TESS PARKS

There runs a thread tying together the past, present and future. A musical tether that from its earliest beginnings has remained steadfast and consistent throughout the many peaks and troughs in the life and times of this London via Toronto artist. The musical conduit between herself and others continues to provide a universal link and unbreakable bond which through the passage of time has only increased in strength as her latest album testifies to.

Hi Tess and thank you for taking the time out to speak with us at Musicology.

My absolute pleasure!! Thank you for taking the time!!!! It is our greatest currency!!!

Can you describe some of your earliest musical memories and how they shaped the trajectory of your career?

Singing and dancing with my sister Isabella while my Dad or my grandfather played piano will be some of my happiest most cherished memories for my whole life… When I was very young, my mom singing me to sleep with my head lying on her chest and hearing the hum of her voice and her heartbeat… Her taking me to jamboree classes and all of the parents sitting in a circle with instruments and their toddlers singing songs… My dad taking me to my first Oasis concert… and all of the Oasis concerts we went to after that … memories of my youngest sister being born and the first songs she ever sang and being there and old enough to consciously remember it… Singing in choir at school… There are too many… This is amazing to reflect on because I do feel like all of these memories have ended up remaining at the core centre of why I do this.

What indelible imprint did your native Toronto leave upon you and the ways it impacted your formative years?

I had to leave to really appreciate it. I think Toronto is one of the most wonderful places on earth. I always felt different growing up and felt like I didn’t belong or fit in (lol I’m an artist). I think I would have felt that way no matter where I had been born, though. I kind of forced independence from a young age, and would go downtown on my own from the age of 11 years old to see bands play at Much Music or at the edge 102.1 radio storefront when it was on Yonge Street… that kind of access to music and to be so close to the artists was incredible… and then I eventually moved to London at 17.

Making the transatlantic leap to the U.K and relocating to London in pursuit of photography. Blending multiple artistic disciplines of sound and vision, where do those creative lines intersect and where do they diverge?

I think they are all interconnected forever! I recognize what an absolute privilege it is to be able to express myself through art and to be able to tap into that and create through different mediums based on how I’m feeling… I would also highly recommend the book “The Artist’s Way” by Julia Cameron to pretty much everyone in the world.

You exploded onto the scene with ‘Blood Hot’ and your aching, threadbare, and evocative voice was like no other. Given that it was your debut album and like any debut, it embodies a lifetime's worth of very real and very personal stories. Would you say that how the tracks were so passionately expressed was amplified by the fact it was your debut?

This album means so much to me, I can’t even begin to tell you. Thank you for being so nice about it. It definitely felt like I was given an opportunity to express my whole life up until that point. The way the songs have carried on in the past nearly 11 years is wild to me… And a lot of the songs ended up being prophecies that came true within my personal life. Words are spells. I have learned to be a lot more deliberate with my words.

Can you describe the period between ‘Blood Hot’ and your follow-up ‘And Those Who Were Seen Dancing’ in terms of where your life left off with your debut and returned with your sophomore as that can sometimes be either a beautiful or bruising time and profoundly affect one’s artistry?

Well, about four months after releasing ‘Blood Hot’, I visited Berlin and ended up writing songs with Anton Newcombe, which turned into the album ‘I Declare Nothing’ that we released in 2015. And then we ended up touring that project, which I never thought in a million years we would do… I am such a huge fan of his. And then I ended up co-writing and singing on a bunch of songs for his Brian Jonestown Massacre project, and then we released another Parks/Newcombe EP and another album in 2018. And then we toured that album without him which I thought people wouldn’t care as much if he wasn’t there, but the shows were actually amazing and then I moved to LA for a bit and then back to Toronto and got really focused on painting for a couple of years before finally releasing more music. I think ultimately, things happen at the exact times they are supposed to and we need time to live life and experience life in order to channel it into art. I think that makes sense. I didn’t expect there to be nearly 10 years in between solo projects but that’s just how it worked out.

Your work can be very collaborative and can you share with us the interplay between your own insular, solitary work and the open vulnerability that comes with collaborations and the tension/release it produces?

