All Parks are Green - In conversation with members of Green Park

You know when you find new music that makes you want the songs to never end. Somehow, those songs always seem to be too short. That's what I found in the sound of four riveting, unique people that came together as Green Park. Recently, I had the opportunity to speak to them and know more and maaan am I happy about it. Read ahead to see what this 4-member Delhi based indie band is all about!

First things first, how has it been going? with the release of your debut EP "All My Pictures Have Grown Smiles", what's the last month been like for you?

Hello Zarah! It’s been a month unlike any other, honestly. The response that we have received has been deeply overwhelming, and we couldn’t be more grateful to everyone who’s shown us love. When we were making the record, we didn’t expect it to touch so many people so quickly. The most gratifying thing has been the messages we’ve received and conversations we’ve had with listeners who have related to the music on a very personal level. This month has been a great reminder of why we do what we do.

Something that especially caught my eye was that you mentioned Green Park came to be because old friends happened to run into each other, and met new people in the process. What's this about?

Ah, so Rish and Sid hosted a gig at their house (Indimnts Arthouse @indimnts.arthouse) in December 2021. That’s where Arpan met Sid (they went to the same school) and the two bonded over a shared love of the Beatles. Rish had recently started playing the drums, and so the three decided to meet and jam. The only missing piece was Amartya who came in a couple of days later and was perfect for our sound. The magic happened almost instantaneously!

Putting aside what the listener gets from your music, how do you relate your sound to "melancholic humour and Arpan's feelings"?

We’re all definitely an emotional group of people but we don’t think we take ourselves very seriously, hence the name Green Park (because all parks are green, or at least for now). While Arpan’s lyrics are about pretty serious subjects, there’s a sense of self-awareness about them. There is this pairing of spiraling melodramatic energy with an eagle’s eye view of one’s life. It unfolds at the very end of the EP - a two minute instrumental outro about a cat that lives in our neighborhood.

You're four diverse and unique people in one band. What's your middle ground? Where would you say each of your sounds meet?

Luckily, each of us is either a music producer or an audio engineer, and has a ton of past experience working on other projects. It is also the magic of the Indimints Arthouse, which we are aware is the biggest factor in how conveniently and creatively we’re able to make our music. Rish and Sid live in this house, while Arpan and Amartya live close by. The house functions as a jampad, recording studio, and listening room through a pooling of resources that the four of us have. So far, whatever we’ve done has been entirely done in this house, be it recording, mixing, making music videos. As far as the sound of our band is concerned, it’s hard for any of us to pin down how it happens exactly; it’s evolving, experimental, and acoustically shaped by the space where it is recorded and the intersections of our influences.

Lastly, what's next for Green Park?

We have a lot of things planned! Even before the release of this album, we’d been working on a ton of new music, and we plan to release a single very soon. We’re also relentlessly working on our 2nd EP; the momentum is really strong right now. Building a creative community is something each of us is really passionate about, we’re thrilled for our ongoing collaboration with the incredibly talented visual and comic book artist Anand Pagal Kutta (@anandpagalkutta) who is working on making a zine/lyric booklet for the songs on “All My Pictures Have Grown Smiles”. Delhi based stick and poke tattoo artist Yoshi (@hocus.pokeusss) is making exclusive hand painted tote bags for us as well. We’re also closely collaborating with Dohnraj (@dohnraj) and Zahra (@filmizuki) for a great many things!

Check out "All My Pictures Have Grown Smiles" on Spotify here!