History
The band was formed by former BMX Bandits and Telstar Ponies member John Hogarty and Scott Walker. In August 1997, the band played their first gig. Simon Shaw and Michael McGaughrin of the band V-Twin joined Hogarty and Walker, and played the bass and drums, respectively.
National Park's first single, "Great Western", was a 10" released on Earworm records; a ten minute long improvisation. It was recorded on a tape deck at an early rehearsal session. Despite the length of the track it was playlisted on Xfm London. Hogarty was also part of the Phantom Engineer project with David Keenan and Bill Wells. Collaborations with Future Pilot A.K.A. then followed, and were released on Beggars Banquet Records and also on Earworm records. The band also played live with many of their favourite bands, including Belle and Sebastian at the Shepherds Bush Empire.
Scott Walker left the band in 1999, and was replaced briefly by Alasdair Roberts (of Appendix Out) and later by Gerard Love of Teenage Fanclub. Walker did return briefly to record "No More Rides" for the compilation You Don't Need Darkness to Do What You Think is Right, which was released by Geographic Music, a subsidiary of Domino Records during 2001-2002.
In 2003, the band released a lathe-cut 7" single, "Background Frequencies", on an Australian label. In 2005 National Park released "The Only Stars" in Japan, which featured contributions by Bill Wells (piano), Sarah Martin (flute) and Mick Cooke (horn) of Belle and Sebastian.
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