Dogpark is taking to the streets of New York City and singing their heart out. Following their recent EP, Until The Tunnel Vision Melts, they’ve released two singles: ‘September’ and ‘I Don’t Mind.’ In case you needed convincing, these two songs tell us exactly why Dogpark is one to watch. ‘I Don’t Mind’ marries the idea of the corporate side of their beloved New York and the artistic. It also teases what’s to come with their music.
Already, Dogpark has made themselves stand out in the rock scene by bringing a fresh perspective to a classic sound. Ahead of their The Corporate Pudding Tour, we chatted with them about their journey as a band, their new music, and their take on the music industry.
Welcome to The Honey Pop! Would you mind introducing yourself to our readers?
Hi, we’re Dogpark. We’re a rock band from New York City, our members are….
- Eamon Moore, lead vocals, keys
- Declan Harris, lead guitar
- Billy Apostolou, rhythm guitar, background vocals
- Chris Conte, drums
We met in college at the University of Richmond, and formed around the end of 2022, and started releasing music in late 2023. We’ve done a lot of touring since leaving college, including opening slots for The Moss in Summer 2024, Headline U.S. tour fall of 2024, Opening for Marcus King Band in Spring of 2025, and now we are currently on our second nationwide headline tour. Our music is always evolving and is always at the center of band’s focus. We like to mess around and have a good time and try to spread that kind of energy with our music.
Dogpark’s Journey
You started out playing mostly covers at frat parties at the University of Richmond. Was it always the plan to evolve past that as a band?
It’s hard to say that there was much of a “plan”. We initially were playing mostly to satiate our own desires to play music in a band, and slowly it became a good source of income for us, especially as college students. I’d say once we started to take off a bit on TikTok, it brought in all the suits and music industry people, and it all became more of a serious proposition. We went out to LA for a month in the summer of 2023 to write and record what ended up being our first EP, and that was really where it became clear this was a real possibility for us.
You’ve come a long way in such a short time, going from college shows to selling out a headline tour and playing festivals. Has your approach to performing changed at all?
I don’t think our approach really has changed at all. We still want to put on the most entertaining
show we can for the crowd, and play music we’re interested in. Back then, we used to play a ton of covers during our frat sets because we didn’t have any originals, but now that we have a catalog, our shows are obviously centered around those now. And we’re definitely all much better musicians than when we were playing in frat basements. I think also early on there was a feeling of do or die with every show, now maybe there is a little less pressure on each individual show since we’ve played so many. It’s less exhilarating at times, but it allows you to enjoy it too a bit more, maybe.
Coming up in the age of social media, a few of your viral TikToks catapulted you to widespread recognition quickly. What was it like to experience that shift so fast?
It’s a bit strange because, for the most part, everything is the same in your life. It’s not like people recognize you on the street (for the most part), and you aren’t really “famous,” but simultaneously millions of people engage with your content. I think specifically with content that is based around pre-existing content, like song covers, for example, it’s especially strange because there really is more of a connection to these songs than there is to us covering them, that’s more so what is driving the engagement. So, breaking the barrier with original content was just a new challenge we faced.
Making The Music
Between songs like ‘Breaking In Brooklyn’ and ‘Washington Square Park,’ a lot of your songs focus on places that seem important to you. How do you channel these settings and your feelings about them into your music?
I think typically when we include a song about a setting, it involves either a memory, or a dream, or someone else’s memory that took place there. I think also, since people are aware of cities and their connotations, it’s just a way to provide a sort of backdrop and ambiance to a song, just by referencing it.
We love your take on the indie-rock sound in your last EP, Until The Tunnel Vision Melts! What was the process for bringing that EP to life?
The process for that EP took a while. We started writing some of the songs on that project over a year before we ended up getting to record them. When we finally had them written, we flew out to LA to work with our Producer, Carlos De La Garza. We all heard his credits before and knew he would do a great job. We recorded the songs in two sessions at Apogee Studios in LA. The recording didn’t take so long because we had been playing those songs for a while on stage, so we had a ton of reps.
