In this Quick Hits with MSM, we caught up with rising indie-rock star Wes Parker. Currently opening up for Shakey Graves on tour, he joined MSM at the Rockford, IL tour stop to discuss his newest record, Super Rare; dream collaborations; and a future on the big stage.
Before we dive into the main Quick Hits with MSM, it's been one day since Super Rare came out and made its way into the world. How are you feeling?
Wes Parker
I'm feeling pretty good. I'm feeling pretty good about it. There are a lot of people that will say you can only put out your debut record once, and that's true, but it also puts an unnecessary amount of pressure. And I definitely think if I were striving for perfection with this record, then it would not be coming out. It is very imperfect, and I don't think that I necessarily could ever feel that perfection with it. So there's definitely feelings of, “Is this good enough?” at times. Like for my first record, the doubts definitely creep in, I think for any artist, but I think generally I feel really good about it, and I'm just glad that I kind of have said it.
Kiera
Yes, absolutely, you did it. You did the thing!
Speaking of Super Rare, what's one song from Super Rare that you would wish could define your legacy thus far? It's not picking favorites, but…
Wes Parker
Define my legacy… That's a tough question. I think—I really like “spider legs”. It's really fun to play live. And it's sort of a diverse song, like there's just parts that are very rock and, like, sort of grunge or, like, post-grunge or something, and then there's, like, parts that are more atmospheric and kind of show that side of my songwriting. So I think that's—maybe that one. “Eggshellz” has been the song that's been streamed the most.
Kiera
Yes, very popular.
Wes Parker
And I do have a special connection to that song, and I'm glad that the rest of the world seems to as well. So yeah, I don't know, those two are particularly special, but it's really hard to choose that.
Kiera
Yeah, no, it's a loaded question [laughs].
What are you listening to right now?
Wes Parker
What am I listening to? I'm listening to a lot of whatever they put on in the van, which has been kind of my music listening for the past few years. I've just been getting exposed to all kinds of stuff. Like Chandler, who plays bass, has been playing so many different things. He's got a way larger album knowledge than I do. He's played a ton of Drive-By Truckers over the years, like so much of that, especially when we tour in the South.
Kiera
Perfect “driving in the South” music.
Wes Parker
Yeah. Today we were listening to Modest Mouse, who I have never listened to before, which I felt a little embarrassed to admit to the band. And everyone was like, “What?!” so I was checking that out.
Kiera
I also have not listened to a Modest Mouse album, but I need to.
Wes Parker
I've never listened, you know what I mean? Like, that's a famous band. I have also been listening to Billy Talent, their first record that came out in 2023. I randomly started listening to that a ton. It's just very nostalgic, early 2000s, like it makes me feel like a kid again. And it reminds me of being inspired from, like, watching old movies when I was a kid and, like, discovering music through movies or through skate videos from the kid across the street that I would skate with.
Kiera
Mine was always like “how to hack Club Penguin” videos.
Wes Parker
Oh, hell yes, dude!
Kiera
That's how I found “Paralyzer” by Finger 11.
Wes Parker
Now you’re speaking my language. So yeah, that Billy Talent record, and then also when I go for walks around town, I listen to Junior Kimbrough’s First Recordings record a lot. It's just like straight blues. I was always a huge blues listener when I was growing up. Like I just got really into that feeling. But if I try to write blues or sing blues, it sounds really kind of whack, as you can imagine. But I love listening to it. Also, we were listening to Of Montreal in the car today. We also listened to the new Lower Town record, Ugly Duckling Union.
Kiera
Well, perfect! It's eclectic.
What is your biggest dream collaboration?
Wes Parker
Well, I'll say this. I got to do one of my dream collaborations recently, which was with Jessica Lee Mayfield, who I have always loved so much as a musician, has influenced me a ton. And we're friends as of recently. It wasn't like a songwriting collaboration, but she sang on a song on the record called “Cut the Grass”, which is so incredibly special. I feel so honored. I would love to write some music with her. And in terms of other dream collaborations, that's so tough.
Kiera
Maybe a little bluesy one.
Wes Parker
No, no, I can't, I can’t do it [laughs]. I don't know. God, there's so many people I'm a fan of. I mean, like childhood favorites like Green Day, Billy Joe Armstrong. That doesn’t even make sense to do, but I would love it. Matt Bellamy from Muse. I've been really into Sierra Ferrell and her insane voice.
If you weren't a musician (and also Skunk on the side), what would you want to be doing with your time?
Wes Parker
Theater acting. And/or film acting. I mean, I think more realistically, a life goal of mine is to be on film and continue to flesh out that side of my career, which is right now very small. I'm able to do some of that through the music videos. I did an Axe ad recently that was really funny—
Kiera
Oh, fun!
