Meet Airpark: Bragg Jam 2018

I love seeing familiar faces at Bragg Jam, especially when they’re the faces of lineup artists. Brothers Ben Ford and Michael Ford, Jr. introduced themselves to Macon’s concert crawl with The Apache Relay, and we welcome them back under the name of their new music duo: Airpark.

C: The first time I heard y’all was as The Apache Relay at Bragg Jam 2014. I was a rising senior in high school, and now I’m a rising senior in college. These past four years have been an incredible period of growth for me. How have y’all grown since I last saw you, artistically and individually?

B: I would say it’s been the same for us. We experienced the end of one significant chapter and the start of another. It’s been really wonderful. I feel more creatively fulfilled than I’ve ever been and I think we learned a lot (some good, some bad) from our time in Apache Relay that we carry with us.

C: As seen with your deviation from the folk pop in The Apache Relay to the experimental pop in Airpark, you both have explored an open spectrum of pop music. What constitutes good pop?

B: I define good pop as music that possess both undeniable artistic integrity and an ability to connect with people on a larger scale. Attaining both is extremely difficult and I think that’s what keeps us going after it. I feel like this is what Nilsson did, the Beach Boys did, Bowie did, Amy Winehouse did, etcetera.

C: Speaking of good pop, I know y’all are Spoon fans. If you could cover any Spoon song, which one would you choose and why? Conversely, if Spoon could cover any of Airpark’s songs, which one would you choose and why?

B: It’s hard to pick just one. I would love to cover an entire album’s worth of their material. As of late, I’m really digging on “The Beast and Dragon Adored” off of “Gimme Fiction.” Hearing their take on our tune “Plenty to Pine For” would be nutso.

C: Describe the songwriting process for deconstructed pop. Has songwriting for Airpark’s music made you more vulnerable as artists, and moreover, as brothers?

M: Deconstructed pop in a lot of ways pertains to how the songs themselves are being presented or produced. For instance, any of the songs off of Early Works, Volume 1 were written in a very traditional sense (guy and acoustic guitar). After the songs had already been written, we demoed them out full band. We fleshed them out with additional melodies and made other writing tweaks during that process. After that, Ben and I thought it would be interesting to find a way to work up the songs as a two piece (guitar and drums). We incorporated as many of the melodies as we could from the full band demos but being that there was now only one melodic instrument to use, the sound automatically became “deconstructed” as we had to figure out how to do as much as we could with just two instruments.  

B: As far as the songwriting itself goes, we don’t have one set way of how we write. Sometimes it’s together, or apart. We often present ideas or nearly completed songs to the other for [him] to edit. There’s a trust there. If I play a tune for Michael and he says “Bridge could be better…first verse should be doubled in length,” then I give it a shot—and vice versa.

C: What has most recently inspired your creativity? Is there a consistent muse throughout your work?

B: Lyrically, I feel like life has a way of presenting the material that needs to be addressed. At least for me it does. Sometimes it feels less inspiring and more like, “Hey, you need to write about this issue or conflict or whatever it is for your own good or sanity.” The songs oftentimes are more for ourselves lyrically and you just hope it resonates with others. I feel like it should be that way to feel real.

M: Rhythm and groove have been inspiring to me lately…whether it’s a drum beat I’m writing over or the way I’m playing a chord progression when coming up with a melody and lyrics. I love groove so much—a good groove is fertile ground to tap into my subconscious and that’s when I think my best work comes out.

C: There’s strong symbolism throughout your music videos. I’m intrigued by the forbidden fruit in “Le Tigre” and the cyclic moon in “All the Time.” Are the images and symbols in your music videos visual representations of Airpark’s lyrics? If the images have meaning, do they signify emotions from your songwriting?

B: We’ve been lucky to work with really gifted directors that were up for collaborating with us on our ideas and retrospectively we’re really proud of how all the videos have turned out. We definitely get at some symbolism in each of them, but I would say it’s to evoke an overall mood of the song that we’re trying to get at.

C: What emotions do you want me to feel when Airpark performs at Bragg Jam?

B: Just inspired in some kind of way. That’s what I want as an audience member at any show.

C: Do you expect to see The Apache Relay fans at Bragg Jam this year? Is there a target audience you want to reach out towards as Airpark?

B: Honestly, I have no idea what to expect, as it’s our first time playing Macon as Airpark. It’s always great to see Apache fans. We would love that. If you’re reading this, please come say “Hey” before or after the show. We really love that.

C: Fill in the blank: I feel most like a rockstar when _____.

M: …I can lose any kind of self-awareness on stage. That’s when you’re really performing. No matter the size of the show.

C: What’s in the future for Airpark?

B: We just finished making an EP with Tennis out in Denver. We’re putting all of our energy this fall behind touring and promoting the hell out of it. I feel like we made something really special and truly collaborative together. We’ll be posting updates on everything from our socials if you wanna keep up. It’s @airparkband on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.

Reunite with Ben and Michael as Airpark debuts to the Macon music scene this weekend. We’ll catch you this Saturday, July 28 from 5:00-5:45 p.m. at The Hummingbird Stage & Taproom.

Sunny in the southern sunshine,

Cat

Headline photo by Melissa Madison Fuller