An Interview With PRINTZ BOARD All About His New Musical Project PARKER LANE!

Printz Board’s (Black Eyed Peas, Fergie, Selena Gomez, etc.) new project is called Parker Lane and his brand new released song is called “3AM” [feat. Lucy Graves]. There will be an EP this Spring as well.

Printz is a Los Angeles-based two-time GRAMMY® Award-winning musician, recording artist, producer, and songwriter.  For nearly two decades, he’s quietly impacted pop music and culture from behind-the-scenes, creating a string of recognizable and renowned hits. An integral creative force for Black Eyed Peas, he co-wrote “My Humps”—winning the 2007 GRAMMY® for “Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group”—and “Don’t Punk with My Heart,” which took home “Best Rap/Song Collaboration.” He garnered BMI Songwriter Awards for co-writing the Peas’ “Where Is the Love?” and “Meet Me Halfway.”

Simultaneously, he has produced and written for everyone from Dr. Dre, Sheryl Crow, Fergie, and Macy Gray to Selena Gomez, Keyshia Cole, and Katy Perry. In New Zealand, he garnered the TUI Award for selling the most singles in a year for “Feel Inside And Stuff” from Flight of The Conchords. Most recently, he earned a 2017 MTV VMA for producing Taboo’s “Stand Up/Stand N Rock.”    Among other accolades, he’s been acclaimed by USA Today, Interview, Baeble, Pop Crush, and many more. Outside of music, his passions encompass everything from playing trumpet, piano, guitar and beat-boxing to real boxing and fashion.

Parker Lane’s music is  organic and familiar folk pop anthems with a country twist brought to life by a revolving cast of co-vocalists and guests drawn to the push-and-pull of his communal jukebox vision.

Learn more about Printz Board in the following All Access interview:

-So where does this interview find you today?

I’m in New Zealand at the moment, working with my friends in a band called SIX60.

-Overall, how do you think 2017 was for you and your career?

2017 was a fantastic year. I had some ups, and I had some downs, but my ups were WAAAAY up. 🙂

-What are you most excited about for this year? What is one big goal you have for 2018?

I’m most excited for “3 A.M.” and Parker Lane to get on more peoples’ radar.

-Growing up, did you ever think that this would be the kind of life that you would have? Has music always been a big part of your life?

I always knew that I would be doing great things in music. I haven’t always known exactly ‘what’, but I knew that it was my ‘calling’.

-Can you recall your first ever musical experience?

My first musical experience was on my grandmothers organ… turning on all those different beats, and playing along to it… in headphones. haha

-What has it been like starting this new project, Parker Lane?

Parker Lane took me by storm… I was doing a solo project called “Printz Board & the Boardmemberz” when I decided to do a cover of a Mumford and Sons song… It came out great, and people responded to it, with a vengeance. After that, it just made sense to do some stripped down, original songs in that vain, acoustically to start.

-How will your music under this name be a departure from anything else you have done as Printz Board?

The name of the project is Parker Lane. I’m not changing who I AM. I will still have the Printz Board solo projects along the way, keeping it funky. 🙂 But Parker Lane is a spiritual release like nothing else I’ve ever done.

-Let’s talk about your breakout single as Parker Lane, “3 A.M.” What was the inspiration for this track? How do you think it prepares listeners for more new music from you? How does this song compare to the rest of your EP that will be out this Spring?

“3 A.M.” is basically a song about every relationship out there. We struggle as couples sometimes, but at the end of the day that love dominates everything and keeps you coming back. This song will open the doors to a new side of me, yet it doesn’t forecast all to be heard from Parker Lane. Stylistically, PL will be tapping on some other doors, too. Look out for it!

-I’ve got to ask you about being a part of Black Eyed Peas. What are you most proud of from that time? What was it like working with all of them and just being in the studio?

I’m most proud of writing “Where Is The Love”. That seemed to change so many peoples lives, and it will live forever. The studio is always awesome with the fellas and Ferg. I miss those guys, and I wish them luck in everything. I’m still working with them in the studio on new stuff, just not touring so much with them anymore. Gotta make way for Parker Lane!

-Throughout your career, you have produced and written for some incredible artists. Could you pick out a few of your favorite experiences with artists?

So many artists… Its been an absolute pleasure having each and every experience with them. It would be cheating my life experience to mention any one..

-How do you know when you have really created something amazing and unique with another musician?

There’s a certain tinge that you get, almost laughter, when you have struck gold. It doesn’t always make it above the ‘noise’, but you know when you know. You can think – “This is awesome”, but in the end if it doesn’t give you a heavenly feeling, well… Its not really it. You’re just hoping instead of ‘knowing’. I mean, it STILL doesn’t matter without the right team in place.

-Where do you find that you have the most fun- on stage performing, making music videos or recording in the studio?

Three separate things, for sure. I live in the moment of all of those… On stage is where you get the most communal response, but you’re creating beautiful art in all of them.

-How active on are you on all of your social media platforms? How important do you think it has been to your career so far? Do you find that it’s hard to update all of them all of the time?

I love social media. F..k the haters. I think its a brilliant way to connect with your people, family, friends and fans. I have so many people that I cant connect with on a daily, that will go and look at my socials and get caught up on my life and vice versa. I stylize my IG with purpose, and I use other platforms for different things. Its all ME, and I love it. I guess, because I do stylize my stuff it can get a little bit like ‘work’, but I love it at the same damn time.

-We are living through a very trying and politically charged time right now so I am curious how you think being a musician gives you the most joy in life today?

I’m definitely aware of the atmosphere in the world today, but I’m hoping that art, music and love will calm those dark clouds. I want to write songs that make people momentarily displace themselves from reality… Write songs that help people ‘get thru it’…and also the songs that inspire. I love when someone sings my words, and smiles… I don’t mean to sound like a softy (but I am sometimes).

-Who are some of your favorite artists or rather, what musicians have continued to inspire you and your music?

I really love PRINCE. He has inspired me from the beginning, and countless others. I always hear something/someone new to old that makes me realize why I do this. Playing multiple instruments puts my brain in different spaces with different artists, ya know? Sometimes I’ll feel like horn parts, sometimes the chords, sometimes its the lyric, the beat, etc… Woody Shaw, Freddie Hubbard, H.E.R., Zero 7, Sia, Queens of the Stone Age, Lumineers, Michael Jackson, Mumford and Sons, Beatles, Peter Frampton, Led Zepplin, Common, Erykah Badhu, Camilla Cabello and it goes on and on.

-What musicians would you absolutely still love to work with in the future?

I’ve worked with Justin Timberlake before, but I’d like to work with him again with this new vibe I’m on.

-What do you hope your fans take away from your music?

I want fans to take away the realness, the honesty and the love, from my music. Know it, Feel it, Be it.