Meet Bobby Parker | Musician & Producer, Guitar/Vocals in Salem’s Bend

We had the good fortune of connecting with Bobby Parker and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Bobby, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking
For me, I think its all about taking a calculated risk. I don’t like to jump headlong into something without considering all the options first, but I also think that sometimes you have to take a chance based on your gut instinct. Taking risks is important, especially as a musician- music is all about trying something new and different and showing that to your audience and seeing if they like it or connect with it. There’s an excitement that’s inherent with taking risks musically, especially in the live scenario, and I think that excitement is transferred to the audience and makes for a more memorable event. But I think that it’s important to remember that they should mostly be calculated risks, not just trying anything for the sake for trying; there should be some thought motivating the idea or new thing you’re trying. For me personally, taking calculated risks has helped progress my musical career and reach wider audiences to connect with. When I released my first album, it was a solo effort that I had spent a year working on in my home studio; trying out different micing and mixing techniques on my songs so that I could learn what sounded best for the sound I was trying to create. After about a year, I had enough songs that sounded pretty good so I figured I’d self release the album on Bandcamp and just see what happened; it was a New Year resolution of mine that year to finish and release my first album. I didn’t want it to be a solo project though, I wanted it to be a band, so I made the artwork, pictures, and website look like there were 3 band members. Somewhat surprisingly, I was contacted by two small distribution labels within a week or two of my album being out on Bandcamp. I recognized a few of the bands on one of these and decided to go with their offer after much consideration and talking it over with a few different people. It was a good deal and purely for distribution rights; I would keep my masters and copyright and all that. I signed with them in late March, and shortly after signing, they asked me if my “band” would want to do a short tour with another one of their bands from the East Coast. They did not know I was a solo project, as I had presented myself as a band, since that is what I wanted to have. Our music requires live musicians, so I couldn’t do a tour by myself, but because I had always wanted to go on tour, I said yes! Even though I had no band yet, and only a couple months to prepare, I took the risk and said yes to the tour because I knew that would be a great impetus to get things going. It was a risk, as I would have to not only find musicians and practice enough to play well, but also figure out the logistics of touring- what vehicle to take, where to stay, creating and ordering merch so that we’d have something to sell on tour, etc. But I knew that in order to progress in my music career and spread my brand to a wider audience, I would have to get out there and say yes to the opportunities that came along. I knew that these kinds of opportunities don’t often come along, so I’d have to take the chance and try my best to make it work. I’m happy I took that risk, as it all ended up working out and we haven’t stopped playing shows and creating new music yet!

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
As a musician, I try to create music that transports people to another place or time. I try to capture a feeling and express a certain vibe in the music so that the listener can let go of their worries for a few minutes and take a musical journey with me. In the same way you might read a sci-fi book or watch a fantasy show to take your mind to a different world, I try to make my music and lyrics tell a little story that allows your brain to travel to a new world. I’m very inspired by the classic 70s heavy rock bands like Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple and Budgie, and also try to recapture some of that 1970s vibes in my music. That was a great era for heavy rock music as it was just finding new heights and exploring new musical avenues, and there’s a certain magic about it that I’d like to hold on to and draw inspiration from. One of the main things that I’ve learned along my journey into music is that having a positive attitude is crucial. There is a ton of work that goes into building a band and expanding your brand to new markets and hitting the road for a tour. All the work that goes into the preparation before a tour or before recording an album has nothing to do with actual music creation, and can often times be overwhelming. You have to know about so many other things in order to get stuff done; you have to know the business side of music which for a lot of musicians is just so foreign to what they got into music for in the first place. The logistics of planning a release or tour is often daunting. And then managing yourself and your bandmates while playing a show every night in a different city around the country for 4 weeks and you only have 1 day off- all these things involve a lot of hard work that isn’t necessarily fun and can often be very stressful. So maintaining a positive attitude through all this is crucial; its too easy to get discouraged or get mad at the problems that arise. When your van breaks down 70 miles outside of Tuscon AZ, you have to keep a positive attitude and roll with the punches and make the most of it- because all that stuff will eventually make for a great story!

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Los Angeles is a huge city with so much to do it can be overwhelming! With that in mind, there are a few favorite spots that I always like to take people who are visiting or new to the city. One would be The Last Bookstore in downtown LA- it is one of the coolest bookstores in the country, with great décor and fun stuff inside including an arched tunnel made entirely of books. They have a great selection of used and new books and great prices. Another place that is always a good time is Venice Beach boardwalk. A classic LA location, great for people-watching and enjoying the sun, there are a ton of great shops on the boardwalk and close by in Venice as well- record shops, great food, clothing, etc. For late night bites my go-to is Leo’s Taco Truck- it has the best al pastor I’ve had literally anywhere, and its a hoppin spot most nights, especially after 2am with everyone heading home from the bars and music venues. And if you’re into museums, you can’t beat the Mid Wilshire area with LACMA and the La Brea Tar Pits right next to each other, both top-notch, plus other great museums within a half mile.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I definitely owe a big shout out to my parents, who were always very supportive of my creative endeavors and always encouraged me to chase my dreams and keep working on music. They were big supporters and help to cultivate my love of music. I also need to thank my girlfriend Tara; she helped with a lot of the band decisions, from merch ideas to t-shirt colors, packing CDs in bubble mailers, etc- she was my biggest fan and definitely helped me get everything going! And then a shout out to all my friends- I sent a lot of demos and band name ideas to my friends to get their feedback, and it was really very helpful! They also always support me and the band whenever we play live- the majority of people coming to our shows is my friends, and often times the new fans we meet become new friends!

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Image Credits
Wolfgang Brardt, Eddie Brnabic