Js and record labels, while also gaining a nice following… giving Andrew & Simon increased motivation to work harder on new material. In July 2007, Parksie were given a contract offer for the songs recorded in 2004 by digital label, Red Skin Records. The offer came about after Sharmaine Taylor of RSR heard Parksie on ‘myspace’ and directed her CEO to the page. The deal was signed in September and the first tracks from Parksie were finally made available to the public… nearly 3 years after they were recorded!
Simon & Andrew are currently working hard on a new album to be recorded in October and can’t wait to get into the studio again. Interest in the new material is already mounting.
The future is looking interesting for the long time friends from Yorkshire!
