Everybody loves music. Everyone has a favorite song or a favorite band that they can listen to everyday and not grow tired off. Music surrounds us. When you turn on the radio, music is usually playing. It is a constant force in people’s daily lives. So to say one likes music is a given. Everyone likes music, but there are only a handful of people who truly “love” music. Lincoln Parish is one of those people.

Parish grew up in the southern part of Kentucky: Bowling Green to be exact. At age 15, Parish began playing in a three-piece band, getting gigs around town. One show, they opened up for a band called Perfect Confusion, which contained many members of the band now known as Cage the Elephant including Matt and Brad Shultz.

“My old band played a show with their old band,” Parish said. “Matt ended up coming up to me afterwards and was like, ‘Hey, man, you are a killer guitar player’ but I was like ‘whatever, they still have their thing going on.’”

Some time passed before Parish had another interaction with the members of Perfect Confusion. He was sitting at a table at Buffalo Wild Wings when the repeated calls of his name ran through his ear. He turned around to see Matt and Brad Shultz calling his name, signaling him to come speak to them, asking him to come out and jam with them one day that week.

“I didn’t even have my permit or license at the time,” Parish said. “So like my mom had to drop me off.”

Parish was about 6 to 10 years younger than the rest of the band members. Cage the Elephant began working on songs together that day, and then transitioned to recording in Louisville, Kentucky, where they began to work with a producer named James Joyce. They then transitioned to signing with a label, Relentless Records, in the United Kingdom.

Prior to contrary belief, bands’ success not happen over night. Even though it may seem that way, bands play a lot of small shows in a lot of small towns before they blow up, if they are fortunate enough to blow up.

“We had this idea that we were going to be Jimi Hendrix, and that we were going to get over there and have all of these fans,” Parish said. “First show we played over there, we basically played for Brad’s wife and the bartender.”

Their songs got some radio play, gaining traction even though they were caught in the middle of a New Wave movement in England. By the time they finished their second year across the Pond, they were playing headlining shows to 3,000 people.

The band transitioned back to the United States, where they put out their first album, with “Ain’t no rest for the wicked” being the lead single.

Six weeks later, the song blew up, reaching the top of the charts and gaining a lot of popularity. The song reached platinum status by selling over 1 million copies. Cage the Elephant became a band widely known for their aggressive style and extremely fun live show. The band released two more albums after that, which received good reception by fans of the band.

Lincoln Parish left the band after the release of their third album, “Melophobia,” making the transition to being a full time producer. He now lives in Nashville working with young artists. Even during his time as a member of the band, he produced records on the side and worked with recording bands.

“I had a little rig in a laundry closet in a townhouse I used to live in,” Parish said. “I used to have friends come over and record and mess around with stuff.”

Parish works with artists of all genres. He believes that his experience being in a rock band and being an artist of his own has helped him guide the musicians he works with on a daily basis. He knows what it is like to work with a producer, and he said that helps him work with his artists to create a good product.

“I tell artists that I work with all of the time it doesn’t always have to be perfect, and I kind of like that,” Parish said. “We are not necessarily going for perfection. We are going for an energy, for a vibe.”

Living in Nashville, music surrounds him. He said he pushes artists to the threshold of them figuring out their own music, and then he backs off. He has worked with many different types of artists in his short time as a full time producer.

Like every person in the industry, or in life in general, Parish has goals to become one of the best. He wants to influence artists in a great way, the same way bands like the Rolling Stones, Rage against the Machine and Nirvana influenced him.

“I want to be the next Phil Spector or the next Danger Mouse,” Parish said. “I want to be the biggest producer in the world, but I want to do it on my terms, you know?”

Parish lives and breathes music. He truly loves the art form down to its deepest core. He loves the realness and raw emotion that music can bring. Music is more than entertainment to him. It is a way of life.