"A cheeseburger and fries kind of guy."
***
Bill Parker was born in East Chicago, Indiana but grew up in the Gold Coast subdivision of Calumet City, Illinois, a period he describes as "being in the right place, at the right time, among the right people."
After lying his way into his first band using a borrowed bass, a shared amplifier, and being good for little more than filling a spot on stage - "because I couldn't really play, I was learning song by song" - he immersed himself in Top 40, soul, rock & roll, jazz, The Blues ... anything he could get on record. Later, he would add country, Middle Eastern, and Indian influences. After that first band (Orange Marmalade), an outfit called Locos El Ritmo ("sort of an Allman Brothers meets a mariachi band that rehearsed for a month then self-destructed after two sets at our first gig"), and years in what he calls his "Lonesome Cowboy Mode," he relocated to The Netherlands where he formed dreamwest with brothers Coen & Michiel Spek and Jolanda Haanskorf. Things were going swimmingly and the future looked bright until the arrival of the Covid-19 pandemic and the shutting down of Europe's venues. Sadly, the band - which had been well-received, appearing on radio and regional television - didn't survive the extended lay-off.
Having decided he'd gone as far as he could in guitar-based, "pick & grin, hum & strum" genres, Bill decided to explore and combine those influences that had taken a backseat for so long. Thus, After Halloween was born.
"It's a conceptual band, like Steely Dan became and as John Lennon's Plastic Ono Band was from the start. It's me and whoever makes the sessions.
"It's challenging, stimulating, occasionally puzzling, but always fun. I wouldn't presume to ask for more."
***
Bill Parker was born in East Chicago, Indiana but grew up in the Gold Coast subdivision of Calumet City, Illinois, a period he describes as "being in the right place, at the right time, among the right people."
After lying his way into his first band using a borrowed bass, a shared amplifier, and being good for little more than filling a spot on stage - "because I couldn't really play, I was learning song by song" - he immersed himself in Top 40, soul, rock & roll, jazz, The Blues ... anything he could get on record. Later, he would add country, Middle Eastern, and Indian influences. After that first band (Orange Marmalade), an outfit called Locos El Ritmo ("sort of an Allman Brothers meets a mariachi band that rehearsed for a month then self-destructed after two sets at our first gig"), and years in what he calls his "Lonesome Cowboy Mode," he relocated to The Netherlands where he formed dreamwest with brothers Coen & Michiel Spek and Jolanda Haanskorf. Things were going swimmingly and the future looked bright until the arrival of the Covid-19 pandemic and the shutting down of Europe's venues. Sadly, the band - which had been well-received, appearing on radio and regional television - didn't survive the extended lay-off.
Having decided he'd gone as far as he could in guitar-based, "pick & grin, hum & strum" genres, Bill decided to explore and combine those influences that had taken a backseat for so long. Thus, After Halloween was born.
"It's a conceptual band, like Steely Dan became and as John Lennon's Plastic Ono Band was from the start. It's me and whoever makes the sessions.
"It's challenging, stimulating, occasionally puzzling, but always fun. I wouldn't presume to ask for more."
