Review Fix Exclusive: Cary Park Talks ‘You Matter To Me’ And More

Review Fix chats with singer/songwriter Cary Park, who discusses his new single, “You Matter to Me” and more.

Review Fix: How did you get involved in music?

Cary Park: It was a natural thing as I come from a musical family. My father was a great musician who bought me my first guitar, which opened the gates. After high school and a bit of college I joined the military. I had picked one occupation but soon realized I’d made a mistake, so I auditioned for the military band. It was the same band George Strait had been in two years prior called Colt 45. Just a cover song band in Hawaii that played events around the island of Oahu. I immediately moved to Los Angeles after my 3 years. There are so many great musicians here to admire and motivate you.  

Review Fix: What’s your creative process like?

Park: It always varies. A word, melody or a title will set me off running, so I’ll grab my acoustic guitar, start typing up and staring at lyrics. 

Review Fix: What inspires you?

Park: Everything inspires me. I’m thankful for being healthy and alive when so many have been struggling with health issues. Quaking of the aspens and hearing the wind blowing through the trees when I’m out on a hike. Exercise became a big part of my life when the pandemic arrived.Seeing the sucess with “You Matter to Me” during the lockdown, has been amazing. My friends and family inspire me. Music and love inspire me. 

Review Fix: What does music mean to you?

Park: Everything. The music I grew up with and love still amazes me. Being blessed to grow up in a musical household, and my formative years were a time of listening to incredibly well written music. The bands and artists were on another level. It was mostly about the song. 

Review Fix: How would you describe your sound to someone who has never heard you?

Park: Americana, rock, with a hint of country. My musical influences are varied, but always creep in. And of course, with layers of guitars, and melodies. 

Review Fix: How are your live shows different from your studio work?

Park: In my shows you’ll hear lots of guitar as I’ve been playing the guitar for 40 years now. I do like to play solos. 

But in the timeframe, we’re living in now, what’s a live show? Ask me once we reach the other side of the current global crisis.

Studio work is still there as I can do it from home. But, it’s a whole different thing. 

I’ve always loved recording my stuff and playing on other people’s songs. The creative process in finding a part, riff, sound that will elevate a song is always rewarding.

Review Fix: What inspired your latest single, “You Matter to Me”?

Park: I wrote it with my friend and co-writer Pat Melfi who started the song. 

He sent it to me and asked what I thought, and if I would I re-write it with him, so, I changed some of the lyrics, and the overall feel of the song. It was a positive timely message pat had started, I just expanded upon it, reworked it and this is our collaborative result.  

Review Fix: What are your goals for the rest of 2020?

Park: To keep writing, making music, exercising, staying healthy, becoming a better musician, praying for family, friends, and for the world to get healthy!

Review Fix: What’s next?

Park: Obviously, new music. I’m recording every day. But with that said, I have no idea, as it seems to be in other hands. The whole musical community has been stopped in its track. 

Review Fix: Anything else you’d like to add? 

Park: I’ve watched a few of my friends get sick after contracting Covid-19, it’s changed everything. I was crushed after I face timed a friend who had spent 5 days in the hospital, then was on oxygen for two weeks. Seeing her gasping for words was a reality check. She’s made a full recovery, but it was scary. I pray for the world, and a vaccine soon!

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 14230 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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