Daily Inspiration: Meet Trent Parker

Today we’d like to introduce you to Trent Parker. 

Hi Trent, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
It all started by me going to a local emo night! I was hooked after my first one. I loved it so much I wanted to bring it home with me and start my own. I work for an entertainment center but at that time they didn’t have interest. Luckily, I was given the opportunity to work at The Outpost Concert Club in Kent Ohio! Which is my favorite venue! It always felt like home to me. Of course, right away I talked to the owner about starting an emo night there. Emo Night Kent! It felt like a perfect place to start a new emo night. So, management and I started working on it. We finally got one put together in February 2019. Being in Kent a college town, I felt like it needed that house party feel. Luckily with how the venue is, it already had the look. I bought some emo band banners and flags and hung them around the place. I also felt like it needed more than your standard emo night. So along with the help of others, putting the ideas together of having corn hole, pong, karaoke, and guitar hero to go along with the nostalgia of emo night. It was perfect! It took the simple idea of emo night having a DJ blast all our favorite emo and pop-punk music and made it even more fun with other things to do! Plus being a college town, we decided to do 18+ instead of 21+ to get in. Most emo nights will do 21+ and I just didn’t like that idea. We started out small getting 40 – 75 people there. Had a special MCR (My Chemical Romance) event that had 150 which was awesome! It was all enough to keep it going! The owner actually helped fund the event for about the first year. Which I’m thankful for! Later on, there was a big management change. Everyone in management including me was gone from the venue. The entire time we had emo nights going on I knew I wanted it all on me. It’s my baby I’m keeping this going no matter what! I truly believed in it even at the worst of times. I wanted to do it not just for me but the people, the emo community! I’ve had people tell me it’s the best night they have ever had in their life! That is the kind of thing that will always keep you going! Makes it all worth it. Sadly, the pandemic hit in 2020 and hit the breaks on everything. I missed Emo Night Kent and the people, my friends so much at that time. Somehow after that is when everything changed. That is when Emo Night Kent blew up! Ever since we came back in April 2021, we have been selling out and rocking The Outpost! 500+ people showing up to the events. I think it might be safe to say we are the biggest party in Kent now! I’m incredibly thankful for everything! 

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Not at all! Nothing is ever perfect. When you try starting your own business, band, or something like this there will always be roadblocks and bumps in the road. We all know the pandemic was a roadblock and a struggle for us all. Before that, I’ve bumped heads with the owner of the venue, struggled with DJs, stuff like that. Concerts and stuff like emo night are always about having fun and entertaining! Sadly, there is a business side behind everything in this world and that’s where most of those bumps in the road happen. 

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
Well, I’d definitely say I’m most proud of Emo Night Kent! It has changed my life and like I said earlier I’m incredibly thankful. Outside of ENK (Emo Night Kent), I started doing YouTube and TikTok! During the pandemic, I decided to give the dream a shot of being a gaming YouTuber! Specifically, I’m currently a sports gaming YouTuber. More specifically retro sports games overall like Backyard Baseball, NFL Blitz, NHL Hitz, all the arcade-type sports games from the 2000s. I simply try to be as entertaining as possible being me, reacting and commentating to the games I play. It’s so much fun! I honestly just love entertainment and entertaining people in general! It’s a long way to the top, it’s a grind but I’ve definitely found some success so far 2 years into it! A couple thousand subscribers on YouTube and about 40,000 followers on TikTok at the moment. My main name is KORL Gaming on YouTube. I also go by KORLxCreature on TikTok and all other social media platforms. Search either name and I’ll pop up if you would like to check it out! 

If we knew you growing up, how would we have described you?
Growing up I was a pretty quiet person. I had my few friend groups and outside of that, I didn’t really talk much to others. Kept to myself. Maybe was a little socially awkward and still am haha! Didn’t do well in school. Didn’t have much interest in anything they tried teaching me, some would blame my ADD but I just never liked it and felt like they aren’t teaching me stuff I wanted to learn to be successful later in my life. I always was really into rock and metal music! It’s definitely a lifestyle for me! Got that early from my dad I think probably like a lot of us! Learned to play guitar and bass a little bit. I’ve always been a big sports fan also! Played baseball, football, and basketball growing up. Got into golf and still play that all the time in the spring and summer! Also, love hockey but never played. Always loved video games also which is why I have that YouTube channel and TikTok now! 

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/emonightkent/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/emonightkent
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/KORLGaming
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@korlxcreature

Image Credits
Alexandra Colette Austin