Music

Q & A: Asian Man Records' Mike Park on his part-time job officiating punk rock weddings for Alkaline Trio (and you)

by Sam Sutherland

Last weekend I went to a wedding. The groomsmen included the owner of Kiss of Death Records (and vocalist in New Bruises) and the guy who helps plan the Fest in Gainesville (and plays guitar in Senders). As the bride was walked down the aisle, Laura Stevenson (of Laura Stevenson and the Cans, natch) strummed an acoustic guitar and sang softly. Then Mike Park, founder of Asian Man Records and the Plea for Peace Foundation (and member of Skankin’ Pickle, Chinkees, and Bruce Lee Band), performed the ceremony. At the reception, Bomb the Music Industry! covered “I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing.”

Turns out Mike Park marries people. A lot of people. Since 2005, he’s officiated over 50 weddings, from scene celebrities to mere civilians. Unsurprisingly, he’s great at it, and word of mouth has turned a one-off event into a cottage industry for the enterprising punk activist. We commiserated in the kitchen before he wed my friends, and it seemed worth digging into his weird new venture a little further. So later in the week, we spoke on the phone about how this all got started.

AUX: When did you become an ordained minister in the Universal Life Church?

Mike Park: Matt [Skiba] from Alkaline Trio asked me to officiate his wedding. So I went online, got my license, and I was ready to go. And it snowballed from there.

What is the authoritative aura that you give off that makes people ask you to officiate their weddings?

With Matt, I was the purest person he could find [laughs]. In his words, I was the closest he could get to a religious wedding without having a religious wedding. It was something that wouldn’t offend his family.

Because despite being involved in punk rock for so many years, you are not a degenerate skid?

I think that’s it, at least, in his view… yes.

Do you have a religious background yourself?

Yes. I had a super, super strict Christian upbringing. Going back to great-great-great grandfather in Korea, who was a missionary. It runs super deep in our family, historically. I grew up hardcore. Matt knew my whole story, growing up in that environment. I think I’m Matt’s safe haven when he feels like he needs a breath of a fresh air. It’s been like that since we’ve known each other.

How did you do at your first wedding?

It was good. It was weird, because I felt like the marriage wasn’t going to work, so I told him on the wedding day. I said I didn’t think it was going to work out and he should bail, and he said, ‘Well, it’s too late now.’

[Laughs] You’re a terrible minister.

But it was good advice. It didn’t work. I was being honest. I felt it was my duty as his friend to tell him.

How did it grow from that to strangers asking you to marry them?

I was writing about it on my blog, and I think people were reading it. I got a random e-mail from someone in San Diego asking me to do their wedding, so I did it. And then I just kept getting more. I’ve done about five at this point.

Do you anticipate that changing?

I’d love for that to happen. Especially if people are involved in punk rock, they’ve seen weddings I’ve done and that it was tasteful, but also something they could stomach.