A Conversation With: Parks and Rec (Part Two)

It’s been a while since you’ve read the first part of our conversation with Parks and Rec (if you haven’t, you must. Click here to do so immediately; it’s hilarious).

Since then, Parks and Rec have been incredibly busy. Or they must have been, because they’ve completed a five-song EP! What’s more, they’ve put together an EP Release Party coming up on August 13th at the Garrison, so if you’re smart you’ll make sure to come out for that. Seriously. I’m just looking out for your best interests here. Anyways, click here for more details on that.

As we return to our conversation with Parks and Rec though, Pierre is still drawing on the picnic bench and we are all trying to contain our laughter. Oh, and Arnold finally arrives! There are also a whole lot of other discussions that take please. So please, read on.

This is part two.

Pierre: [still drawing with the chalk on the picnic bench]

Charles: I didn’t know that Pacman existed in the same realm as the tiger.

Cristina: There’s wolves, and tigers, and Marge Simpson. Wait that’s not Marge. Who is that?

Eric: It does look like Marge though, doesn’t it?

Pierre: Look what it says! [pointing to his drawing of a person with big hair] It says, “Hi. I’m Eric.”

Eric: That doesn’t look like me!

Cristina: Can we make it Marge?

Pierre: Eric is Marge Simpson. That’s what I say.

Cristina: Do you have blue chalk?

So most of your shows have been last year, right? I noticed the ones you’ve posted on Parks and Rec’s Facebook wall are primarily from last year.

Charles: We just stopped using our Facebook page.

Why’d you do that? Everything seems to be online, promo-wise, for most bands.

Charles: We use our Myspace more, and invite people on that. You know one thing? This is just a technical thing, so lets not spend time on talking about it. It sucks having a band page on Facebook.

Cristina: It does.

Why?

Charles: Because you can’t selectively invite and message your friends the same way as an individual can.

Why don’t you just make a personal account for Parks and Rec then?

Eric: I think we tried that. And we couldn’t use “and.” It had to be “ParksandRec.”

Cristina: And then you can’t invite all your fans. You have to invite your friends as like a person. Anyways, yeah. Let’s not talk about that.

Even your Myspace page though, I think you’ve just updated it. When Megan wrote the review, I went to your Myspace page to double check the drummer’s name because I knew that Arnold was the drummer, but you had Jake listed as the drummer.

Cristina: [laughing] Uh oh!

Charles: Yeah. We did.

Eric: I think there was an urgent e-mail from Alex saying –

Charles: No, from…

Eric: From Arnold?

Charles: No, I just noticed it after I noticed that Scott was listed as the bass player in the article. I was like, “Oh no. That’s a problem.” But basically, those dudes are still good friends of ours, and they’re still honorary members of the band.

[Arnold arrives]

Cristina: Speaking of the devil!

Eric: Here’s Jake now!

Pierre: Hi Jake.

Charles: They’re just honorary members of the band that just don’t play with us most of the time.

Have you guys been playing music longer than the online thing? What I mean is, in recent years the music world has kind of been engulfed in this online, digital media kind of –

Charles: Realm?

Yeah, exactly. So have you been playing and performing before this whole thing?

Charles: Yeah. Well, Pierre and I have been playing music together since we were 15. With Jake.

Pierre: 15?

Charles: Well, you and I since we were 13.

Pierre: You were 12 man! When I met you, you were 12 and you sucked. No, you were actually really good at 12 years old.

Cristina: [laughing]

Pierre: No you were! He was!

Eric: For a 12 year old.

Pierre: I had been playing with people for a long time…

So how do you feel about the whole digitization of music? Because you don’t seem all that active online, I think.

Charles: Well, in a way it’s been great because it’s democratized music. That’s been awesome. It’s significantly reduced the traditional role of labels. So that’s good.

Cristina: And publicists.

Charles: I don’t mind it at all. It’s just, you gotta take on a lot of the work yourself.

Cristina: It’s a lot of work too, keeping up with all that stuff.

Yeah. Especially because you all have side projects, right? I think Cristina has like five bands, or something.

Cristina: [laughs] Four.

Or is Parks and Rec the side project?

Eric: No. Parks and Rec isn’t a side project. I don’t think it’s a side project for anybody. It’s a band and it’s a full-time commitment. I mean… I’m in another band that I kind of feel the same way about. It’s called the Bensons and I put equal time into both bands. When one band’s rehearsing here and then the other band’s rehearsing, I’m there. We try not to conflict. Actually, we have a calendar right now.

Crisitina: A joint calendar.

Eric: It’s starting out various endeavors if it’s necessary.

Charles: And cologne. You can smell it. And I still play Charles Tilden gigs from time to time.

Cristina: And you’re playing bass with me now.

Charles: And I play bass in Cristina’s band Radio Belle.

Cristina: And guitar, in couple of songs.

How do you guys support yourselves financially? Since music is taking up so much of your time.

