Emerging Electro-Pop Artist Glen Parks Is Here To Give An Inclusive ‘SHOW’

· Updated on May 28, 2018

Glen Parks is here to give you a show.

The up-and-coming queer electro-pop musician in Los Angeles has been performing under this name for the past eight years, but she recently decided to fully devote herself to the project and started collaborating with electronic artist Zach Schwartz in 2016.

Their music is dreamy, but also features pronounced and catchy rhythms. It’s electronic without being soulless. It’s somehow both sad and empowering at the same time. And all of these conflicting elements sometimes has Parks herself even admitting she never knows how to classify her own music.

The artist plans to release a full-length album by the end of the year, but in the meantime, here is the music video for the song ‘SHOW’ exclusively on INTO and Spotify.

It is the first of multiple singles that she plans to release over the course of the year. The ethereal video was filmed in the Los Angeles National Forest and features people riding stick horses and battling with rotten fruit.

We recently had time with the artist a few weeks ago to talk about her musical path and future.

Has being queer influenced what you put into your music?

I did try to make the lyrics all inclusive instead of using “he” and “she.” There’s no reference of gender in any of the lyrics. Actually, there’s one song that says “she,” but it’s not in relation to love. The costumes are also influenced by my love of drag queens.

Has drag culture always been an influence for you?

I have always loved drag. Recently I’ve been going to a lot more drag; our drag scene over here in East LA is so freaking inspiring. I did think about doing a tour where I just open up for drag shows, but I don’t think there’s a crazy market for bands opening for drag. Maybe I can start a trend.

Does dressing up make it more comfortable to perform, because you’re basically in disguise?

Yeah. I think so. When I’m just me by myself up there, it feels scary. When I’m me all dressed up, it feels a little safer.

Are you playing a character?

That’s something I’m trying to figure out. I do feel like Glen Parks is a character, but I think that she’s also in me. It’s like split personality disorder. She’s in there, and she comes out sometimes, but I don’t know if I know her personally.

In your last band, Ray & Remora, I seem to remember you having a music video that had Kim Gordon in it? Do you know her?

She was staying at my bandmate’s house, an Airbnb, and she oddly agreed to be in the music video. So I got to super awkwardly lip sync about a foot away from her face. I’ve run into her a few times since.

There was one time I saw her at this Eileen Myles reading, and we made eye contact, and we realized we knew each other. It was kind of awkward, because I thought we should hug since we knew each other and that’s what people do now, but it was kind of weird.

I ran into her again a week later at John Huck’s art opening, and we had the same interaction where we didn’t know what to do.

I’d like to ask you some more general questions about yourself, so here’s one: What’s the worst thing in the world?

There are so many things where I could be like, “That’s the worst!” To choose one reigning worst thing is hard. The true worst-est. But you know what I really don’t like? I hate when animals wake me up in the middle of the night.

Whether they’re mine or the dogs in the neighborhood barking, it truly irks me. I already have terrible insomnia, and then I finally get to sleep and the dogs start barking.

It’s funny, in my new costumes I keep dressing up like a vampire. I don’t really feel like I’m a vampire, but I literally only do things at night time, and then I don’t sleep, and I sleep during the day.

If you could punch one person, who would it be?

Who decided tampons weren’t free? I would fucking punch that person. That person should be punched by everyone.

Everyone can stand in a line and punch that person.

Photo credit: Amanda Majors

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