Juggling a 9-to-7 by day and a passion project by night is a way of life for most creative New Yorkers. Heather Park, a publicist for M.A.C. cosmetics who sang in bands and a cappella groups all through high school and college, didn’t realize how much she needed music in her life until the post-college reality check — and it was gone.
Now the 31-year-old Korean-American moonlights as a soul singer and is quite familiar with the hustle it takes to pursue ones art. “I have no social life,” jokes Park about the commitment involved in releasing “Stay,” her new independent album of sophisticated soul songs. The moody tracks are influenced by ’90s hip-hop and R&B (think Groove Theory) and draw from her own experiences with love. “Everything I write is really personal,” she says. “I don’t write words because they rhyme.”
And though Park manages a schedule that starts at 5 a.m. and ends with nightly sessions in the studio (“It’s so the Asian side” she jokes about her work ethic), her ultimate goal is to have one full-time gig.
“I would be really happy and grateful just making a living off music,” says Park.