Well, this new album, I don’t play a single instrument and I didn’t write any of the music except for the main chords for one song (Lemon Poppy). It was all Ruari Meehan, who has been one of my best friends and collaborators and been playing in the band for over ten years now. We started writing together in Berlin in 2017. We wrote ‘Right On’ (which ended up on the Parks/Newcombe EP and 2018 album) together in about 3 minutes, and from there we were like, wow, we work really well together. And then we wrote a lot of songs that ended up on “And Those Who Were Seen Dancing” together. Ruari basically kept me alive with music in 2020, because at that point I was not writing songs and had no interest in writing songs or listening to music or releasing music ever again. I have never trusted anyone more than Ruari with being able to conjure up the most beautiful music that totally reflects the same influences and sensibilities as mine… and then I am also so eternally grateful that he trusts me to put my voice and my words on this music. It has been the most harmonious and natural collaboration. Whereas with a lot of the Anton stuff, I had the bones (the chords and lyrics) of most of the songs all ready to go and then he would produce them and orchestrate the heck out of them, which was also a very inspiring process in its own right.

Your long-awaited third album ‘Pomegranate’ is finally with us but it hasn’t been an easy process. Did you feel at times as if the record may never see the light of day and that the inherent sentiments it was expressing may have been locked up forever?

By the time we finished mixing “And Those Who Were Seen Dancing”, I was so deflated by that whole process and I had gone through a very earth shattering trauma in my personal life, and Ruari being the incredible friend that he is, could see that - and just immediately swept in and didn’t let me give up… over the course of a month or so, everyday he sent me music and I sang him words and then he sang ideas back to me…. and we definitely had over an album’s worth of songs at that point. But this was 2020/2021. And then we released that last album and toured it and again, I was so deflated. Touring and releasing music in the new world didn’t feel right. It still doesn’t feel right to be on a stage and be the only person in a room with a microphone …. Like who the fuck am I to do that … there’s so much other shit going on that’s more important. It feels like there’s too much injustice in the world, it doesn’t feel fair to have a good time while so many people are suffering… Anyway, yeah, I will always come back to the conclusion that music has healing powers and there is definitely a place for it amongst all of the horrible things that happen. I am so grateful that we finished this album and are releasing it because it genuinely healed me and got me through the darkest days of my own personal life and my hope beyond hope is that it can be that for others too.

Was there a single overarching theme that you were exploring on this record or was it more piecemeal in that it covered a broad range of ideas and expressions that were cobbled together?

I think this album more than any other has a definite over arching theme - a genuine belief that there is a God, what I have come to understand as God, a universal higher power, and we are all connected and everyone is the same and everyone and everything is a reflection of you.

Sonically, in what ways did you want to push yourself on this record?

I’ve gotta hand this one over to Ruari because I have nothing to do with the music at all here …..

Ruari: We have tried to delve into the musical palette even deeper on this record, exploring instrumentation such as flutes, different synths, keyboard sounds, strings arrangements and even vocal whistling. Sonically speaking, this album has the widest variation in one body of work, we have really worked meticulously layering detailed elements and the melodic structure to tie together this tapestry of sound. Tess has reached new heights with her vocals on this record, pushing her voice and lyrics into previously uncharted territory. This can be challenging but with someone as talented as she is, it has once again reiterated how versatile and special her voice is. She can literally sing over anything, turning a song on its head and therefore changing it into something distinct and wonderful that only she knows how to do. Tess has a voice that the world needs to hear more of and I think this album has helped give her more confidence and belief that she can achieve anything she puts her mind to.

As you have moved through your years and your albums, what elements of yourself have remained steadfast and which have evolved and morphed along your creative journey?

I will always be a super fanatic of the music that made me want to make music in the first place. I have experienced layers of ego death, which makes it a bit strange to perform or want to share anything on the internet…. But seeing as I am living in this human existence, I am going to carry on this way because this is the life I have created so far. I am also so proud to be sober from alcohol for nearly three years and I feel like this is the most present and mature and sincere and conscious and considerate my words have ever been.

What have been some of the most significant moments throughout your career and what continues to excite and motivate you in your artistic pursuits?

Writing Koalas with Ruari from half the world away seems like a very significant and important moment…. The absolute buzz of being given my first record deal by the same man that also gave Oasis their first record deal will never not amaze me… I genuinely think the best is yet to come though, and that makes everyday feel like a mysterious and magical gift.

Lastly, what does music give you that nothing else does?

Music is a literal time travel transportation device. What an absolute miracle to have ears to hear!!! It’s so beyond wild how the right sounds - whatever is music to your ears- can lift your spirit and take you away somewhere else or to a specific memory…! It can heal our DNA on a cellular level and totally transform us.

Thank you for your time.

Seriously, thank you so much for yours.