WEBVTT - Arlo Parks 0:00:15.476 --> 0:00:23.956 Pushkin. Singer songwriter Arlow Parks is a compelling new voice 0:00:24.156 --> 0:00:27.476 in music. Born in London, the twenty two year old 0:00:27.476 --> 0:00:29.916 snagged the Best New Artist trophy at the brit Awards 0:00:29.916 --> 0:00:32.876 in twenty twenty one, in part because of her breakout 0:00:32.916 --> 0:00:38.796 single Eugene, about an unrequited crush. Arlow's songwriting is a 0:00:38.876 --> 0:00:42.436 vivid exploration of the euphoria and heartbreak that comes with 0:00:42.556 --> 0:00:45.956 being young and in love. She pulls inspiration from a 0:00:45.956 --> 0:00:50.996 diverse palette of music, including Ethiopian folk, Radiohead, and Diggable Planets. 0:00:51.636 --> 0:00:53.996 She's found a way to expertly weave all of those 0:00:54.036 --> 0:00:58.356 influences into her work. This month, Arlo Parks will release 0:00:58.436 --> 0:01:03.676 her sophomore record called Mysoft Machine. She collaborated with producers 0:01:03.676 --> 0:01:07.716 who worked with Brockhampton, Sizza and Frank Ocean, and even 0:01:07.756 --> 0:01:11.596 produced some of it herself. The album unpacks the anxiety 0:01:11.596 --> 0:01:15.036 of feeling lost in your twenties and navigating the uncertainty 0:01:15.116 --> 0:01:19.276 of life with grace. On this week's episode, I talked 0:01:19.276 --> 0:01:22.516 with Arlow about how seeing black creators pushing the boundaries 0:01:22.516 --> 0:01:26.756 of popular music inspires her. She also explains how taking 0:01:26.836 --> 0:01:29.836 long drives around La shaped the sound of her new 0:01:29.876 --> 0:01:32.716 album and how she first started writing songs at just 0:01:32.836 --> 0:01:35.956 seven years old. Plus, we'll hear Arlow play three of 0:01:35.996 --> 0:01:41.196 her songs live from the Village Studios in Los Angeles. 0:01:42.276 --> 0:01:45.516 This is broken record liner notes for the digital Age. 0:01:45.716 --> 0:01:49.476 I'm justin Mitchman. Before we jump into my conversation with 0:01:49.596 --> 0:01:52.636 Arlow Parks, let's hear a live acoustic performance of her 0:01:52.636 --> 0:01:54.276 new song Impurities. 0:02:07.916 --> 0:02:17.996 Yesday, my chastis buzzing like a blue bocage, laugh like 0:02:18.276 --> 0:02:21.836 Julie up and not. She touched my leg to make 0:02:21.956 --> 0:02:30.316 sure I'm still fair. Already like a star like a star, 0:02:32.516 --> 0:02:39.636 already like a star, like a star. Already like a star, 0:02:40.316 --> 0:02:53.556 like a star. When you race, so my impurity, when 0:02:53.676 --> 0:03:00.996 you race, so my impurety find you embrace so my 0:03:01.316 --> 0:03:11.836 impurtyes or no feel clean? Why that you threw me? 0:03:12.036 --> 0:03:20.956 Bn was so intense that it was physical. M sure 0:03:21.196 --> 0:03:25.836 the rainbow and myself. You notice beauty and more forms 0:03:25.916 --> 0:03:33.316 than nos. Already a like a star like a star, 0:03:35.516 --> 0:03:42.156 already like a star, like a star, already like a 0:03:42.316 --> 0:03:53.316 star like a star. Yeah, find you him ride aw 0:03:53.516 --> 0:04:01.836 my impurevidies find you him bred are my impuivity, Find 0:04:01.876 --> 0:04:06.876 you him bred, So my impuvity enough feel clean. 0:04:12.316 --> 0:04:17.876 Don't hide the bruce when you norm watching. May don't 0:04:18.036 --> 0:04:23.516 hide the bruce when you norm watching. Maybe don't hide 0:04:23.596 --> 0:04:24.316 the bruise. 0:04:24.836 --> 0:04:28.356 I know it's hard to be a life some time, 0:04:32.916 --> 0:04:39.956 already like a star like a star, already like a star, 0:04:40.676 --> 0:04:46.596 like a star, already like a star like a star. 0:04:53.756 --> 0:05:00.396 When you him bray. So my impurvities when you him raised. 0:05:01.076 --> 0:05:08.796 So my impurvities when you him raised? Are my impurvities enough? 