Interview: Zach Lupetin of The Dustbowl Revival (@ The Hamilton Live, 8/20/22)

Posted on August 16, 2022 by Ari Strauss in Interview, Preview and tagged Americana, California, funk, Interview, Los Angeles, soul, The Dustbowl Revival, The Hamilton, The Hamilton Live.

The Dustbowl Revival (Photo by Bob Turton)

The Dustbowl Revival has been hard at work on new music! And frontman Zach (aka. Z.) Lupetin shared some of his personal experiences of family on life via his Instagram account in the lead up to his band hitting the road again!

Locally, The Dustbowl Revival appear at The Hamilton Live in DC on Saturday, Aug. 20, and Parklife DC’s Ari Strauss emailed a few questions to Zach to ask him about life, love, and music. Zach generously provided some answers prior to The Dustbowl Revival’s return to DC.

Live Interview: Midge Ure (@ 9:30 Club, 7/19/22)

Posted on July 12, 2022 by Mickey McCarter in Interview, Preview and tagged 9:30 Club, England, Interview, Midge Ure, new wave, sophistipop.

Midge Ure (Photo courtesy Chuff Media)

The 9:30 Club encapsulated its upcoming night of highly intellectual dance music perfectly:

“Ah, sophisti-pop: the most elegant genre from music’s most elegant decade, the ’80s. Fusing together all the best parts — both musically and aesthetically — of new wave, soul, and jazz, Howard Jones and Midge Ure (both with Ultravox and as a solo performer) came to define the sound alongside Rough Trade royalty like The Style Council, The Human League, and Scritti Politti.

“Be warned, you may experience the following side effects at a Howard Jones & Midge Ure show: 1) feeling good, 2) dancing great, and 3) looking even better!”

I couldn’t have said it any better myself. But I do get to add some dimension to the adroit concert preview by interviewing the one and only Midge Ure himself. Parklife’s Mickey McCarter chatted about his old friend Howard Jones, the resurgent and powerful Kate Bush, and his own experiences in going viral prior to his appearance at 9:30 Club on Tuesday, July 19.

Interview: Willie Nile (@ The Hamilton Live, 7/8/22)

Posted on July 1, 2022 by Mark Engleson in Interview, Preview and tagged Americana, Interview, New York City, punk, The Hamilton, The Hamilton Live, Willie Nile.

WillieNile_Cristina Arrigoni
Willie Nile (Photo by Cristina Arrigoni)

Willie Nile is a New York City-based singer-songwriter whose recording career span reaches back to 1980. He’s hard to place in an a precise genre, as his influences range from Bob Dylan to Lou Reed, and he’s also covered The Clash. He’s a rock ‘n’ roller who, even into his 70s, is still the same guy who wasn’t afraid to fight the record companies in a legal case that set a precedent.

But he’s also a trained pianist who can just as easily do a ballad as he might just rock out. His work finds a great balance between raw musculature and cerebral refinement, managing to thread in literary and cultural references without pretension. It’s rock with brains — it sounds great, and there’s steak to go with the sizzle.

Willie released a new album, The Day the Earth Stood Still, last year, and now he’s on tour. Willie and his band perform at DC’s The Hamilton Live on Friday, July 8, and Parklife DC’s Mark Engleson talked to him in advance of that show.

Interview: Near Northeast (@ Songbyrd Music House, 7/1/22)

Posted on June 27, 2022 by Mark Caicedo in Interview, Local Spotlight, Preview and tagged DC, folk, Interview, Near Northeast, Songbyrd Music House.

***Near Northeast performs live. (Photo by Mark Caicedo)***

Near Northeast (NNE), one of Washington, DC’s most fascinating, unique, and talented bands will perform for the last time in a farewell show at Songbyrd Music House on Friday, July 1. NNE has been making music for the past eight years, produced four albums, and toured throughout the USA and Europe.

The band’s four members each brought a unique musical resume that resulted in songs with influences from Appalachia, blues-based rock, Bosnian folk songs, and Eno-like electronics. They are Austin Blanton: vocals, electric and stand-up bass, pocket operator, volca keys, organelle; Avy M: vocals, guitars, banjo, mandolin; Kelly Servick: vocals, violin, cello, theremin; and Antonio Skarica: percussion.

Interview: Dale Bozzio of Missing Persons (on Her Autobiography, “Life Is So Strange: Missing Persons, Frank Zappa, Prince, and Beyond”)

Posted on February 7, 2022 by Mickey McCarter in Interview and tagged autobiography, book talk, California, Dale Bozzio, Missing Persons, new wave.

Dale Bozzio (Photo courtesy Lappen Enterprises)

From 1980-86, you couldn’t find a more thrilling American band than Missing Persons. The quintet was fronted by Dale Bozzio, who met her principal bandmates when they all worked for Frank Zappa. After Missing Persons broke up, Dale signed to Prince’s Paisley Park label. Eventually, she formed a touring band to perform the Missing Persons catalog. Missing Persons next performs for a number of dates this spring, including sets at the spectacular new wave/post-punk festival Cruel World in Los Angeles on May 14 and 15.

