A prince of a guy - the artist formerly known as Prince - includes a behind-the-scenes look at Paisley Park - Interview

Vegetarian Times, Oct, 1997 by Catherine Censor Shemo

If you own the albums or have seen his videos, posters or magazine articles about the Artist (including this one) you've seen Parke's work. "I've done everything from painting his bass to decorating Paisley Park for parties," says Parke. "The Artist assumes that if you're an artist, you can do anything artistic."

What's it like to work with his famous employer? Parke is enthusiastic: "He has a great eye. Sometimes he'll come by and see what I'm working on and he'll say something like, `Have you thought of moving that to the left?' and it'll be just what makes it work." Parke says that the Artist even had a hand in designing Paisley's theatrical interior: "The building used to be stark white," says Parke, "and so he and I snapped Polaroids of the interior and just started `painting' on the computer. Now, the interior is very visually stimulating and it sparks creativity."

In a more personal vein, Parke notes that he's one of several non-meat eating staffers at Paisley. "The Artist seems to want people around him who are vegetarian, so there are a lot of us here. And when I work with people who aren't vegetarian, they often end up eating this way because they're with me." Parke says that in addition to the many physical and spiritual benefits of vegetarianism, one very practical benefit of the diet comes in handy: "If I ate meat like I used to, I wouldn't have the energy to create."

Catherine Censor Shemo is the managing editor of Vegetarian Times.