Genre-defying percussionist Deantoni Parks brings his visionary project Technoself to Judson’s Live at the Dr. Phillips Center on Thursday, May 22. Known for pushing musical and artistic boundaries, Parks will deliver an immersive experience filled with cutting-edge beats, enhanced by vivid light and video projections.
Describing his sound as “avant-garde and futuristic, with a bit of funk,” Parks’ wide-ranging collaborations reflect his versatility — from playing with The Mars Volta and André 3000 to working alongside John Cale of the Velvet Underground and even contributing to Grand Theft Auto V for Rockstar Games. His most recent work, OBSERVERS, released in late April, showcases his experimental edge, featuring vocals by Hanna Benn on several tracks. Parks designs each performance to challenge expectations — both his own and those of the audience.
“Technoself is something people have likely never heard or seen before,” Parks says. “They’ll be part of a genuine quantum experiment — I don’t even know what I’ll hear until it unfolds.”
For Parks, his creative drive stems from the subconscious, which he taps into during live shows to fuel spontaneity. He enters each performance with a mindset aimed at syncing with this internal current. His goal is to reach what he calls his “flow,” a state he sees as inseparable from subconscious awareness.
“It’s a journey,” he explains. “I’m constantly exploring new ways to create. By focusing on the subconscious and staying in the flow, I rely less on logic and more on instinct. I’m drawing from decades of experience, reevaluating years of musical data in the span of a single moment on stage. It may seem like the music is just flowing, but in reality, it’s grounded in a deep well of lived experience.”
Under the Technoself moniker, Parks isn’t just experimenting with genre — he’s reshaping how music is made and understood. Over a two-decade career, he’s collaborated with industry legends, taught aspiring musicians, and built a unique platform for musical education.
His passion for rhythm began in childhood, banging away on makeshift drums crafted from pots and pans pulled from his grandmother’s cabinets. That passion carried him all the way to Berklee College of Music, where his curiosity expanded into music production and he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree.
“My time at Berklee was crucial — it gave me the opportunity to expand how I approach creativity,” Parks shares.
Trading kitchen tools for professional training, Parks developed a hybrid performance style rooted in his percussion background. His setup now consists of a minimal drum kit — snare, kick drum, hi-hat cymbal — combined with a compact MIDI controller. This minimalist approach forms the base of his expansive sonic explorations.
But Parks’ creative output doesn’t end on stage. In 2020, he founded the Technoself School of Philosophy, a fully online music education platform. The school aims to guide musicians in discovering their own unique inner sound. To date, he’s mentored hundreds of participants, each on their own musical journey.
“I strongly believe in tapping into what’s already inside of us — the aspects of ourselves we might not even realize exist,” says Parks. “At Technoself School, the curriculum adapts to each participant. They all receive the same foundational information, but interpret and apply it in unique ways.”
This week, Judson’s Live will witness not just a concert but a living experiment in rhythm, flow, and creative philosophy — all through the lens of Deantoni Parks and the ever-evolving vision of Technoself.
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