Parked Outside is a musical collaboration between Los Angeles-based songwriter Chris Kinkade and Houston-based composer Slayden Clarkson. They were once members of Houston band Six Days Off and performed together in venues throughout Texas, opening for bands like Stevie Ray Vaughan and Black Oak Arkansas as well as playing clubs and parties. After Chris moved to Los Angeles, they lost touch for awhile, but recently rekindled their passion for music by creating Parked Outside to conjure up  music that comes from the soul and reaches the ears with blood and memories on it. They are joined by old friends Mike Brown on drums (who was also the drummer for Six Days Off) and Brett Busch on lead guitar.

With “Whispers of 1000 Dreams Ago” out now, we took some time to hear from Parked Outside. Read below to learn more about Parked Outside, the story behind “Whispers of 1000 Dreams Ago,” and what’s to come.

Hi! Let’s start with how did the group’s name come about?

The process of choosing a name is an interesting one because it is going to have to represent what the essence of the band is and it is going to have to be something that sticks in people’s minds. I ran across a song by the Afghan Whigs called “Parked Outside” and it just really stood out for me, so I swiped it. In a more metaphorical sense, it is also about being witness to the world as an observer because when you are indeed “parked outside” not much gets past you. You stand ready to engage as your presence is obvious and your commitment to action is implied.

What city are you all from, and where are you all based now?

Slayden Clarkson, our composer, is still based in Houston. This is where we initially met when we worked together in Six Days Off. I am now in southern California. I was based in Los Angeles for years, but now live in the country on a horse ranch where it is quiet and there is lots of time to make music in my studio.

How and when did this musical collective form?

We began in a post punk band called Six Days Off in Houston. We played the scene for a while doing clubs and opening for larger acts. Slayden and I really hit it off. We stayed in touch after SDO broke up and created some songs together which we thought were pretty cool, at least we like them and decided to throw them into the whirlwind of music that is being made with all the various outlets available to see if we can find anyone else that might like them as well.

How would you all describe your group’s sound?

Well, I think it is true with most musicians that the sound is an indication of what one subjectively likes as well as what one is inspired by. We did not set out to have a “sound,” but rather one just manifested organically as a result of what we collectively brought to the table. We have been told that there are some shades of Joy Division, which I get because I am a huge fan of that band’s timeless influence. We are also told that one can hear a bit of The Doors in our work because I am very lyric minded in what I write and apparently have a voice that some seem to think has some “Jim” in it probably because we are both natural baritones. But as far as our wonderful lead guitar player Brett Busch you can hear the sizzle of guitar slingers like Stevie Ray Vaughan cutting through which gives us a cool edge. He’s a really great musician and I am not sure what his influences are but whatever they are I dig them. Mike Brown is just remarkable. His drumming is the heartbeat of our sound. Not all of out stuff is heavy and introspective though. We are releasing a new single in a few months called “Sex Cliche,” which is very tongue-in-cheek, fun, and sounds like it could have been written by The Cars, so we have many layers and love to play with the element of irony.

Who are some of your group’s main musical influences?

I think I kind of covered that in that last question, didn’t mean to get ahead of myself, but yeah, Joy Division, The Doors, Stevie Ray Vaughan, The Stooges and the MC5 are all kind of in the mix. There is darkness and light in our approach, but mostly it is about having something worth saying and making sure it’s honest.

What’s one of the proudest moments of your group’s music career so far?

I think the release of our first single, “The Zone,” because it was so well received. No one was really expecting it and it just kind of stood out. We are very visual minded and our videos (which are made on a budget of $0 dollars) are fun and whimsical and also seem to be very effective. When our video came out of  “The Zone,” we loved they way it represented out project. With the video for our follow-up, “Whispers of 1000 Dreams Ago,” we took a deeper dive because this is a song about the places that manifest when our subconscious opens up and becomes a portal to our connection to dimensional reality that we are often not aware of. The energy that this song has attracted and the response we have gotten with this one has been very satisfying, so here we are very early into this musical incarnation, just a few months in, and it has been very cool to see these songs take flight.

What would you all say are the greatest lessons that you’ve all learned so far?

I think the value of time gives one perspective. You learn, at least if you are committed to evolving, to be patient. To observe and reflect without feeling the need for immediate response or reaction. We have learned to appreciate the joy in making music even if it only pleases ourselves. When you are young, you want to take over the world, when you get older, you really just want to find a place to be at peace with yourself and not to take any moments for granted. You want to be honest in your art and in your form of expression to have it free of any artifice or feeling a need to cater to anyone else’s expectations because that dilutes the truth and if you can’t be honest and sincere in your art why bother?

