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Parker were approached by the management of The Printworks in December 2002. "They sent us an email suggesting sponsorship," recalled Mike.
"We went for a couple of meetings with the gaffer; given a glass of water each and a kick up the bum," said Lewis. "A multi-million pound corporation wouldn't want to associate themselves with us if they thought we were rubbish. They want us to believe that we are good."
Parker received sponsorship with The Printworks in July 2003.
But when did it all start?
"We started as Parker just after Lewis joined the band in September 2001," said Mike. "Before that we were a Beetles cover band called The Score and played small, nothing like what we are doing now."
"I was in a band called Peacock Green before Parker," said Lewis. "I left the band and took a year out. Then I decided that I wanted to be part of a band again, but forming a band from scratch takes up too much time. I put an advert in the Loot and Neil contacted me."
The rest is history.
Does the name Parker suggest Mod music?
"Yeah," laughs Mike.
"We are influenced by bands such as The Beetles, The Jam, The Kinks, Rolling Stones, Ocean Colour Scene," said Lewis. "Jimi Hendrix gets a look in if he's lucky." sdsd
"The name
Parker comes from the coats that the Mods wear,"
said Mike. "We were all sat in the pub one
night and were throwing around ideas. We came up
with the name and it wasn't until the next day
when we realised that the Mod coat is actually
spelt Parka. But by then, Parker had stuck."
It took only one
year for Parker to start playing in the city and
since then they have extensively covered the
gigging venues. "People started wanting to
come to all of our gigs and they were complaining
that they couldn't afford to do it," said
Mike. "We have had to cut down on the gigs
because we wanted to make our gigs more of a
treat for people."
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So, which was your best gig?
"The best gig was the MEN Search for a Star finalists in November 2002," said Mike.
"We were the first band to ever win the competition," added Lewis.
"Yeah, all the previous winners had been solo artists," explained Mike. "We won £1,000 and a little trophy that is now sat in my house gathering dust."
Parker spent the money on getting T-shirts printed and they paid Michael Spencer Jones (photographer for Oasis and the Verve) to take pictures of the band. "We asked him to take some pictures of us, and he agreed after he had listened to our music," Mike said. "He charged a bomb though."
After a little debate between band members, Mike said: "The best gig in Manchester was at the Night and Day in January 2003. We broke the capacity record and managed to cram over 100 people into the venue. It was boiling hot and full, the atmosphere was amazing!"
And the worst gig?
"The worst gig was The Salford May Fest in 2003," said Mike. "It was chucking it down with rain and the number of police outweighed the crowd. We argued right before the set and Lewis stormed off in his car. We had to phone him and convince him to come back and play. When we eventually got on the stage, we played to a group of about eight scally kids. We had to cut the set short because the equipment kept failing."
And the next gigs?
Parker are playing at The Printworks on 23rd and 30th August 2003. "We have applied to play In the City in summer 2003, but don't know if we have been accepted," said Mike. "We would like to put on a set at the Roadhouse with bands Everstrong and Overtone, but nothing has been confirmed yet."
The last words
"We want to put honesty back into music," said Lewis. "All this pop idol nonsense is making a mockery of the music industry. Our stuff isn't ground breaking, but we have taken the time to learn our crafts. That's what we are," he added. "We are craftsmen and we think about what we are doing."
Parker have a demo CD just out and it is available on their website http://www.themightyparker.com
Want to send Andrea a message ? Email Andrea@ukevents.net
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