0:05:08.876 --> 0:05:09.796 You clean. 0:05:17.516 --> 0:05:20.116 Impurity. I've like listened to it, like it's a song 0:05:20.196 --> 0:05:22.516 that I find, like I repeat like three or four 0:05:22.556 --> 0:05:24.796 times when I listen because it's such like a feeling 0:05:24.916 --> 0:05:29.796 of just like elation and freedom, and that emotion really 0:05:30.116 --> 0:05:32.356 is so in that song that I just usually play 0:05:32.396 --> 0:05:34.796 it a few times because I'm like, I love that feeling, 0:05:34.876 --> 0:05:38.116 like if I could bottle that, you know, Yeah, And. 0:05:38.156 --> 0:05:41.356 That's exactly how it feels to me. Like I wanted 0:05:41.396 --> 0:05:44.396 to capture that feeling of like either you're coming back 0:05:44.516 --> 0:05:47.276 from a night out, You're coming back from the beach 0:05:47.996 --> 0:05:50.596 with people that you feel completely safe with and the 0:05:50.676 --> 0:05:53.796 sun is setting and everyone's just kind of quite serene. Yeah, 0:05:53.916 --> 0:05:55.836 and like a few people are dozing off and like 0:05:55.916 --> 0:05:58.676 everyone is just content, And that's exactly what I wanted. 0:05:58.556 --> 0:06:00.796 Those moments, man, if you could just like freeze them 0:06:00.876 --> 0:06:04.996 where it's like everything is like perfect. Yeah, and they're 0:06:05.036 --> 0:06:08.796 always like moments of quiet or something for like a 0:06:08.836 --> 0:06:10.756 big thing or a little bit whatever. It's just like 0:06:10.836 --> 0:06:13.836 it was just like whoa, Like life couldn't get better 0:06:13.876 --> 0:06:14.476 than this moment. 0:06:14.556 --> 0:06:18.076 Peace. Peace. And I think the biggest thing that is 0:06:18.316 --> 0:06:21.636 like hard about being human is that those moments do end. 0:06:21.796 --> 0:06:24.476 But that shouldn't be a reason to like not let 0:06:24.556 --> 0:06:26.716 them be, you know. Yeah, I think a lot of 0:06:26.796 --> 0:06:30.196 it is just accepting that even the most beautiful moments 0:06:30.236 --> 0:06:33.836 and the most painful ones, like at some point they 0:06:33.876 --> 0:06:34.356 will end. 0:06:34.476 --> 0:06:36.156 It's all transient, it really is. 0:06:36.476 --> 0:06:36.676 Yeah. 0:06:37.396 --> 0:06:40.436 I had no conception really how old you were beyond 0:06:41.796 --> 0:06:43.996 just knowing, Like when I first heard your music, which 0:06:43.996 --> 0:06:47.156 I guess was twenty eighteen, Yeah, but I was like WHOA. 0:06:47.116 --> 0:06:49.596 Like I was seventeen then? Yeah, I literally was seventeen. 0:06:49.876 --> 0:06:53.236 I mean not to stereotype what the art young people make, 0:06:53.636 --> 0:06:56.596 but it sounds very mature, you know, I think we formed. 0:06:56.716 --> 0:06:59.356 I think honestly, it's just because I spent so much 0:06:59.436 --> 0:07:02.596 of my life when I was growing up just practicing 0:07:03.356 --> 0:07:07.356 like it just what, just practicing writing, practicing, like just 0:07:07.436 --> 0:07:09.676 being a student of what I was seeing around me, 0:07:09.836 --> 0:07:12.876 and like making a lot of really bad, silly songs. 0:07:13.476 --> 0:07:16.036 I just at a very early age decided to dedicate 0:07:16.116 --> 0:07:19.316 my life to like the practice of writing and expression, 0:07:19.396 --> 0:07:22.276 not necessarily singing, but just like storytelling. And I would 0:07:22.316 --> 0:07:24.676 write every single day. So by the time I put 0:07:24.716 --> 0:07:27.436 out a song from the age of like seven or eight, 0:07:27.476 --> 0:07:30.676 I was like writing every day. And so yeah, I 0:07:31.036 --> 0:07:32.516 had a lot of experience in that way. 0:07:32.676 --> 0:07:36.796 What inspired that a seven or eight I don't know. 0:07:36.956 --> 0:07:39.676 I was just very curious and my imagination was just 0:07:39.836 --> 0:07:44.476 so like insane that I had. I needed a place 0:07:44.556 --> 0:07:46.676 to put all of that. And I just got a 0:07:46.716 --> 0:07:48.956 lot of joy from just like making up these little 0:07:49.036 --> 0:07:50.396 like fantasy worlds. 