Interview: Arlo Parks

If you mix Aretha Franklin and Joni Mitchell, and a little bit of je ne sais quoi, you would get Arlo Parks. Hailing from South London, artist and poet Arlo is on the front line of anxious, unconventional bedroom pop. Her music is a slow burn of angelic vocals and gloomy poetry.

I connected with Arlo after her set at the Great escape festival in Brighton and I am very lucky to have caught her on the brink of her career explosion. As I watched her crammed to the front of the small but jam packed tent, she stopped mid “Cola” and said: “I bunked my double history lesson to get on a coach from London to come here - so I really hope you like the show, and thanks for coming!” I’m immediately thinking: ‘I must meet this girl’. 

Since I had the pleasure of corresponding with Arlo via email when I was in Cambodia, she’s exploded. Arlo has released the fantastic album Collapsed in Sunbeams, has been nominated for 2 Grammys, toured the UK and USA, and played at Glastonbury and Coachella - some of the biggest festivals in the world. We love to see it! 

S: How did you coin the name Arlo Parks, and would you say you embody a different persona during performance?

AP: I was looking at a King Krule interview and he was talking about how his name represented a King crawling through his city at his lowest point so I got the Arlo from there. And the Parks part was more of a random epiphany I had whilst I was hanging out in the park with mates a couple summers ago. I feel like I am different when I’m performing - I feel more confident, more at ease, inhibitions melt away. In some ways I barely recognise myself when I play live - I switch on a persona that’s geared to entertain I guess.

S: To me, “Romantic Garbage” is paradoxical. I hear the persona of a hopeless but cynically pensive romantic. Do you relate to this in any way, and did it help you compose the lyrics?

AP: I really resonate with that dichotomy. In some ways I’m extremely cynical about love, then the next minute I’m crying at romcoms so I used those weird polar opposites to write those lyrics. It felt more interesting to me to explore the endearing cutesy side of love as well as the dark underbelly of it.

S: I was at the front row of your set at The Great Escape in Brighton, I must say your performance was spellbinding. What is it about performing live that sets your soul on fire?

AP: Thank you for coming! Honestly when I perform I feel like I’m free. That’s all. Free to be who I want, to connect with others and to just be a bit mental.

S: Some of your lyrics contain a relatable poignancy, like “I want to put my problems inside you”. Would you say that the best sad songs come from emotional pain?

AP: Definitely. The best songs I’ve ever written are the ones I’ve lived. You can tell when someone feels what they’re singing.

S: I believe certain individuals have an innate yearning to create. Would you say making music is a necessity in your life and its fulfillment?

AP: I don’t know what I would be without it. Music is the closest thing I have to a purpose I think.

S: What’s one musical trend that you wish would come back, if any? Are you ever inspired by the greats when making music?

AP: I would say funk. Like proper old school funk, like Parliament, Sly and the Family Stone type funk. I basically exclusively listen to the “old greats” I guess - Joni Mitchell, Sade, Fleetwood Mac, Muddy Waters, I could go on.

S: Final question! Your music is making big waves - what’s next on your dream to do list?

AP: I would love to play in America - especially New York - that’s the big dream.