Riding on Park Rd _{by Madelaine Empson}

Tom Chamberlain (vocals), Angus Hampton-Carr (lead guitar), Leo Crawshaw-Bond (guitar, vocals), Carlos Martin (bass), and Te Kapua Pene (drums) met in high school and came together as Park Rd “to expand socially because our school was so small”, Tom says.

“Tom basically forced us all into this band”, Leo laughs.

If they had to describe the music they make, Angus says it’s “a constant evolving blend of all our various influences” before Carlos jokingly interjects, “we’ve got to sound sophisticated.”

The Tāmaki Makaurau indie-rockers have just released their first new material in over a year: the dreamy and playful single Ride, soon to feature on their upcoming debut album.  

Tom says Ride is “about the feeling of wanting to be with someone in person but not being able to and imagining a fantasy world where you could be with that person”.

“I thought it was about riding a bike”, Angus counters as they all laugh.

Tom concedes ever so slightly, saying, “I came up with the chorus when I was skating to the supermarket after lockdown. I wanted to capture that feeling of being on a skateboard and flying down the hill cause this person made me have a similar feeling – so I started singing that while I was on the skateboard.”

Catch Park Rd live at Meow on Saturday the 17^th of June and you’ll see why they’re one of New Zealand’s most exciting up-and-coming bands.