The National Parks bring their nature-inspired sound to Lollapalooza
The National Parks have been captivating listeners with their lush folk-pop sound for years now. Hailing from Provo, Utah, the four-piece band blends heartfelt harmonies, organic instrumentation, and infectious melodies to create a style that's both timeless and fresh. As they prepare to release their latest album, ‘Wild Spirit’ on August 23rd, The National Parks are poised to share their nature-inspired sound with an even wider audience. Ahead of the record's debut, the group sat down at Lollapalooza to discuss the evolution of their music and their hopes for the future.
You all are from Provo, UT, which is a vastly different landscape from Chicago, and I hear it's beautiful. How has the city life been treating you? How do you feel the music scene stands out in Utah? What makes it different?
Brady Parks: It's like such a good music scene, surprisingly. I feel like it's a hidden gem. There's two huge colleges, pretty much in the same city, and there's like 40, 000 students in each one, and I think it's just become this melting pot of talent. So there's a venue there called, Velour that's the venue that everyone plays at and kind of forms this community, and it's a little bit competitive but in a healthy way, I think, and so it's a really awesome scene, and I think bands push each other to do better and better.
Meg Parks: I love Chicago. Every time we've been here, it's been like one of my favorite cities to come to. And it's so cool because, since we started the band and we started touring, we've always come to Chicago on every tour, and it's become one of our favorite cities and one of the biggest places to play outside of Utah. So it's felt like a second home in a way because the crowds are just so fun. Every time we come here, we love it here.
It’s your first lollapalooza. Who are you most excited to share the stage with?
Brady Parks: Wilderado today. We’re so pumped that they're here.
Cam Branelly: The Killers.
Meg Parks: Chappell Roan, of course.
Coming up on the 11-year anniversary of your first album, ‘Young’, how do you feel your sounds have evolved from your first album?
Brady Parks: We've definitely gone through a lot of evolution, I think. ‘Young’ is a very folky album, more singer-songwritery. Since then, we dipped our toes into pop a little bit. And we have kind of expanded our sound. And now, with our newest album that comes out in a couple weeks, we are bringing it back to that, kind of like the first album, I would say. But with a blend of everything we've done so far,.
What message do you want the audience at Lollapalooza to take with them after your performance?
Brady Parks: I think we've always tried to do a good job of this; but just reinforcing the idea that our music's for everyone, and a lot of our shows are for a wide range of ages. From really old to really young, and even kids. We just try to bring everyone together, you know. It doesn't matter from where or what age. So, that's what we try to leave on the table.
Sydney McFarlane: I feel like we kind of sing about it in our music too. Just like get outside and make memories with people you love, and Brady's always said this, but getting outside in nature and connecting with nature always helps ground us, and we just hope that people can aspire to do that too if they're feeling in their heads too much or, you know, the world's crazy; it's crazy out there, and so if you're feeling like that, you can just get outside and make memories and get out in nature.
How do you feel about what's next? How do you feel about the new album that's coming out?
Sydney McFarlane: We’re super excited. I feel like this is a new chapter, but not really at the same time because we’re going back to our roots. We're all excited about being a little bit more folky, and the shows and tours we have coming up, we're just really excited to be able to put the new music out and be able to go play it.
