Carpark: "It's actually kind of cool to be seen as the underdog!"
With the recent release of their latest EP ‘Born To Be Average’, alt-pop trio Carpark celebrate the dawn of a brand new era.
Made up of five eclectic, genre-bending tracks – including the ethereal ‘Happy On Mars’ and the energetic ‘MIA’ – the project sees Sophie, Hattie and Lauren experiment with an array of diverse sonic flavours to produce an exciting, and daring body of work that is sure to delight longtime fans of the band.
Commenting on the extended play, the girls say: “‘Born To Be Average’ introduces the new era of Carpark with heavy rock and even some dance elements, but we also have a ballad that pays homage to earlier Carpark, and a song that is so undeniably inspired by the pop/punk influences we grew up on. It’s been a really fun process and we can’t wait for everybody to hear it.”
Building upon the moment of their current success, the trio will play their biggest headline show at London’s Moth Club next month.
Set to take place on Friday, April 26th, the girls say they will perform all of their biggest hits, as well as the material featured on ‘Born To Be Average’.
Tickets for the show are available to purchase here.
To celebrate the EP’s release, we caught up with Carpark to talk new music, living in the moment, lyrical inspiration, and the overriding message they hope to convey to fans…
Hi girls! Huge congratulations on the the release of ‘Born To Be Average’ – how does it feel to be putting this EP out into the world?
It feels great! We are so, so proud of these songs, and really happy that they’re finally out for everyone to hear!
What’s the significance, or story, behind the projects title?
It’s basically us saying that you don’t always have to be the best at something – sometimes being authentic and just being yourself is the ‘best’ version of yourself.
Musically, who or what, inspired most you during the process of creating these songs?
Loads of different things! The EP was written over the course of a year, so we were inspired by a lot of what happened that time. We literally spent the whole of 2023 in the studio, I think we even heard that the Queen had died whilst we were in there – but that didn’t have any direct correlation to any of the music we wrote… we don’t think!
Where there any particular messages you wanted to convey to listeners?
The overall message we want to share with people is that it’s okay, one maybe kind of cool, to be the underdog. We know what it’s like to feel be under-estimated by people, but we don’t let that hold us back.
Which tracks are you most excited for people to hear?
‘Blow Me Outta The Water’ – 100%! We actually wrote it a few years ago, in a band practice when we first got together, and we’ve always wanted to record and release it, so we’re really happy that people can finally hear to it.
How does this music compare to your previous releases?
Our first EP ‘The World Ended in 2012′ was down the line indie/pop, whereas ‘Born To Be Average’ explores more of a heavy rock sound, and even some dance elements. And that’s probably because during the process of making the EP, we wrote most of the songs in the studio instead of a practice space, so that meant we weren’t confined to just using bass, guitar and drums. We were able to experiment with layering different parts whilst writing.
How have you celebrated the EP’s release?
Well, we have to two things to celebrate at the moment as it’s Loda’s birthday! So we went to a very nice vegan Chinese restaurant a few nights ago to toast both occasions.
As a collective, what would you say has been your biggest learning curve so far?
To have patience. As a young and eager band, we’re always rushing to get to the places we want to be, but we’re slowly starting to learn how to enjoy the here and now. Also to have faith and believe and the process, and not to compare our success to other bands – everyone’s on their own journey and the journey is fun!
What 3 things would you like to achieve in 2024?
Okay, so in 2024 we would like to… 1) play some shows outside of the UK, 2) support a band on tour that has LOTS of dates. And 3) write and release some more music and explore our musical direction.
‘Born To Be Average’ is available to download / stream here
Let us know your thoughts on Carpark over on ‘X’ (formerly Twitter) @CelebMix now!
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