Today we’d like to introduce you to Dominic Parker.
Hi Dominic, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I began making music as a pre-teen. I would write little songs and play them over and over again on my guitar — an acoustic Takamine model gifted to me by my sister Korrina. Each of my siblings introduced me to their favored genres. By the time I was 12, my tastes in music ranged from Muse to Childish Gambino, AFI to alt-J, Kimbra to Prince, and so on. In high school I joined the jazz band and soon formed my first band, Sound Curfew, with a classmate. I played with Sound Curfew and another band called .XOM throughout my teenage years. I learned so much from working in both of those bands. Those are warm, vintage years in my mind. Eventually I felt compelled to try my hand at creating material on my own, exploring sounds, styles, and production techniques both familiar and foreign to me with my producer Diego Hodge at his studio Valley Crest Recording. The album that materialized is called Translucence, released in that tumultuous year 2020, and was my first under the banner The Sympathy Of All Things. Five years have passed and in that time I have created my sophomore record titled: AMARGI, set for release on August 1st, 2025.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The road has certainly had its bumps along the way, many of them revolve around self-doubt and endurance. Making music is a challenging endeavor. There is more competition than ever and it can feel daunting to find ways to grab the modern listener’s attention. In all of my musical projects, a core rule of mine is that the process has to remain fun. If I am not having fun doing this work, then it’s hard to see the point in carrying on. In the past I have found band dynamics difficult because each member is at a different stage in life. This creates varying levels of seriousness, prioritization, and relational chemistry. That has been the biggest challenge I have faced over the years. Striking out solo has given me a lot more control, but it’s also significantly increased the things I am responsible for. I don’t have a manager, a label, or a marketing team. I’m doing as much of that work as I can on my own, and then reaching out to my myriad talented friends for help along the way. But most importantly, I’m having fun in the process.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
When looking back at all of my musical endeavors, I am most proud of the sheer diversity of material I have output over the years. Sound Curfew allowed me to flex my hard rock guitarist skills, pulling much of the instrumental weight as the lead/rhythm guitarist and lead vocalist. I am most proud of our album Where Seldom Is Heard, as I feel that record serves as a testament to everything we had learned in our 7 year journey. .XOM allowed me to hone in on lead guitar even more, but in an indie, new wave context. Not being the front man of that band freed me up to experiment significantly more on my instrument which was integral for the development of my style. With both The Sympathy Of All Things records, I feel I have explored a fascinating blend of synthetic and acoustic elements. The marriage between the two attracts me still. Anyone curious about what the upcoming record will sound like can check out the first single Mourning Ghost for a taste.
Where do you see things going in the next 5-10 years?
I have to imagine that the artificial intelligence boom is going to continue to impact the music industry. I am not an artist who thinks use of AI in art is sacrilegious per se, but I do share the concerns that the power of these tools is bound to be abused in such a way that authenticity suffers. I think the imperative will be on individual people to recognize the value in human performance and organic emotion. On a more hopeful note, I see current signs of a re-enchantment with physical media. It seems that more and more music fans are rediscovering the joy to be derived in owning a physical version of the albums they love so dearly. I hope that this trend continues and that it creates more opportunity for artists to make a fair income from their work. It would be nice if streaming services began to pay artists more fairly for streams as well, but I have my doubts about that hope coming to fruition. Left to their own devices, the trend amongst streaming services has been to increasingly exploit the artists who bring listeners to these platforms in the first place. We’ll probably need legislation to make that a reality. Maybe lawmakers can mandate a “digital minimum wage” or a “standard rate per stream/view” for artists who create the material that populates these platforms.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://thesympathyofallthings.bandcamp.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thesympathyofallthings/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61572943350447
- Twitter: https://x.com/TheSympathyOAT
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheSympathyOfAllThings
- Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/dominic-parker-14
Image Credits
Images by: Sean Basham & Jake Martinez
