The group comprises guitarist and vocalist Lasse Forsberg, bassist and vocalist Phil Etheridge, guitarist Niclas Carron, drummer Björn Hammarberg and violinist Lennart Östblom.
The group has issued four singles so far on streaming platforms, and two more are due for release later this year.
One of the unique features of this group is its very different approach towards making music.
One that includes the addition of a violin.
“We’re fully aware that the violin is very different in this power pop context and try to use it to our advantage,” Etheridge said.
“As an example, at last year’s International Pop Overthrow in Liverpool, more or less every band was the classic guitar, bass, and drums line-up.
“And because of the violin, we stood out as being a little bit different to everyone else.”
With the band’s individual members all bringing their own diverse musical influences into the mix, it too, plays a pivotal role towards their approach to songwriting.
“As the songwriters in the band, Lasse and I naturally force our influences on the rest of the band,” Etheridge said.
“In Lasse’s case, The Ramones, punk rock in general, and ’70s, ’80s power pop are a major influence.
“While as I’m 10 years older, my roots are in 60s pop and rock like the Beatles, Stones, Kinks, Hendrix, Led Zep, The Who, 70s prog, punk, and new wave.
“But Lasse and I write and play in the style we like best.”
Etheridge believes the success of earlier Swedish outfits such as ABBA and Roxette, who opened the doors for other Swedish acts to find success on the international stage, brought much hope for other Swedish bands that they too could achieve a similar end game.
“The success of other bands outside of Sweden is absolutely an inspiration and gives us a certain amount of confidence,” he said.
“If they can, then so can we.
“We’ve toured to some extent outside of Sweden.
“Estonia has been a favourite destination for 30 years, the last time in September 2025.”
Next month, the group heads over to the UK for another tour. Etheridge said that with the band members all having been around the block a couple of times, they have no illusions about what defines success for them.
“Our aims are more or less the same as they’ve always been: to write and release songs that we like and then to play them live as often as we can,” he said.
“It’s the live experience that keeps us going.
“So that’s our ambition — to keep that energy flowing as long as we can and show others how to do it.”
To check out the band visit: https://thedaveparkfive.bandcamp.com/
Music news from Stockholm
Currently touring Sweden are Australian pop-rockers 5 Seconds of Summers who performed a show last week in Stockholm, while another Aussie group Tame Impala will be performing a show in Stockholm this weekend.
Also, in town this week for shows is ’80s Yacht rock legend Christopher Cross as well as, German thrash metal group Kreator.
And fans of Swedish melodic death metal will be pleased to hear that the new album by At The Gates titled The Ghost of a Future Dead is being released this week.
It is the group’s eighth studio album.
The view from here
As I’m writing this from Stockholm, one of the interesting aspects I’ve noticed about the Swedish music scene, is how their hugely influential death metal scene and its polar opposite, the country’s superbly crafted pop music scene continues to thrive and leave its influence onto the outside world.
While ABBA was the first to successfully take the Swedish made pop music to the world, with the likes of Roxette, Ace of Base and Robyn among others, the Swedish-made death metal is also one that has etched its particular brand of metal onto the world stage, too.
One current band that has superbly managed to marry both genres into an accessible sound and find success globally is Ghost.
It is a band that, if you have not heard of them, it’s best to go listen to any of their tracks on a digital platform.
Their music speaks volumes, rather than trying to describe it or explain it in words.
While on the subject of Swedish metal, I have to give a shout-out to one of the pioneers of Swedish death metal; producer Tomas Skogsberg, who runs his Sunlight Studios in Sweden.
Located about an hour’s drive north-east of Stockholm, the unassuming studio sits quietly among the Swedish forest.
His converted barn/studio has, for the past three-and-half decades, been quietly churning out a signature sound that is at the core of every Swedish death metal record.
While the majority of his work is within that genre, he has also worked with other styles of music too, from punk rock to pop.
I was honoured to record at Skogsberg’s studio in 2019, with Tomas manning production duties as I recorded two of my own songs, which are more in the pop-rock vein.
The bands he’s worked with run the gamut from punk-rockers Backyard Babies, and death metal merchants Entombed to garage rockers The Hellacopters.
Sweden’s latest pop export is Sara Larsson, who has the most-streamed song worldwide this year and a recent major tour in the United States.
Sweden, and in particular Stockholm, remains a huge music market, and is also ranked among the largest exporters of music in the world.
Fun fact
Swedish pops superstars ABBA share their name with a famous Swedish herring company that had been around since 1838.
In 1974, ABBA had to ask permission to use the name and the company chose to let ABBA keep the name on one condition: “As long as you don’t make us feel ashamed of what you’re doing”.
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