0:07:50.676 --> 0:07:52.916 More insane than the average seven or eight year olds. 0:07:53.916 --> 0:07:54.236 Maybe not. 0:07:54.356 --> 0:07:56.156 I feel like I just had that urge to put 0:07:56.196 --> 0:07:58.356 it somewhere. I feel like a lot of people maybe 0:07:58.396 --> 0:08:00.836 would like make up little games with their friends or 0:08:00.916 --> 0:08:03.436 you know, it would stay quite contained. But I always 0:08:03.516 --> 0:08:05.996 had this urge to write things down and to document them. 0:08:06.196 --> 0:08:08.476 Was anyone in your family writing or a writer. 0:08:09.916 --> 0:08:13.636 Everyone in my family is like like engineers and lawyers 0:08:13.676 --> 0:08:16.756 and accountants, Like no one is really remotely creative. My 0:08:16.876 --> 0:08:19.796 dad really likes jazz music and listens to a lot 0:08:19.836 --> 0:08:22.436 of music, but no one is like remotely creative in 0:08:22.516 --> 0:08:22.876 any way. 0:08:23.556 --> 0:08:27.676 Wow, if no one in your family maybe inspires you 0:08:27.756 --> 0:08:29.956 to do that, were you seeing art or hearing art? 0:08:31.076 --> 0:08:34.516 I grew up with the Internet and with YouTube, and 0:08:34.676 --> 0:08:36.636 my uncle gave me a collection of records and that 0:08:36.876 --> 0:08:41.996 was like an interesting way into the world of records 0:08:42.116 --> 0:08:45.996 and world building. And he had a really interesting taste 0:08:46.316 --> 0:08:47.796 because he's French and so there was a lot of 0:08:47.876 --> 0:08:51.276 like French music, French funk, but also like Elle Cool 0:08:51.396 --> 0:08:55.396 J and Tupac and like Shad Yeah amazing, and like 0:08:55.756 --> 0:08:57.996 it was such an eclectic mix of things. And I 0:08:58.076 --> 0:09:00.956 think that started it from me because I was like 0:09:01.236 --> 0:09:04.316 maybe like nine or ten and then growing up with 0:09:04.396 --> 0:09:06.396 the Internet on YouTube, I could just go down these 0:09:06.436 --> 0:09:08.916 little rabbit holes and like see you Radiohead perform at Glass, 0:09:09.396 --> 0:09:13.036 like see people like odd Future kind of like blossoming 0:09:13.316 --> 0:09:17.476 online and being like weird and black and like yeah crazy, 0:09:17.516 --> 0:09:19.676 you know. I was watching that rap Caviar thing that 0:09:19.716 --> 0:09:22.156 Tyler Creator did, like yesterday night beautiful, right, and it 0:09:22.276 --> 0:09:24.556 was so beautiful and I feel like I'm part of 0:09:24.636 --> 0:09:27.636 that generation because I remember seeing that, seeing the colorful 0:09:27.676 --> 0:09:31.036 clothing and like just that sense of energy and just 0:09:31.156 --> 0:09:34.196 these people being disruptors and making like weird stuff and 0:09:34.236 --> 0:09:35.196 I was like, I can do that. 0:09:35.556 --> 0:09:37.996 I don't know if they know how important that was 0:09:38.076 --> 0:09:40.156 for so many people by that point. I was in 0:09:40.276 --> 0:09:43.076 college at that point, and I remember feeling like, oh shit, 0:09:43.276 --> 0:09:45.716 like these are my people finally. 0:09:45.476 --> 0:09:48.756 You know, like yeah, exactly, And that's always what has 0:09:48.876 --> 0:09:50.756 kind of inspired me. And I think growing up, I 0:09:50.796 --> 0:09:53.396 always did have a sense that the music that I 0:09:53.676 --> 0:09:58.476 liked was an interesting kind of pod of music, everything 0:09:58.516 --> 0:10:01.676 from ambient music to like my Bloody Valentine, and then 0:10:01.716 --> 0:10:04.316 I also really loved like Diggable Planets, but I also 0:10:04.476 --> 0:10:08.836 loved like jazz music and like Ethiopian folk music. Like 0:10:09.116 --> 0:10:11.756 I just had this world of things and I was like, Okay, 0:10:12.356 --> 0:10:14.796 maybe I can distill this, Maybe I can create a 0:10:14.876 --> 0:10:17.556 kind of little collage almost of all the things that 0:10:17.636 --> 0:10:20.076 I like, because I didn't feel like anyone else had 0:10:20.116 --> 0:10:21.716 that specific taste. 