Recently, Dale published a book through Cleopatra Records, which has been her recording home for the past several years. In the book — “Life Is So Strange: Missing Persons, Frank Zappa, Prince, and Beyond” — Dale shares her life experiences from recording with Zappa to forming Missing Persons to touring still. Parklife DC’s Mickey McCarter recently interviewed Dale about her relationships with Zappa, Prince, and her former Missing Persons bandmates, as well as what comes next for her.

Interview: Christian O’Mahony of Wentworth Gallery on Ric Ocasek and His Art

Posted on September 7, 2021 by Mickey McCarter in Interview and tagged art exhibit, Ric Ocasek, The Cars, Wentworth Gallery.

Art by Ric Ocasek (Image courtesy of Wentworth Gallery)

Starting on Sept. 1, Wentworth Gallery, with locations in both Westfield Montgomery Mall in Maryland and Tysons Galleria in Virginia, began a new exhibition of the artwork of musician Ric Ocasek.

Famous as the frontman of influential new wave band The Cars, Ocasek took a turn as a painter later in his life. He appeared in person at the first displays of his artwork at the Wentworth Galleries in 2018. Sadly, Ric passed away soon after at his home in New York City in 2019.

Wentworth Gallery has brought Ric’s art back on display, and the galleries currently have much of his remaining collection for sale. Parklife DC’s Mickey McCarter chatted with Christian O’Mahony about Ric’s art and the exhibition.

Interview: Willie Nile (@ The Hamilton Live, 8/28/21)

Posted on August 25, 2021 by Mark Engleson in Interview, Preview and tagged Americana, New York City, punk, The Hamilton, The Hamilton Live, Willie Nile.

Willie Nile (Photos by Cristina Arrigoni)

Willie Nile is a man all about New York City, his longtime home. The man about town was in the process of releasing an album about New York City, titled New York at Night, when the COVID-19 pandemic struck the world and put things on hold.

In May 2020, Willie released that album. Not long before he did so, he chatted with Parklife DC’s Mark Engleson. Now, Willie is back with another album about the place he loves to live — The Day the Earth Stood Still, his 14th studio album, which was released on Aug. 13.

Willie is on tour again with a stop at The Hamilton Live in DC on Saturday, Aug. 28. But Parklife has been sitting on this unpublished interview from when Willie was promoting New York at Night. And in this interview, Willie chats about how much he also loves DC. So with no further ado, we present this chat and strongly suggest you catch Willie live at The Hamilton this weekend.

Interview: Steve Petix of Technophobia (New Album: Some of Us Are Looking at the Stars)

Posted on December 3, 2020 by Mickey McCarter in Interview, Local Spotlight and tagged cold wave, DC, Stephen Petix, Technophobia.

Technophobia (Photo by Nick Fancher)

DC cold wave band Technophobia release a new album, Some of Us Are Looking at the Stars, on Dec. 4 via Working Order Records.

Parklife DC’s Mickey McCarter chats with Technophobia’s Steve Petix via Zoom about how the new album is different than their debut, what the band has been doing during the pandemic lockdown months, and why the band is dedicated to giving back to the DC community.

Watch our Parklife DC interview with Steve of Technophobia on YouTube:

Stream Some of Us Are Looking at the Stars by Technophobia on Bandcamp:

[bandcamp width=100% height=120 album=1341493515 size=large bgcol=ffffff linkcol=0687f5 tracklist=false artwork=small]

Visit Technophobia online for more music.

Follow Technophobia on Twitch to catch their upcoming live show.

Interview: Jenny Scheinman (@ National Gallery of Art — 11/3/19)

Posted on November 4, 2019 by Mark Engleson in Interview and tagged jazz, Jenny Scheinman, National Gallery of Art, roots, violin.

Jenny Scheinman (second from right) with Parlour Game (Photo by Shervin Lainez)

Jenny Scheinman is a highly accomplished violinist and fiddle player, as well as a singer. Her work straddles the worlds of jazz and roots music. In September, she appeared with Robbie Fulks at Jammin Java. On Sunday, she played with Alison Miller’s Parlor Game at the National Gallery of Art.

At the show, Mark Engleson of Parklife DC spoke with Jenny about the range of her work, her musical background growing up, and her influences. They also discussed the experience of being a Jewish artist in the roots music world.

Live Review and Interview: Alter Bridge @ MECU Pavilion — 9/22/19

Posted on September 25, 2019 by Chris R. Smyth in Interview, Live Review and tagged Alter Bridge, Florida, hard rock, heavy metal, Mark Tremonti, MECU Pavilion, Myles Kennedy, post-grunge.

Alter Bridge performs at MECU Pavilion on Sept. 22, 2019. (Photo by Chris Smyth)

On the final night of the summer, Alter Bridge kicked off the Victorious Sky co-headlining tour with Skillet at MECU Pavilion in Baltimore.