#ryanparker

Dollhouse: Chpt1 pg8

The third in our five part interview series with the members of Ampers&. Today, singer and guitarist Ryan Parker shares his musical history, and thoughts about the band dynamic. 

Hi Ryan, how's it going?  I’m doing great, I’m always doing great. Great things happen when you’re doing great that’s what I say. I’m actually answering this in class, I do that sometimes. Do what you ask? I don’t know… things. Multitask. Just whatever happens, happens. I’m not really saying anything at this point… so I’ll move on now. 

Tell the fans a bit about yourself. About myself? Well that could be a long answer couldn’t it. I like to do fun things. Music is cool. Sports are cool. Combine them at any point and it’s the coolest. I love ice cream. Any kind, at any point in the day…or multiple points (I could eat it all day). I got an Xbox for Xmas last year (see what I did there???), and I play that a lot. It’s fun. 

But fo real, I’m a sophomore now, going for a Biznazz degree with some music and Spanish side gig stuff. Some people say I’m kind of crazy, and I agree. But I can be civil…. sometimes. I used to play football at IU. I walked on as a freshman. It was awesome, and super difficult at the same time. I respect NCAA student athletes like 10000000 times more now. I think that’s it. P.s. some people confuse me for Cody Zeller, so I give em an autograph…

How long have you been singing and playing guitar?  Well I came out of the womb playing instruments. Mainly pots and pans. Then I got a drumset. I broke it. So I bought a better one. Then I tried to learn piano. Fast forward a couple years. I start playing guitar. Then a little bit after that, I start singing. Rewind some from there and I’m playing French Horn in Junior High. Fast forward some more and I buy a couple guitars. Fast forward again to High School, and I’m trying to sing and play guitar. Now…I play music. 

Who are your musical influences?  I’ve never been able to pinpoint that.  I grew up listening to what my family did. Mainly in the broad category of “Rock”. Rush, Foo Fighters, Billy Joel, Queen, Dave Matthews, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Kings of Leon, John Mayer, Guns n Roses, The Police, “four to the floor bands” (that’s from my sister) even down to some local Chicago bands like Stellar Road or 3 in Counting. At any point in my playing, you can here different influences from any of these bands. 

How did you meet the other band members?  I don’t know. I stumbled upon Pavan simply by happenstance. We jammed. He’s good. We didn’t hate each other. We tried joining/starting some bands for a couple years. Nothing really worked out. We got sad. Then we met Kris. He’s awesome, and he already knew QT and Sarah. We’re all kind of crazy. And now we all know each other.

What are your thoughts on the other band members?  Lets see, the first time I played with Pavan, I literally had to hide from fear of awesomeness. He makes sounds with his guitars that don’t come from guitars. I will never understand what deal he made with the devil. I should probably do it to so I can be that good. 

Kris is cool. He gets to go to every basketball game practically so he can play bass in the bball band. I’m jealous. I wish I was good at bass so we could have bass duels at basketball games, even though I’d lose

Quentin plays drums. I used to play drums so I like him. I wish he went to IU though =(. He liked all of the band names that I suggested so clearly we think identically. Sarah has the perfect amount of blues and emotion in her voice. I love it. I can’t wait to give her a tambourine. She jumps for the track team. I wonder if she could jump over me?

What makes this band different?  We bring such a raw, emotional, heavy rock feel to this town that I haven’t seen yet. It’s not like we all got together and just wanted to impress people. We all are proficient at our respective instruments and are gonna bring it all when we put on a show.

Are you excited about the first show?  Sooo excited! I haven’t played on stage in a year and a half. I’m itching to get back up there and put on a show. Some huge names have gone through the Bluebird. The thought that I could be on that stage is unreal!!!!!

Are you nervous?  Nah. How can you be nervous doing something you love? Well. Maybe you can. I don’t know if I’m nervous now. Should I be?! Uh ooo, I’m nervous about not being nervous! I just want to have fun!! Ahhhhhh

What is your favorite song to play?  Phew, that’s tough. If I could say all of them I would. If I’m playing guitar, I think its "Say It Ain't So" by Weezer. That song kills! If I’m singing, Foxy Lady. Queue bunny ears Garth.

Thanks for your time Ryan!  No problem. You got it dude. Of course. Anytime. Thank you! See ya at our show! Great interview! 

What do YOU do in the shower?

What do YOU do in the shower?

  I thought this was pretty interesting.  What do we do in the shower? We think. That's the word from a survey of adults conducted by Water Pik Inc.

  •             64% of women think about their to-do lists in the shower, compared with 48% of men.

  •             66% of men admit to showering with another adult for intimacy, compared with 55% of women who admit to having an intimate shower.

  •             Men shower an average of only two minutes less than women (14 minutes for women vs. 12 minutes for men).

  •             50% of moms say they use the shower as a time to escape, compared to only 28% of dads and 29% of women without children.

  •             More than half (53%) of moms always feel rushed to get out of the shower to take care of their family, compared to 27% of dads.

Kaspars Daugavins crazy shootout attempt

Kaspars Daugavins crazy shootout attempt.

On This Day, York became Toronto (tkaronto)

On this day (March 6th 1834) the city of York in Upper Canada was incorporated as Toronto.  This is cool, the nameToronto is likely derived from the Iroquois word tkaronto, meaning ‘place where trees stand in the water’.  Since then Toronto has had plenty of nicknames including

  T.O

T-dot.

The Megacity

The City That Works

The Big Smoke

Hogtown

Toronto the Good

Hollywood North

The 416

Centre of the Universe

  But my favourite (when this beautiful city was known as York, my favourite nicknames were Dirty Little York and Nasty Little York.

Every Second Counts is back!

When you hear the Q-2-call, be sure to dial (416) 870-ROCK or (416) 870-ROLL. If you’re caller #107, we’ll play you a single second of a classic rock tune. Guess the song correctly, and you’ll score $500.   If not, we’ll keep adding cash to the pot until someone nails it!

One second. One song, One shot at instant cash! Delivered by Canpar Courier & Classic Rock Q107!