Interview with Robert Parker
May 5th 2016.
Robert Parker is an electronic musician from Sweden. His newest album, Crystal City, is a throwback to the neon-lighted days of 80s Miami. Featuring spot-on synthesized sounds and stylistic remembrances of Jan Hammer, the album embeds itself in your head. Your feet tap without knowing it and your head starts to bob up and down. We caught up with Robert over email to ask him some questions about the new album, the EDM scene in Sweden, and any famous relatives he might have.
Q: Robert, can you describe what is happening with EDM in Sweden now?
A: Well, it’s changing dramatically right now. A lot of the bigger acts have quit, and a hiatus is building up. I guess no one really knows right now what will fill the void, people are rediscovering a lot of late 80s/early 90s electro, never heard so many tracks with an 909 hihat as I’ve heard the last three months! I guess the direction is a little bit towards less drops, more focus on the rhythm and the melody.
Do you have a name of the style of music that you are creating?
Most people call it Synthwave or Retrowave. I guess the term is becoming more commonly used nowadays. I prefer Synthwave myself, since it implies it’s a more electronic sound. The mood within the genre can vary a lot though, from very happy synth pop to doomsday AKIRA-stuff.
With a name like Robert Parker, you are obviously related to Peter Parker, more commonly known as Spider-Man. What is old Spidey up to these days? Can you tell us?
Beats me. I guess he’s exhausted after making remake after remake! Lol.
The single, Silver Screen Cruising, from the album Crystal City is one of my favorites. How did you come up with that incredibly groovy guitar hook?
You like it? Thank you. Well I like to use guitar riffs because I like how it adds to the groove. The drum parts are really important to me and a guitar riff is something in between a beat and a melody so it acts like a nice glue to the track. I just try out different riffs until I find something I like.
Many artists that are similar in your style opt to go solely instrumental. You have gone the other direction and included quite a few number of vocal tracks on your album. Was this a conscious decision and why did you choose to go with more vocals?
Yes! I wanted the album to be the result of a combination of influences. I always try to make things with a new angle, because I don’t want to get stuck in a specific working routine. That’s also why I have collaborated with other artists; its a great way to develop as a musician.
Can you give us a quick rundown of the gear you use?
I’m working in Ableton Live and I use a combination of hardware and software. Most commonly I use the Roland Juno 106 and 60, Roland SH-101, Minimoog, Moog Prodigy and Oberheim DX. Among the VSTs I really like the Polysix VST and the TAL-U-NO. When I play live, I usually bring the Roland Tr-707 and the TR-8, together with a Roland JP-08 and a Korg Wavestation. Drum machines are so much fun live!
Many of your songs used the same time signature throughout, and the tempos do not fluctuate once the beat kicks in. Do you ever find this limites your creativity and how do you overcome it?
Yes, music making is a constant battle against boredom! To me, the drum beat is the most important part of the track, I usually start with that. It needs to be interesting to carry an entire song so if I don’t have an idea about the entire structure from the get-go, the track usually doesn’t get finished. Another important thing is to keep on listening to new stuff. You will never develop as a musician just repeating your own expressions, you have to have new impressions from others too.
Robert, on behalf of Slickster Magazine thank you for talking to us about Crystal City. Is there anything you would like to promote?
If anything I’d like to thank the great artists I collaborated with on my latest release. Maethelvin, Waveshaper, Shyguys, Bachelor of Hearts and Miss K. Couldn’t have done the album without them!
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