Eric: Starbucks.

Cristina: Doctor’s office and Roy Thompson Hall.

Pierre: Sleazing by.

Charles: No, this guy is a full-time musician. And music professional, basically. Pierre.

Eric: He works for the mafia.

Pierre: [laughing] Yeah, I play music. Actually, right now, I do a lot of… one gig that I’m doing is children’s entertainment. I try to teach kids in elementary schools to speak French, because I’m French. So I work with a group called “Gotta Love that French” and we tour around in elementary schools and I play guitar and help write songs and we teach kids how to speak French.

Cristina: Cool! I didn’t know that.

Arnold, you’re involved with music full-time also, right? Don’t you work for Live Nation?

Pierre: He’s also a crazy musician.

Arnold: We just calculated yesterday that I make $5 an hour.

Cristina: [laughing] That’s so sad!

Pierre: No, but he gets paid eight times that much for certain things. He’s a renowned lighting engineer in the city.

Cristina: Yeah, he’s awesome.

Arnold: [shaking his head]

Pierre: You are dude! Come on!

Cristina: He did the lights show for the Parks and Rec show at the Horseshoe.

Eric: Yeah, that was fantastic.

Cristina: Except nobody could see shit in between songs, but that’s okay.

Arnold: That was the point! I was just trying to change it into a nightclub.

Eric: He gave us all acid. Like, “Take this square. This will help you remember the songs.”

Pierre: [laughing] Oh man!

Eric: It’s funny how we all met.

Pierre: Yeah, that was awkward eh? Well, not awkward. Well, it was awkward in one way, but in the other way it was kind of auspicious. I knew Arnold, and we played in a band together for a long time. And then he ended up working with him [pointing to Eric] around the same time. They were working at the same place, and I didn’t know that.

Cristina: Oh really?

Eric: Yeah. PRG. But we shouldn’t plug PRG.

Pierre: I was jamming with Eric through Charles, and I’d met Eric through Charles. And I was hanging out with Arnold and I was hanging out with Charles, and Eric was there but I didn’t know these guys knew each other.

Arnold: Eric’s always there.

Eric: I was always yanked into the scene. But anyways, Arnold was talking about this band he was in with this awesome bassist. And Pierre had just been telling me about the same kind of vibe of music. I was like, “Wait. Arnold, are you in a band with Pierre?” And he was like, “Pierre who?”  “Pierre DesJardins?” And then he was like, “Yes! How do you know Pierre?”

Cristina: That’s awesome! That’s so cool. I’m getting to know this too.

Arnold, you’re the second drummer for Parks and Rec. Why did Jake leave?

Charles: Because he’s too busy with his band Chang-A-Lang.

Pierre: Who’s doing awesome.

Cristina: Do you guys know Chang-A-Lang?

Eric: Chang-A-Lang is fucking awesome.

Cristina: They’re a really awesome band. You guys should check it out.

Charles: And Jake’s a very good player.

Eric: He’s a great drummer.

Pierre: Me, Charles, and Jake; we’ve been in the studio a few times. And fuck. He’s such a good drummer. He’s so awesome. But he was really busy with Chang-A-Lang.

Cristina: [to Arnold] You’re awesome too.

Pierre: Me and Jake, we lived together for like a long time. I don’t know what that has to do with anything, but –

Eric: It’s the history of the band.

Arnold: Do you guys want some beer?

[everyone laughs]

Eric: Yeah! Please.

Cristina: Oh my God that’s awesome.

Also, what about Scott?

Charles: He’s a good guy I met a couple of years ago through my old roommates.

Cristina: He’s fun.

Pierre: He’s fun! He’s a fun guy!

Charles: He’s a good lad from Nova Scotia who used to hang around with the boys from Plants and Animals and play a lot of music with them.

Pierre: Really? He hung out with Plants and Animals?

Charles: Yeah. He’s like their high school buddy.

[everyone cracks open their beers.]

Wow, you came prepared.

Arnold: It was work, LCBO, shower, here.

Charles: So Scott moved to Toronto to do his Masters in Environmental Studies, and moved into a house with my good friend. We had an epic jam one night at their house that definitely made us both think we should play some music together. Scott’s actually a guitarist, more than anything. But he also has a really nice bass, and knows how to use it.

Arnold: I’m waiting for this first sip, and you just keep talking! It’s getting warm.

[everyone laughs]

Pierre: Cheers!

Eric: Okay now let the man talk about Scotty!

Charles: So yeah. That’s how he came into the fold. We just decided we should play music together and then this band was starting to happen, and he had some spare time. So he started playing with us. Scott’s also really really busy and spending a lot of time wrapping up his thesis, and is now playing in a couple of other bands himself.

………………..

Want more? Good. Because we’ve saved some of the best of our conversation with Parks and Rec for you! Part three will be up shortly.

– INTERVIEW BY SAKINA SHAKIL, PHOTOGRAPHY BY GENEVIEVE LUI