Light-heartedly dubbed  “mellow midwest emo” by the band’s guitarist Greyson Smallen, The Park is a small, local band based in Columbia. Coming together to produce tunes and express their visions through alternative tracks, through unintentional ties and fateful meetings, The Park was born. 

Consisting of vocalist Via Amos, guitarists Smallen and Austin Richard, bassist Mikey Alexander, drummer Colton Mykael and trumpeter Layden Dukes, The Park has played several shows in and around Columbia, most recently Mid-Missouri PrideFest on Sept. 24. 

Smallen, a helping hand in lyrical writing with Amos, is also a music education major at MU. The guitarist has remarkable admiration for music and producing their own tunes on and off the stage. Even with music consuming every crevice of their daily life between lectures and band practices, Smallen exhibits no need to unplug. 

“It’s hard being in music school, because it’s like I’m doing it all day, and then I’m doing more music,” Smallen said. “A lot of my friends need a break, like in car rides they don’t listen to music. They just listen to silence or podcasts, and I just never felt that way.” 

Constantly surrounded by music, Smallen is no stranger to finding comfort in expressing their emotions and creativity through music and melodies every day, especially with The Park. Having a band outside of school allows for unique expression that they don’t get in class, Smallen explained. 

“I also think the band, for me, is a way to be creative outside of school,” Smallen said. “The Park gives me an outlet I wouldn’t have normally to collaborate on popular music with other people. It’s nice to work on this kind of project not alone, it’s more beneficial and you hear other ideas I might not come up with.”

When it comes to finding an equilibrium of courses and chords, Smallen acknowledged the discipline and responsibility it takes. As MU hosts several concerts for the ensemble students, Smallen finds themself juggling these performances with school and band affairs during these public concert weeks.

“Sometimes it’s hard with public concert weeks at school where we have three ensembles,” Smallen said. “All of those ensembles have a concert in the same week, so that week is super stressful, and I kind of just voiced that to the band and they’re all like ‘yeah, that makes sense. If you’re not at practice, that’s fine.’”

The Park’s vocalist made it clear that Smallen’s dedication to music is evident. Amos has been a witness to the guitarist’s passion for music and how it keeps them afloat from the beginning. 

“A big part of them being able to balance all of this is that they are really passionate about what they’re going to school for,” Amos said. “They’re really passionate about having this creative outlet outside of school.” 

Although constantly balancing music in school with music outside of school, Smallen embraces this challenge and how music makes it all worth it.

“I wouldn’t say, for me, it’s very challenging because I find it really fun,” Smallen said. “I make music all the time, like in my free time. A lot of my “why” for creating music is just a way to express myself. I don’t make music just to make something that sounds good, it all has meanings, and I find that to be a huge comfort for me.”

The true challenge, Smallen said, is finding their rhythm.

“For me, music is super fun, and I’m just busy,” Smallen said. “I have classes and I teach drumline at a high school in town. So, I go from like 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. every day. Performances motivate me the most. I really enjoy performances and having a space to have music we’ve created heard by many people, especially new people.”

Mid-Missouri PrideFest set the stage at Rose Music Hall for several local bands and artists performing to express themselves and expand their audience. While performing songs from their first and most recent EP, “demonstrations,” and throwing in a few covers, The Park’s smiles were consistent and contagious. 

“I’m a performer,” Smallen said. “And I feel like it’s nice to hear people’s opinions on our music. Pride honestly wasn’t the best performance for the band, but since we haven’t had a performance like that, where we’ve all made silly mistakes, it’s a nice motivator to make every other performance better than that. I will say, people are starting to know the words to our music and that is a great feeling and unreal to see people actually listen to us. Crowds also often give the energy you want back if you show it, thus why I love performing so much.”

Being a smaller band with big aspirations, The Park takes inspiration from many other bands, especially those that fit in the alternative, rock and indie genres. A huge inspiration of theirs, Hippocampus, incorporates a trumpet, something The Park finds themselves struggling with, Smallen said. Along with Hippocampus, Modern Baseball and The Front Bottoms were other bands listed as musical inspirations by Smallen.

Following their lively and passionate performance on Sunday afternoon, Smallen went home to prepare for another week of classes and coursework, unphased by the stack of assignments and sheet music awaiting for them. 

“I think it’s just a matter of [the] drive that I see,” Amos said of Smallen. “It sounds really cheesy, but it’s like if they really want to do something, they’re gonna do it, so they’ll make time for it.” 

Edited by Alex Goldstein | agoldstein@themaneater.com

Copy Edited by Grace Knight | gknight@themaneater.com 

Edited by Sophie Rentschler | srentschler@themaneater.com