0:10:21.836 --> 0:10:25.116 I'm trying to imagine what listening to Tupac in England 0:10:25.756 --> 0:10:28.196 and you're like nine or ten years old and it's 0:10:28.276 --> 0:10:30.596 like two thousand and nine, twenty ten and you're hearing 0:10:30.716 --> 0:10:33.116 pac Like, what was you know? I think a park 0:10:33.156 --> 0:10:35.476 I grew about here and I was like six when 0:10:35.516 --> 0:10:37.596 he was killed, so like that's that's my memory is 0:10:37.636 --> 0:10:39.276 like it was it was a bunch of chaos and 0:10:39.316 --> 0:10:41.316 then he was killed, and it was it was like, oh, 0:10:41.596 --> 0:10:44.236 you know, it was like almost scary. I just trying 0:10:44.236 --> 0:10:45.316 to imagine that vibe was. 0:10:45.356 --> 0:10:48.636 Like for you, I think for me it was. Yeah, 0:10:48.676 --> 0:10:51.076 it did feel like a world that was very alien 0:10:51.156 --> 0:10:52.516 to the one that I was living in. But I 0:10:52.676 --> 0:10:55.676 loved the fact that even though I hadn't lived any 0:10:55.716 --> 0:10:57.876 of the experiences that he was talking about, I could 0:10:58.036 --> 0:11:01.156 picture it, like it was so vivid the storytelling, and 0:11:01.796 --> 0:11:04.276 I think I've kind of carried that forward, that sense 0:11:04.316 --> 0:11:07.436 of like the spoken word and feeling like someone is 0:11:07.716 --> 0:11:11.036 telling you their truth, and that sense of rhythm and 0:11:11.156 --> 0:11:13.836 also just how that can kind of really bring communities 0:11:13.916 --> 0:11:16.716 together and move people. And yeah, I think I was 0:11:16.796 --> 0:11:19.516 just moved by the way that he painted these really 0:11:19.596 --> 0:11:22.596 vivid scenes of like a place that was so far 0:11:22.676 --> 0:11:24.236 away from where I was as a kid. 0:11:24.596 --> 0:11:27.036 Yeah, there is a lot of that in your songwriting. 0:11:27.116 --> 0:11:29.076 Like I know you're gonna play Eugene for us. That's 0:11:29.116 --> 0:11:31.876 the song in particular. Hmm that I When I hear 0:11:31.956 --> 0:11:34.716 I'm like, oh man, that's like that's really laying it 0:11:34.796 --> 0:11:35.156 out there. 0:11:35.236 --> 0:11:39.956 Like definitely, definitely that song is like I feel like 0:11:39.996 --> 0:11:41.876 it's the first time that I was really kind of 0:11:41.996 --> 0:11:45.156 like stripping myself bare in that way. But I think 0:11:45.836 --> 0:11:49.196 that the way that the song kind of traveled in 0:11:49.276 --> 0:11:53.196 the world and the kind of queer experience that it captured, 0:11:53.716 --> 0:11:55.396 I think it's kind of like what you were saying before, 0:11:55.476 --> 0:11:58.876 where I felt like it was an experience that only 0:11:58.996 --> 0:12:00.556 I had gone through, and then when I put it 0:12:00.636 --> 0:12:03.956 out into the world, people were just like holding up 0:12:03.996 --> 0:12:06.116 mirrors to themselves and being like, Wow, I this is 0:12:06.156 --> 0:12:07.996 what I lived, whether it was twenty years ago, well, 0:12:08.036 --> 0:12:09.876 this is what I'm in now. So I think that 0:12:10.036 --> 0:12:13.436 fear kind of melted away once I just started getting 0:12:14.556 --> 0:12:18.916 a reaction from people. But yeah, it's scary. It's always scary. 