Friendship Park
Brooklyn, New York, United States | Established. Jan 01, 2015 | SELF
Music
Press
One of the our favorite things about Buzzsessions is being able to introduce new artists to the world and knowing, without a doubt, that people will fall in love with the music. When the multi-talented Justin Lawes inquired about doing a session with his band Friendship Park, it was a no brainer. Their recordings of “Dancing Tonight” and “Not A Word,” from The Aashrum in Michigan, are the perfect introduction to their unique brand of indie pop. Watch and download both sessions below. - The Wild Honey Pie
Friendship Park is far too dynamic to align with one concrete genre — “Math Folk Pop” most accurately categorizes their new track, “Not a Word”. There’s truly nothing greater than music that doesn’t immaculately align with iTunes groupings, which they avoid by using technology as instruments. In the words of their biography, “beneath the glow of many pixels, they punch their keys, turn knobs, strum strings and make strange sounds with their vocal chords until something seemingly of worth comes out.” “Not a Word” manages to recreate 1980s Pac-Man by combining layers of electronically (and non-electronically) produced sounds. The rhythmic backbone and button-like melody make the outer core of this single scientific and mathematical.
Amidst these left brain strategies, the track seethes with a more humanities-driven, right brain undertone with lyrics that are highly profound and poetic. The Michigan-born duo explain that they “dish out some boom bop dancing songs with a side of sobering realism — realism that encourages the listener to consider whether we should boogie harder or avoid dancing altogether.” “Not a Word” tells a tale of quirky solitude and genuine honesty, and the structure of the song delivers a realist view on life itself. Beginning sweetly and simply, it gradually grows in complexity as it becomes more layered and varied, then finally ends as simply as it began. The song commendably forms its own personality — quaint, quirky and bubbly yet deeply thoughtful. This innovative track effectively achieves the difficult task of combining the right and left brain, synthesizing the tech guy and the artist, proving that the two are far from mutually exclusive. - The Wild Honey Pie
Discography
Still working on that hot first release.
Photos
Bio
In between Justin Lawes and Joshua Jouppi sat a park. Growing up mere miles apart, their common disposition towards spending far too much time in front of computers is what inevitably brought them together—to Friendship Park. Animators by trade, the digital duo use their backgrounds in progressive rock and folk for good and never for evil.
Now, in the night, beneath the glow of many pixels, they punch their keys, turn knobs, strum strings, and make strange sounds with their vocal chords until something seemingly of worth comes out.
Time has separated the pals by many miles—hailing from Brooklyn and Detroit respectively. However, the two have managed to create math folk pop jams by calling upon all the powers of The Internet while wielding the mutual understanding of friendship. They aim to dish out some boom bop dancing songs with a side of sobering realism; realism that encourages the listener to consider whether we should boogie harder or shan’t been dancing at all.
Band Members
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