Purveyor of: Dark electronic pop, danceable psych-shoegaze, emotions

File Next To: Chevalier Avant Garde, New Order, My Bloody Valentine

Playing: All Toronto's Parties a.k.a. WL 582, Nov. 22 at the Garrison

Scott Harwood a.k.a Ken Park has only been back in Toronto a matter of months since returning from Berlin, but he's already all over the city's music scene, opening for Princess Century (Maya Postepski from Austra), Phèdre, and Petra Glynt, and receiving a very enthusiastic response from all audiences. His music feels both familiar and like something incredibly rare and precious. It's challenging, experimental, honest electronic pop that makes you want to dance.

We know the outlines of Ken Park's origin story: you were a member of Ostrich Tuning, then moved to Berlin and started making your own solo work. Is that accurate? Was there any turning point in Ken Park becoming a real, actual project? And was this something that only would have happened had you gone to Berlin?

That's basically accurate, yeah. There were definitely a couple of moments in Berlin where I thought I should take this a little more seriously. Mostly it's when someone tells you that they've been listening to your song all day, or people you don't know start coming to your shows. Little things like that got (and get) me really amped. The response to the demos had shattered all of my expectations and encouraged me to work everyday at it.

Berlin itself was a huge part of the whole thing too. There are the logistical advantages we always hear about, like cheap rent. I paid 20 Euros a month for my rehearsal space there. 20 EUROS! I practiced and recorded like crazy for months and months. For any artist with even a bit of focus, Berlin is a fantastic place to go to get shit done. It's chock-full of distractions though, too. Beyond that, the freedom of not knowing a single soul there really challenged me personally and served as a big inspiration.

You often play as a live member of Hooded Fang and Phèdre. How does it feel switching from a "side-man" to a "front-man"? Does playing with other bands prove a source of inspiration and ideas for your own work?

Well, a huge one for me is my time in Ostrich Tuning. That band taught me to be patient and to think of grooves. A lot of the things I've learned with them have been strangely applicable to making dance music. It's also responsible for the fact that a lot of my songs, however poppy or accessible, clock in at 6 minutes or over. And with Phèdre, I've never played live with them, but I sat in their living room and watched how a great record (Golden Age) can come together. Also, Ian McPhedran and Dan Lee are world-class producers in my mind. All in all though, playing with other people reinforces for me my need to make things that are fully my own, alongside collaborations.

You don't use a laptop on stage, so it's an all-hardware affair, and your live performances leave your audiences swooning. Do you think it's beneficial to have the immediacy of using all hardware? Do you feel more connected to the audience performing that way?

Aww thanks (re: swooning). I guess I'm lucky in that the project just took shape this way. It is something people notice when I'm playing. I'm interested to know, though, when it became a novelty for people to play electronic music with gear. In any case, as a vocalist, Mariah Carey I am not, and I think my show is fun for people because they see that mistakes can be made (and sometimes they are). Everything has limits with me. My voice, the parameters of using gear versus the endless possibilities and dependability of a laptop. There are disadvantages too. I go into every show praying that my old-ass drum machines will make it through to the end. So far, so good.

We've only heard your terribly impressive demos. Are you working towards an album and how is that going?
Again, thanks. The record is in its final, final stages. The last bit is me nit-picking and trying to make it as hi-fi as possible (a challenge given the equipment we used). My man Diogo Correia is finishing the mix and master.

Having only recently returned to Toronto, how do you feel about it? Is it home? Do you miss things about Berlin?

Toronto is the shit. You know, it was actually a big source of pride for me to say I was from Toronto over in Berlin. People seem to really want to hear what you sound like when you say you're from here. I swear I got some of my best bookings in over there based on that fact alone. And it's no surprise, our music scene is so strong. You can go see people and bands at various points in their career here any night of the week here and be blown away.

That being said, I miss Berlin like crazy. Now that I'm back, once a week or so I'll have a full day of butterflies-in-the-tummy nostalgic flashbacks of my time away. I miss techno most of all. Berghain, Lichtenberg, my friends, drinking outside, huge apartments, dance-floors, no last call, communist architecture, cheap rent…

It's all good, though. I have two homes now.

You seem like the sort of artist that takes inspiration from all genres of music. What are some of the unlikelier sources of ideas for Ken Park? And which current Toronto artists are stuck in your tape-deck?

To be honest, I'm not a voracious consumer of other people's music. I find something I love and listen on repeat for months. People hearing my tracks might be surprised to know that Sonic Youth make all of my favourite music. If there's an ounce of the cerebral in what I make it come from a steady diet of Bad Moon Rising for the past five years.

Torontonians I love? Beard Closet, Primate Pyramid — a dynamic duo. I also listen to Absolutely Free and Mimico a whole bunch.

— interview by Alt Altman (Silent Shout)