0:12:19.516 --> 0:12:23.876 It always feels very i don't know, just exposing, but 0:12:23.956 --> 0:12:25.556 I'm kind of used to it now because I'm doing 0:12:25.556 --> 0:12:26.196 it all the time. 0:12:28.276 --> 0:12:30.236 Here. When I knew we were going to do this, 0:12:30.316 --> 0:12:31.796 I was like, man, I should think of like what, like, 0:12:31.956 --> 0:12:35.316 what is it that attracted me to your music? I 0:12:35.356 --> 0:12:37.036 think there's a lot of things, but one of the 0:12:37.116 --> 0:12:40.596 main things was I realized was the writing. You know, 0:12:40.796 --> 0:12:44.916 people who are like songwriters, it can be obtuse and 0:12:45.036 --> 0:12:47.476 that can be cool, but it's like it and there's 0:12:47.476 --> 0:12:49.236 some mystery, so I think what you're writing, but there's 0:12:49.236 --> 0:12:52.076 also like some of it's really evocative, you know, like 0:12:52.276 --> 0:12:54.636 just even like on your first song, like your Coca 0:12:54.676 --> 0:12:58.276 Cola eyes. You know, I think I've thought about that 0:12:58.476 --> 0:13:00.996 phrase meaning three different things since the first time I've 0:13:00.996 --> 0:13:02.116 heard it. You know, the first time I heard it, 0:13:02.156 --> 0:13:04.396 I interpreted that one way was very vivid. It made 0:13:04.396 --> 0:13:07.236 me think of like a Coca cola bottle and like 0:13:07.756 --> 0:13:09.316 being like this person's like wide eyed. And then I 0:13:09.396 --> 0:13:11.636 was like, oh, it's like a person on cocaine. Yeah, 0:13:11.796 --> 0:13:14.796 but it's such an evocative line. And even your new 0:13:14.916 --> 0:13:17.796 song and Purities, there's there's some evocative stuff in there too. 0:13:17.916 --> 0:13:20.436 And the way you reference people. 0:13:20.356 --> 0:13:20.996 Like I love it. 0:13:21.236 --> 0:13:22.396 I can't stop myself. 0:13:22.836 --> 0:13:25.836 I love when you reference people, you know, Gerardrey Claire 0:13:25.996 --> 0:13:27.916 Dane's juliette Venot. 0:13:27.956 --> 0:13:30.556 Shit, it's like, oh wow, I don't know why I 0:13:30.716 --> 0:13:32.476 have the instinct to do that. I think when it 0:13:32.516 --> 0:13:34.316 comes to my taste in writing, it's something that I 0:13:34.396 --> 0:13:38.156 really can't explain, Like I guess it is just a 0:13:38.236 --> 0:13:41.756 mixture of my favorite writers and my favorite influences. I 0:13:41.836 --> 0:13:43.276 think a lot of it is just like a love 0:13:43.356 --> 0:13:44.716 of a film. 0:13:45.116 --> 0:13:46.236 When did you start loving film? 0:13:48.236 --> 0:13:50.476 I think, honestly, it was a little bit later in 0:13:50.596 --> 0:13:54.236 my life, I mean my short life, so probably when 0:13:54.276 --> 0:13:56.996 I was like in my late teens, I really started 0:13:57.076 --> 0:14:00.716 like throwing myself into film, especially like international film, like 0:14:00.836 --> 0:14:04.676 I never really explored like Brazilian film and Iranian film, 0:14:04.716 --> 0:14:07.596 and just actually really spreading out into different cultures in 0:14:07.636 --> 0:14:10.476 the way that they approach storytelling. And I think that 0:14:10.636 --> 0:14:14.276 really bled into the work because there was this sense 0:14:14.316 --> 0:14:17.756 of wanting to paint these scenes as they were unfolding 0:14:17.836 --> 0:14:20.756 in front of my eyes and picking out these specific details. 0:14:21.276 --> 0:14:23.796 And you know, the people who are listening to my 0:14:23.916 --> 0:14:27.196 music aren't like living my life, and maybe they weren't there, 0:14:27.676 --> 0:14:31.076 but there is something about like detailing, like the eyelash 0:14:31.156 --> 0:14:34.116 on somebody's cheek, or like what exact song was playing 0:14:34.156 --> 0:14:37.196 on the CD when this happened, and the exact tone 0:14:37.236 --> 0:14:39.436 of brown of the floor. Like I really love that 0:14:39.596 --> 0:14:43.076 sense of detail, and I think that happens so naturally. 