Positive Publicity by Camille Mola

Let’s go back in time, to when things were more psychedelic….

I interviewed Will Wiggins of Cherry Parke, a Philly-based modern indie psych pop project influenced by ELO and Van Dyke Parks. Their music and single art very much evokes a time of plaid bellbottoms, go-go boots, and synthesizers. Their songs Captain Bullseye and All Around the Moon are out now.

Thanks for speaking with Positive Publicity, Will! So, who is Cherry Parke?

Cherry Parke is my music project, along with my brother Andy. Andy and I have been doing music together in some capacity since we were kids.  Our first Cherry Parke single was recorded and produced by Kevin Basko. He’s a great musician and producer who just relocated to Philly from NJ. He had toured with Foxygen, and we were fans of his solo project, Rubber Band Gun. We reached out to him via email and we set up time to work together. That’s how the first two songs came to be!

Where did the name Cherry Parke come from?

Cherry Parke was a name I saw on a sign near Cherry Hill, NJ. I liked the sound of it, and I liked how it was spelled with an “E” at the end. It gave it kind of an “old-timey” flavor which related to some of my lyrics.

Could you describe your sound/music-creation style?

A lot of my favorite music is from the late 60s and early 70s. So, I think there is an influence of 60s baroque-pop stuff and old school rock n’ roll.  Andy is into psychedelic music from the 1960s as well, so we were inspired by that for the arrangements on the first single.  I wrote the songs at the piano by myself, but they really got fleshed out once Andy and Kevin contributed to the arrangements.  I think Kevin’s production style is great because it is a mix of the old and the new. We were inspired by older music, but the recordings are very much a product of today.

What’s next for Cherry Parke?

At the moment, we are focused on writing and recording more material. There is a great live music scene in Philly, but for now we are working on new songs for the studio. We have a vinyl 45 single in production now, which will be released later this year.

During this time of social distancing, how are you spending your time? 

This time of social distancing is a great time to work on song ideas and prepare new material. I am looking forward to getting back in the studio sometime soon, but for now it’s mostly playing instruments at my place or writing songs.  I think its also been good for me to schedule some time outside for a walk and some fresh air. I believe Kevin Basko is offering music lessons via Skype during this time. So, if you’re interested in that definitely hit up Kevin Basko / Historic NJ Studio on Twitter.

Thanks Will! Hit Cherry Parke with that follow on Instagram, Facebook,
and Bandcamp.