Now onto “Whispers of 1000 Dreams Ago.” What inspired this song? What is “Whispers of 1000 Dreams Ago” about?

“Whispers of 1000 Dreams Ago” is kind of personal for me, and I will try to answer that without being sensationalistic because it is so very personal. When I was very young, I had an incident that opened my mind to the possibility that there was more to what I was seeing than had been explained to me at the time. Then, at 24, I was run off a country road by a large truck in Texas and spent the night sideways in a ditch before someone pulled me out of the car. The experience that I had was remarkable. This was before NDE’s had entered into the lexicon, so I had no reference for a “near death experience,” but it stuck with me. I have always been an open channel. I work in the healing arts and have had one of the best private practice in therapeutic massage therapy one could imagine, and I believe so much of that is a result of that night when I left my body and was told I had to come back, which I did begrudgingly because where I went was so beautiful and full of love. Elements of that transcendent experience are conveyed in the song itself and in the video that I created for the song.

What was the inspiration behind the cover artwork for “Whispers of 1000 Dreams Ago?”

I think it conveys a bit of that night I had the car accident. I was plunged into a reality I had never encountered before and there was a benevolent spirit waiting for me to guide me gently into realms that I had no reference for before that night. I think that pretty much describes the essence of the album art for this song.

What was the creative process like when making “Whispers of 1000 Dreams Ago?”

The process that we follow has been pretty consistent. Since we live in different parts of the country, Slayden composes the music, which he is really good at, has Mike lay down the beat, and then they hand it over to Brett who does his wonderful thing, and then lastly it is given to me to compose the lyrics and add my vocal. These guys give me such a beautiful landscape to explore that I find it effortless to just immerse myself in the flow and come up with what I come up with. Lyrics for me are channeled almost instantly and my vocals are usually done with one or two takes. We try not to overthink it and just let if come naturally.

How long did it take to complete “Whispers of 1000 Dreams Ago?”

Not long. The music was done in about a week and my part took about a day. Like I said, we don’t try to overthink it, but go with our guts.

How did the video for “Whispers of 1000 Dreams Ago” come about? What was the vision for the visual?

The videos are my department, and I have so much fun making them. I usually let the concept form in my mind over a period of a couple of weeks and then when I am ready I just put the pieces together. The actual vision for this was to try to convey the spirit of the song with it’s invitation to invoke an opening of a door into the subconscious as an index of possibilities that manifest once that door is indeed opened. For this song, I used visuals that showed impressionistic renderings of what that dimension of reality might look like or at least in so far as my own personal experiences have of the impressions it has had on me. I hope it connects with others who have had similar experiences.

What do you all hope fans take away from “Whispers of 1000 Dreams Ago” and your group’s music in general?

I just hope that those who like it and feel it connects with them find a kindred spirit who has had a similar experience and in this song has attempted to create art with it that perhaps they find solace in. If anyone has had an experience like this it can be pretty isolating because it is not often discussed and sometimes when it is it is not taken seriously. There is so much more to consciousness  than the realm we are often stuck in.

What’s next for you all? Are you all working on any upcoming projects, or do you all have any upcoming shows that we should be on the lookout for?

We have a new single called “Sex Cliche” coming out in a few months. It is really fun and tongue-in-cheek, and after that, a song with a working title of “Faces” that is a ballad that becomes a bit of a rocker. We don’t live in the same part of the country, so playing live is not really an option right now. This is more of a project to make music and put it out there for the joy of creating music, so we don’t have any plans for doing any gigs.

What is an opportunity that you all would like to see happen with your group’s music that we have not discussed?

I would love to have a filmmaker reach out to us and include one of our songs in their soundtrack. That would be so cool! To have a director of a movie or a TV show find one of our songs worthy of being a part of their cinematic vision would bring us great joy! If any filmmaker is reading this and feel the impulse, please reach out!

Where can we follow you all on social media?

We have an IG page and I use my personal YouTube page to share our videos. We are not that savvy about social media and our efforts are elementary at best. We realize this is an era when a lot of time needs to be spent with this kind of promotion, but for us, the emphasis is more on just creating art and music and doing so with creative people and even if no one else paid any attention, I am personally fulfilled by that as Slayden, Mike and Brett are so wonderful to create music with. Thank you for giving us a spotlight to convey our appreciation to anyone who feels a connection to our music. We very much appreciate it!

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNus33Oj-jwJzyaDDWYWPUQ

Our IG handle is “ParkedOutsideMusic” – I am not even sure how to add the link, haha.

Thank you all for the great interview; wish you all much continued success!