0:14:43.356 --> 0:14:46.316 The details, little details really create like a point for 0:14:46.436 --> 0:14:48.236 like the for me as a listener to really all 0:14:48.276 --> 0:14:50.636 of a sudden be transported, you know, like yeah, it 0:14:50.756 --> 0:14:52.356 does like the hard work of getting me in and 0:14:52.396 --> 0:14:54.676 then like all the other things that are maybe a 0:14:54.716 --> 0:14:57.116 little more open for interpretation or whatever can kind of 0:14:57.276 --> 0:14:59.876 like now I'm like in a frame of mind where 0:14:59.876 --> 0:15:02.116 I can really interpret those things in an interesting way. 0:15:02.156 --> 0:15:04.076 You know, when you say like Claire Danes and it's 0:15:04.116 --> 0:15:06.356 like you're automatically like I know, I just it's like 0:15:06.396 --> 0:15:08.956 a shortcut. It's like I know what you're saying, Yeah, 0:15:09.196 --> 0:15:11.916 shorthand for like this feeling. You know. 0:15:12.236 --> 0:15:15.116 I think it's interesting to have also that balance right 0:15:15.236 --> 0:15:19.836 between those really clear anchors that are so specific and 0:15:19.916 --> 0:15:22.716 can't really be interpreted in any other way, and then 0:15:23.756 --> 0:15:26.236 parts of it that feel more fluid and that are 0:15:26.436 --> 0:15:29.596 just open. And it's like, you know, when you embrace 0:15:29.636 --> 0:15:32.196 my impurities and I feel clean again, like there's maybe 0:15:32.836 --> 0:15:35.476 a more obvious way to interpret that, but then it 0:15:35.556 --> 0:15:38.716 can like blossom into a million different ways of thinking. 0:15:38.756 --> 0:15:41.476 And I think I like having that balance because I 0:15:41.516 --> 0:15:43.956 think being specific as well makes it feel like it's 0:15:43.996 --> 0:15:47.356 something that you know, I've really lived and it is. 0:15:47.636 --> 0:15:50.316 Yeah, so yeah, yeah, that idea of like the personal 0:15:50.716 --> 0:15:54.476 being general too. We all feel like our experiences are 0:15:54.516 --> 0:15:58.076 so personal to us, but you know, human experience is 0:15:58.236 --> 0:16:00.916 in some degree limited, so like much of what we 0:16:01.116 --> 0:16:03.196 go through a lot of other people have gone through, 0:16:03.276 --> 0:16:04.436 just in other variations. 0:16:04.676 --> 0:16:04.876 You know. 0:16:05.276 --> 0:16:07.116 It's an idea of like the personal sort of being. 0:16:07.636 --> 0:16:10.396 The more specific and the more per all you can get, actually, 0:16:10.436 --> 0:16:13.156 the more kind of broad appeal you're opening. 0:16:12.956 --> 0:16:16.916 Up exactly exactly. And I feel like the songs that 0:16:17.236 --> 0:16:21.876 have moved me and like moved the world in the 0:16:21.916 --> 0:16:23.876 biggest sense are the ones that feel like they were 0:16:23.916 --> 0:16:26.756 written just for you. And everyone feels that way, you know, 0:16:27.436 --> 0:16:29.996 which is kind of impossible, but that's how I feel. 0:16:30.236 --> 0:16:32.636 I was thinking about like Coachella's coming up. I remember 0:16:32.676 --> 0:16:33.756 seeing Radiohead there back. 0:16:34.956 --> 0:16:36.636 That's so funny is that that I was literally gonna 0:16:36.636 --> 0:16:37.396 be like Radiohead. 0:16:37.436 --> 0:16:38.356 Were you thinking of Radiohead? 0:16:38.396 --> 0:16:39.516 Ya? Radiohead? 0:16:39.796 --> 0:16:41.716 I mean, I just love Radiohead, so I'm always thinking 0:16:41.716 --> 0:16:43.036 about Radiohead, but yeah. 0:16:43.476 --> 0:16:45.156 When did you When did you get onto Radiohead? 