Artist Profile: Ken Park

Photo Credit: Leila Simpson

Ken Park, the recording project of San Diego-born and New York-based songwriter Liam Creamer, took its first steps into the limelight with the release of Creamer’s debut, self-titled EP on Feb. 26. For a distinctly creative spirit who had truly no other path than music, however, the EP represents more than a debut– it is a massive sigh of relief, heaved from a standpoint of emotional catharsis and passion.

As a child, Creamer grew up surrounded by rock music. His father was a major fan of groups from the ‘60s, and he knew many of The Beatles’ songs by heart. His mother, meanwhile, had more of an affinity for the ‘90s, and groups like Nirvana permeated his house through her influence.

He, however, quickly gravitated towards a heavier sound, listening to bands like Foo Fighters and Avenged Sevenfold from the earliest days he had the capabilities to seek out music on his own. Something about the aggressiveness and rhythms of these groups appealed to an innate energy he had as a child– something that craved release from his young soul.

Naturally, he took up drums as his first instrument, later joining his school band as a percussionist. The first dream of his youth, therefore, was to become a composer. He couldn’t read sheet music, but he fell in love with fitting his percussion to the classical swoons they practiced. His appetite for aggression, and his desire to play the drums like the legends of his favorite bands, did not fall by the wayside, though.

It was instead a lack of community, despite the strong encouragement from some of the adults in his life, that forced him to shy away from music as a pursuit for much of his youth.

“I honestly had trouble finding other people that were as passionate about [music as I was]. And that made me kind of lose the passion at times. Not entirely… I mean it was always there. Just there was a lot of pulling away from it.”

He also, largely, shied away from using his own voice even when that passion for music had stirred him into action. After the Pandemic, he attended an art school to study songwriting, taking up a set of courses in R&B production. Once he became acclimated to the new environment, he found himself with something he had never possessed before– a strong community of people who matched and even exceeded his ardor for creation.

He was suddenly exposed to all sorts of new music from his newfound peers, and, from studying their work and creating alongside them, Creamer came to a distinct realization. Although he had spent years obsessed with the rhythms and different forms that instrumentals can take on, he had never seriously crystallized the lyrics, and the actual act of songwriting, within his artistic mind.

“I had no idea how to make a lyric. I just didn't grow up listening to lyrics… As I'd listen to music more and watch my friends perform it, they'd say these cool lines that I would manage to actually hear. Then it started clicking, and the music that I was listening to just started making sense slowly. That part of my brain was growing.”

From there, it was a matter of becoming more comfortable with his voice. He would practice singing endlessly in his car, and as he improved, so did his confidence in his artistry. He began keeping endless pages of free-written lyrics in his notebooks, pushing and pushing himself to overcome the artistic block that had prevented him from taking the leap throughout his youth.

As he continued to write, however, he realized something. The subject matter and the sounds he was pursuing did not match the hip-hop and R&B sounds he had studied and chased throughout his adolescence. They were instead much more akin to the alternative rock he had loved as a child.

“Ken Park”, therefore, is a representation of everything Creamer first loved about music– the moody and dark atmosphere of the EP is an innate homage to his younger self.

The first, grinding chords of “Maybe Delete” establish this motif rapidly, but the project does not prop itself up on empty nods to its influences. Instead, moments like the collapsing, shoegaze-esque vocal structures of “Shatter” and the deeply entrancing guitar-tumblings of “Sleep Paralysis”, along with a great many others across the EP, form a sonic whole– one that carries clear intention from beginning to end.

It is in this way that “Ken Park”, as Creamer’s first true steps into the artistic world, is more than just a debut or a representation of his creative roots. While it brings the dreams of his younger self to fruition, it also signifies the emergence of a ceaselessly creative voice.

“I felt very proud, but I just couldn't stop thinking about younger me and all the expectations that I had for myself and different avenues that I wanted to go… I just feel, honestly, relief. The pressure is off. I realized that that music can be whatever I want it to be, and that is what this EP is– me learning that I can write whatever line I want and I can choose whatever instrument I want… The EP is this mesh of all the identities that I've had growing up.”