The first single off Corporate Pudding, ‘September’ sounds just like moving from the end of summer into the colder months, which matches the way the relationship seems to be going in the song. What does this song mean to you?
The song is really about an ominous feeling. Knowing that the end of a relationship is coming before anyone has said anything about it. And usually in this situation, no one does say anything. and it drags out and it ends poorly. Thankfully for us, we’re all in happy relationships now, but when I wrote this, I (Eamon) had been single for a while, and this was a common experience for me where I could sense bad feelings but was unable to act and had to watch the unfolding of events, just like we are powerless to stop the seasons from changing.
Dogpark’s Perspective
Teasing your upcoming project, Corporate Pudding, you’ve mentioned that it’s inspired by your “frustrations with the music industry and the corporate world.” How do you think coming into the industry from the independent college scene has shaped your perspective on the music industry?
I don’t know if it’s coming in from the college scene that’s shaped our perspective, but as people who enjoy music as fans and are obsessed with the craft, you quickly learn that dollar bills are the only thing that matters to the people in charge of curating today’s music. There is a pervasive issue that goes far beyond music in American culture that whenever a cool thing sprouts up organically, you must milk it dry for every dollar it’s worth, and in the process, drain the cool organic thing of everything that made it cool in the first place. That’s not to say no one in the A&R or label business has an ear for music; they need to. But I think their ear is honed in on music and promotional strategies that they think maximize their chances to earn the most money, naturally. And of course, we all want to make money, but it leads to conflict when most artists just want to make the music they make, and they feel uncomfortable altering the way they sound or are promoted to appease suits. I think it’s naturally inspired us to write some music that attacks and comments on greed in the U.S.
You also mentioned that the sound of your next project is inspired by your life in New York City. How has the music scene in New York influenced your music?
I think it’s more so the energy of the city and the hectic nature of it has inspired the sonics. Similar to the way bands like the Strokes and LCD Soundsystem were able to harness the energy of the city into their music, or at least that’s the mindset. It’s a bit hard to define what the NYC scene is since it’s so massive, but I do think the rock scene is becoming more defined now, though, and there does seem to be an influx of bands forming here that are getting a bit of traction at the same time, so it’s an exciting time to be.
We imagine the scene is quite different in New York than in Richmond. How have you seen your music evolve since moving?
Not really much evolution in that sense, we all grew up around the New York area, so we’ve all been familiar with that scene for a while, and it took root in our music early on. I think from the first two projects to this one, though, that the NYC influence has probably manifested itself most on this upcoming project. We recorded the first two EPs in LA with producers who live in LA, and with this upcoming project, we recorded in Pennsylvania, just a few hours from NYC, with Phil Joly, who has done a lot of amazing work in NYC; it all fits right.
Considering the way you started out, are there any up-and-coming artists you want to put us on to?
We really love all the bands that are opening for us on the corporate pudding tour, but one that we’ve been listening to a ton recently is Rehash. Their music is evocative of a lot of our favorite influences and executed amazingly, especially for how young they are. We’re really excited to play some shows with them soon. Edgehill is another really great band that’s opening for us and on our label. I think we all loved watching Hans Williams at Mighty Roots festival last year, and also, there’s a Swedish band we’ve been listening to called Girl Scout, and they are excellent.
Lastly, is there anything you want to tease about what you have coming up?
We’re on tour right now until December, and we have a ton of new music on the way. Leaning a bit more into the Corporate Pudding theme, which should slowly unravel itself over the course of the year.
And we’re obsessed. Between the nostalgic ‘September’ and the rebellious ‘I Don’t Mind,’ Dogpark’s next chapter is gearing up to be one you don’t want to miss. Recently, they’ve landed themselves on People’s Talented Emerging Artists list, and they’ve set off on their headline tour (buy tickets here). And they’ve made it clear they’re just getting started.
So follow along on their journey, and let us know your thoughts at @thehoneypop on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook!
TO LEARN MORE ABOUT DOGPARK:
INSTAGRAM | TIKTOK | WEBSITE | YOUTUBE