0:16:45.396 --> 0:16:50.236 Probably when I was about seventeen, and I just fell 0:16:50.316 --> 0:16:52.836 completely in love. I feel like it really informed those 0:16:52.876 --> 0:16:55.636 first few songs that I was doing those first few EPs, 0:16:56.116 --> 0:16:58.236 because I was listening to songs like House of Cards 0:16:58.316 --> 0:17:01.196 and Weird Fishes and Videotape and and just like the 0:17:01.396 --> 0:17:04.036 warmth and the texture. I was like, how did they 0:17:04.116 --> 0:17:07.516 make instruments sound like that? There is this sense of minimalism, 0:17:07.596 --> 0:17:10.956 but everything is so intentional. Yeah, and then I kind 0:17:10.996 --> 0:17:13.996 of like blossomed into like kid A and listening to 0:17:14.036 --> 0:17:17.796 them uneasy I can thinking about the most electronic elements. 0:17:17.916 --> 0:17:20.076 Honestly my favorite bound of all time. And I've never 0:17:20.116 --> 0:17:23.796 seen them live, really never. I really really need to. 0:17:24.316 --> 0:17:25.436 I saw the Smile in. 0:17:25.516 --> 0:17:28.156 Copenhagen, but I haven't wanted to see them. Yeah I was. 0:17:28.356 --> 0:17:31.476 It was so good, like Johnny Greenwood like doing his 0:17:31.676 --> 0:17:34.556 like guitar with a bow and the bows just exploding, 0:17:34.716 --> 0:17:36.396 and he looks like the same age as. 0:17:36.276 --> 0:17:39.436 He always has, never change, wizard. 0:17:39.556 --> 0:17:40.156 I love him. 0:17:41.156 --> 0:17:43.276 We have to pause for a short break, but before 0:17:43.316 --> 0:17:46.436 we go, let's hear Arlo Parks play Eugene from her 0:17:46.516 --> 0:17:48.956 debut album Collapsed in Sunbeams. 0:18:01.676 --> 0:18:08.076 I had a dream week kissed and nurse. All the 0:18:09.276 --> 0:18:15.636 art of your eyes was fired. He hung a cigarette 0:18:15.996 --> 0:18:29.516 between your purple. We've been buys bird since thirty. I 0:18:30.076 --> 0:18:37.076 had your harber when you're two. I held the tackle 0:18:37.316 --> 0:18:43.236 both and you cry over ute. He was me, he 0:18:43.876 --> 0:18:44.236 is me? 0:18:46.276 --> 0:18:46.876 But have. 0:18:49.236 --> 0:18:52.836 I not been a little bit off? And last my mistay. 0:18:54.876 --> 0:18:57.996 I kind of fell half in love and you're to blame. 0:19:00.556 --> 0:19:04.516 I guess I just forgot that we've been made since 0:19:04.636 --> 0:19:12.156 day car don't know what to say, And now I've 0:19:12.196 --> 0:19:17.316 been a little bit off, and that's my mistake. I 0:19:17.476 --> 0:19:20.476 kind of fell half in love and you're to blame. 0:19:22.956 --> 0:19:26.956 I guess I just forgot that we've been made since 0:19:28.236 --> 0:19:46.236 You're a dunna to say. Seeing you with him burns. 0:19:46.396 --> 0:19:50.116 I feel it deep in my throat. You put your 0:19:50.316 --> 0:19:54.436 hand in a shirt, you play him records? I should 0:19:55.036 --> 0:19:59.036 you read him sill you play? I thought that that 0:19:59.436 --> 0:20:03.716 was often, you know. I like you like that. I 0:20:03.956 --> 0:20:10.156 hate that son of a We've ben bars birds since thirty, 0:20:11.636 --> 0:20:18.876 but that don't change the things. I oh when I 0:20:19.196 --> 0:20:26.236 see smile your teeth, that you chee yere I could do, 0:20:28.956 --> 0:20:33.716 but hey, I'm not been a little bit off and 0:20:33.916 --> 0:20:39.116 that's my misstay. I kind of fell half in love 0:20:39.356 --> 0:20:44.836 and you're to blame. I guess I just forgot that 0:20:45.116 --> 0:20:51.876 weeping May. Since day, I don't know what to say. Hey, 0:20:54.276 --> 0:20:57.876 I'm not been a little bit off and that's my mistake. 0:20:59.916 --> 0:21:03.116 I kind of fell half in love and you're to blame. 0:21:05.596 --> 0:21:11.236 I guess I just forgot that weeping May since day. Yeah, 0:21:11.476 --> 0:21:12.556 donna to. 0:21:12.756 --> 0:21:39.316 Say, we're back with more of my conversation with Arlow Parks. 