Wes Parker
And stupid. But like, I love being on camera. I love doing characters; in another life and maybe sometime later in this life, I'm on stage in a beautiful theater like this [motions to Rockford, IL's Coronado Theater, where this interview took place], doing dramatic plays. I want that so bad.
Kiera
I would love to see that.
Wes Parker
Oh my God.
Kiera
That would be amazing.
Sort of related to your characters and being in character, do you have a favorite bit?
Wes Parker
Skunk is obviously extremely special to me. And he feels like a completely separate character, like, entity from myself. Like, I mean, I really don't even—
Kiera
If you look at him, if you put you side by side, you're not the same person [laughs].
Wes Parker
It's weird. Like when I've done Skunk on tour sometimes, I'm always like saying, “I brought Skunk”, and by that, I literally mean like I brought the items to transform into Skunk. And it feels—yeah. So Skunk is extremely, extremely special to me, like he's kind of my number one.
Wes Parker
But, I think I love doing—
Kiera
The creepy flirty co-worker skit videos are so hard to watch, but I love them [laughs].
Wes Parker
Yeah, yeah. I feel bad posting those because they really are; they come from a place of observing that behavior in restaurants for my whole life. I mean, I started working in a restaurant when I was young in high school, a real dumpy place, and I saw a lot of it. The dumpier the restaurant, the more of that there is, but it's everywhere. I also love doing the sound guy, but the “sound guy bit” is actually really hard to do. Like it's a very meticulous thing to perform weirdly enough.
Kiera
The sharpies bit, it's always timed perfectly.
Wes Parker
It's kind of choreographed. Yeah. So it's a whole like thing, it has to just be just right. I'm going to go a little long-winded on that and say my favorite stuff to do is the stuff that feels like it's not going to necessarily perform well, and it's just like a weird specific idea. Recently I did one that was like a “hotdog proprietor”.
Kiera
Yes, “the big one” [laughs]. Yeah.
Wes Parker
Yeah. And then there was an early one before the co-worker skits that was like, “[POV] You're getting fired from Olive Garden”. There was just stuff like that that felt very random. And I love that; it's my favorite way to do comedy because I love repeating bits. It's fun to bring characters back, but there's nothing like a brand new and kind of abstract idea. That brings me joy through comedy.
When you're listening to music, does the sound matter more to you? Or the lyrics?
Wes Parker
Truthfully, the melody matters more to me. But the lyrics, obviously, you know, do matter a lot. I listen to melody first, for sure.
Kiss, marry, kill: streaming, vinyl, or CDs?
Wes Parker
Kill streaming, kiss CDs, marry vinyl.
Kiera
Okay. I support it.
What is your dream stage to play on?
Wes Parker
[Pauses]... SNL.
Kiera
Oh. Yes.
Wes Parker
Because I would love to also be on the show. And when I see musicians go on the show, they're also in the bits. So that would be a dream because I would get to really truly have a merging of worlds there. And I feel like it's just made for me.
What is your favorite part about touring?
Wes Parker
The simple answer is to get up on stage and play the songs in front of people. And of course, there's also fun in the new stuff when traveling and seeing the strangest small towns like between cities.
Kiera
“World's Largest Rubber Band Ball”.
Wes Parker
Yeah. Just the strangest things that you want to explore so bad, but you don't have the time, but it is just mystifying. But I'd say the more complicated answer is probably the routine. It feels good to have a routine; for me as an artist, it's regulating. You know what I mean? Also, sorry, I have one more favorite. I get really emotional on tour, which is both good and bad. When we're like in the van on the highway, I get into this emotional state sometimes where I'm like, I feel like I'm like an astronaut, like looking back at my life from a very zoomed-out perspective. And it makes it interesting, the things that I see in those times, and it can be both beautiful and very sad in ways too.
Kiera
Is it like a “this is my life” moment?
Wes Parker
It's like getting to get outside of your life a bit and look at it and kind of examine it and you see things that are both beautiful and hard to see. So I get really emotional, but I'm grateful for the privilege of having that. And as a musician, I think it's nice in a world where everything's like fast-paced: be on Instagram, making content, checking emails, and figuring out tour logistics to have a moment to just feel again. Especially when I'm like, I need to write some music.
And the very last question for “Quick Hits with MSM”: What are 3 words to describe Super Rare?
Wes Parker
Raw.
Quilt… Quilt-like?
I want to say colorful… It's colorful, because it's diverse. In my mind, it's colorful. So I'd say raw, quilt-like, and colorful.
Kiera
Okay. I like, quilt-like, patching together a lot of different stories.
Wes Parker
Yeah, because the quilt can be non-colorful.
Kiera
Absolutely. But this is a colorful quilt.
Wes Parker
A colorful quilt.
Kiera
Thank you so much.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Catch up with Wes, Skunk, and the whole lot on social media:
Instagram | YouTube | Facebook | TikTok | Discord
Super Rare is now streaming on all major platforms.
