Collegiate Times

Freshman Theatre Center

PARKS: “Careful with Me,” is my favorite because I had a crush on the same guy for three years in high school and it was kind of a geeky, girly crush and I’m very outgoing, but I couldn’t talk to him. I just could never forget about him and this past summer he told me he’s liked me this whole time and I was ecstatic and I had to write a song about it.

CT: So are you guys going out now?

PARKS: Yes and it’s really good. He loved the song and he was really emotional. He shed a little tear. It’s funny because he’s very manly, but our relationship became really serious really fast because we liked each other for such a long time. We were like kindergartners around each other.

CT: Who are your musical inspirations?

PARKS: Ingrid Michaelson, I really love her and going to her concert made me realize that I could make this a career because she engages in the crowd and has so much fun on stage. Colbie Caillat, but not as much anymore, but she definitely influenced me to be an artist.

CT: You have a pair of red boots that you seemed to love and were wearing on your Myspace photo. Is there a story behind that?

PARKS: Not really. It kind of sounds silly, but rain boots represent childhood and being carefree so I just liked the outfit with the rain boots because it seems very innocent and that is what my music is about. I felt like that this was a good way to represent myself.

CT: What makes you stand out among the many mainstream artists these days? What do you hope to convey as an artist through your music?

PARKS: I feel like artists who come out on the scene when they’re young, I started when I was 17, are usually influenced by mainstream and at that age you haven’t really found yourself. I knew I didn’t want to do mainstream, poppy music and I don’t know many indie artists this young who know what exact message they want as soon as they go for it.

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A version of this article appeared in the Feb 23 issue of the Collegiate Times.