0:21:40.756 --> 0:21:42.436 What was the first music that felt like your own 0:21:42.516 --> 0:21:45.516 music that like you kind of discovered and felt like this. 0:21:45.676 --> 0:21:50.476 Is That's interesting. I think I think the first people 0:21:50.556 --> 0:21:54.876 that I really clung onto were actually like sing a songwriter, 0:21:55.156 --> 0:21:58.676 like listening to like Carrion Lowell by Sophie Stevens, listening 0:21:58.756 --> 0:22:02.036 to Either Or by Elliott Smith, listening to Blue by 0:22:02.156 --> 0:22:06.396 Joni Like just these really kind of like emotional, especially 0:22:06.436 --> 0:22:08.756 when you're like fifteen and you're like going through it 0:22:08.876 --> 0:22:12.796 all for the first time. Emotions exactly, big emotions, Like 0:22:12.916 --> 0:22:16.036 everything felt on like such a massive scale, even if 0:22:16.116 --> 0:22:18.156 in the ground scheme of things, it's like a tiny 0:22:18.316 --> 0:22:22.556 minor inconvenience, and I feel like I really aligned with that, 0:22:22.836 --> 0:22:25.556 and I think that's something I've always kind of taken 0:22:25.676 --> 0:22:29.156 with me, that sense of being really like emotional and 0:22:29.356 --> 0:22:34.196 like you know, open heart surgery. Those lyrics always come 0:22:34.276 --> 0:22:37.036 from this really deep place and it's everything is kind 0:22:37.036 --> 0:22:40.996 of overflowing and brimming, and I think I've always taken 0:22:41.116 --> 0:22:43.516 that element into my music and then maybe moved away 0:22:43.556 --> 0:22:46.716 from it sonically, but always having that thread through like 0:22:46.876 --> 0:22:48.436 how I write, meaning like. 0:22:48.476 --> 0:22:52.036 You feel like the songs as you write them end 0:22:52.116 --> 0:22:55.276 up sounding very different from what the record sounds like. 0:22:55.756 --> 0:22:58.716 Yeah, no, I mean more that when listening to people 0:22:59.276 --> 0:23:02.116 like Elliott Smith or Joni I try and kind of 0:23:02.236 --> 0:23:05.316 carry that essence in terms of how they write, but 0:23:05.436 --> 0:23:07.956 the actual kind of sonic world always like moves in 0:23:08.036 --> 0:23:08.996 a million different directions. 0:23:09.316 --> 0:23:12.436 You got you. That's really interesting. Also interesting that those 0:23:12.436 --> 0:23:14.516 are two LA transplants. 0:23:14.756 --> 0:23:16.436 Yeah, that is true actually. 0:23:16.676 --> 0:23:18.676 Which I guess you've just recently moved to LA, right. 0:23:18.716 --> 0:23:20.676 Yeah, no, I have. And there is something about like 0:23:21.316 --> 0:23:23.876 reading like Joan Diddyon when you're in California, like how 0:23:24.036 --> 0:23:26.196 you know just everything alignes. 0:23:26.476 --> 0:23:28.796 I'm from California, but still It's like reading Joan Didyon 0:23:28.876 --> 0:23:35.596 in California or listening to Joni Mitchell. Listening as I'm driving, 0:23:35.716 --> 0:23:37.556 you know, I have to any time I drive, like 0:23:37.676 --> 0:23:39.436 up Laurel Canyon, I'm like, I got to think about 0:23:39.516 --> 0:23:42.196 Joaning and think about you know, the mamas and the 0:23:42.236 --> 0:23:45.676 papas or something like that. It's that effect, even though 0:23:45.716 --> 0:23:47.836 I've lived, jim all like it's never gone away, Like 0:23:47.916 --> 0:23:49.516 this is a magical place still, you know. 0:23:49.796 --> 0:23:50.276 I agree. 0:23:51.116 --> 0:23:52.956 Was a lot of your writing for your new record 0:23:53.036 --> 0:23:53.676 done here or was it? 0:23:53.916 --> 0:23:56.316 Yeah, I mean that's kind of how I really got 0:23:56.396 --> 0:23:59.476 to start knowing LA. I was coming back and forth 0:23:59.556 --> 0:24:03.516 for sessions. So in London, I was working with Paul Atworth, 0:24:03.516 --> 0:24:06.956 who's like one of my oldest collaborators. But in LA 0:24:07.116 --> 0:24:09.596 I kind of started building this little community out of 0:24:09.636 --> 0:24:12.076 people who I really loved and trusted for the second record, 0:24:12.556 --> 0:24:15.316 and I started just having so much fun with my music. 0:24:15.476 --> 0:24:17.876