Putting
socially incisive lyrics together with a toe-tapping folk-rock beat
is tried and true, yet the genre gets a lift with Perfect World
Today, the 2011 CD from NYC-based pop-rock innovator
Peter Galperin. I could see fans of mid 60s folk rockers
such as The Byrds, Lovin Spoonful and Donovan digging where
Galperin is coming from on Perfect World Today. Written, recorded
and produced by Galperin over the past year, Perfect World Today
also blends in some fine electric guitar and keyboard work. Although
its just seven tracks, Perfect World Today covers a lot
of ground musically and overall, the CD provides a solid foundation
for Galperins singing, songwriting, guitar and keyboard style
and studio expertise. In the spirit of Paul Simon at his most folk-rockingest,
Galperin isnt afraid to merge some Afro-Latin rhythms or even
smooth jazz fusion into the mix and several cuts even sound samba
and bossa nova inspired. A Seattle native, Galperin has spent the
past 30 years in NYC and likewise, he was greatly influenced by the
music of David Bowie, Talking Heads and Laurie Anderson. With the
CD release of Perfect World Today, Peter Galperin has created
an authentic sonic destination worthy of return visits. www.JettyRecords.com
mwe3: The Perfect World Today CD is great. What inspired
the album, what did you set out to accomplish and did you play everything
on the CD?
PETER GALPERIN:
The state of the world is always amazing! Unbelievable, ridiculous,
insane, profound, scary things are happening everyday. Sometimes its
hard to comprehend and make sense of whats going on around us.
My songs usually come about because of something I find amusing, annoying,
or puzzling. They are my attempts towards a greater understanding
of something, or in some cases, just a confession that I dont
get it. Each song is a short story exploring a feeling or capturing
a moment, and I try to tell these stories with humor, honesty, and
compassion and sometimes a little bit of anger too.
On the CD I sing all vocals, play acoustic and electric guitar, fretless
bass, mandolin, violin, and keyboard. I played the main drum tracks
through a midi-keyboard and added a lot of live percussion parts (tambourine,
wood blocks, shakers). The trombone solo on Wonders Of The World
was played by Kevin Moehringer of the Underground Horns, and my 13-year
old son Julian sings some background vocals and helped with the theremin-like
sounds on Hey Little One...I needed 4 hands to do it.
(lol)
mwe3: How does being a multi-instrumentalist contrast with your live
band sound and what instruments do you play live?
PG: Well, I wasnt sure how I was going to pull off doing these
songs live until someone pointed out to me that every song I write
is developed with just me and a guitar. So in spite of all the overdubs
and backing tracks on the CD, my live show can be as simple as thatme
and an acoustic guitar. With the live band, we build on that approach
and use instrumentation appropriate for each venue. Sometimes our
drummerthe very versatile Andy Blancouses a cajon and
tambourine, other times he plays a full drum set. Patrick Derivaz,
my longtime bass player, uses a wonderful acoustic fretless bass and
Carl Riehl, our newest member, is so talented that he has transposed
most of the keyboard and horn parts to his accordion.
mwe3: Can you say something about your guitars that you feature on
the new CD and how do you decide what tracks should feature what guitars?
What do you look for sound wise in both electric and acoustic guitars?
PG: I love guitars. Some guys fantasize about having a ten car garage
to hold their dream car collection, I dream of having one room filled
with fifty instruments. But since I dont have that kind of room,
every instrument I own needs to work very hard for me. Several years
ago I went into a music store determined to buy a really nice acoustic
guitar, figuring Id get a Takamine or maybe a Martin, but I
came out of the store with a Fender GA-43 that I just love to play.
Right now thats my main song writing, recording and performing
instrument and every song is built around the sound and rhythms I
get out of that guitar. It works well for my style of playing because
I dont do a lot of strumming, but instead pull the chords off
with my fingertips. The lead guitar parts on Action Figure Hero
were played on a Washburn G35K that Ive had for many yearsdating
from my CBGBs days back in the 80s . It has an indestructible
whammy bar and a really versatile sound. The chime-y chords on Perfect
World Today were also played on the Washburn. But my favorite
guitar to play/record is my Fender Fretless Jazz Bass. I spend a lot
of time working on the bass grooves and since Im a guitarist
first and a bass player second, my initial tendency is to play way
too many bass notes. But eventually I get it down to a basic minimal
pattern that locks in with the drum rhythm and becomes the anchor
to the song. I also have to mention my little mandolin because Ive
found that its a great sound to brighten up a chorus with. It
can add a very rhythmic quality, although its a real pain to
tune, play and record.
mwe3: How about keyboards and what are your favorite keyboards and
keyboard sounds?
PG: I played
the piano, organ, and synth parts on a Korg K61 Midi Controller keyboard
using Garageband sounds as a starting point and then customizing them
to my taste. I like to use realistic sounds and getting the piano
sound on Brand New Gadget and You Know Its
Over was a lot of work. A lot of electronic piano sounds are
just too thin for my ears. But digital organ sounds are great, and
I love the old Hammond B3 sound that I used on Wonders of the
World. With oscillation sometimes you only need to use one or
two notes. I also have to confess to a weakness for breathy, ethereal
synth choral parts. Listen to the choruses on Perfect World
Today or the background pulse throughout You Know Its
Over. Those sounds are like candy to me and its something
Im seriously trying to control my use of. In general, I try
to play keyboard parts that either add punch or atmosphere.
mwe3: I noticed an Eno influence on the CD especially on the track
Wonders Of The World. What artists first inspired and
today continue to inspire you as a recording artist and musician and
what are some of your most influential albums?
PG: Its interesting that you mention Eno because while I wouldnt
consciously cite him as an influence, but I think on a subconscious
level his artistic approach and sensibility has definitely had an
effect on me. I loved early Roxy Music, and I actually remember when
I first heard and watched the accompanying video for Music For
Airports, and all of his collaborations with David Byrne are
so interesting. So I guess what I absorbed from Eno and from musicians
like Byrne and Laurie Anderson, is that you can make pop music about
unexpected topics, and incorporate unusual sounds and rhythms. Its
that whole idea of musical anthropologyPaul Simon and the Beatles
did it years ago, so Im certainly late to that gameand
discovering the musical world beyond Top 40 radio and MTV. To that
end, I basically quit listening to pop music in the early 90s...
Nirvana Unplugged might be the last rock CD I purchased
and I started discovering old and new jazzMiles Davis, Dave
Brubeck, Charlie Hunterand particularly Brazilian, West African,
and Cuban music. I found that I was really drawn to the poly rhythms,
syncopations, melodic simplicity and conversational vocal style of
that music. Musicians like Antonio Carlos Jobim, Joao Gilberto, Luiz
Bonfa and Walter Wanderley, and bands like Orchestra Baobab, Touré
Kunda and Bossacucanova. Some of my favorite CDs are these odd compilations
called Ethiopiques, recorded in the early 70s that
feature a mixture of eastern and western styles of music. And I have
an old Thievery Corporation compilation called Sounds From the
Verve Hi-Fi that has new mixes of old bossa nova tunes that Ive
played so often that my family has complained. But the thing that
really drives my approach to lyric writing and has influenced me the
most is the humor, irony and sarcasm I find in British songwriters
like Elvis Costello, Nick Lowe, and Robyn Hitchcock, and American
songwriters like Wayne Coyne of The Flaming Lips and Beck.
mwe3: Can you say something about your early musical training, what
instruments you first learned and what about your early musical experiences
that led you to become a recording artist and performing musician?
PG: Both of my parents were classically trained musicians and I grew
up studying violin and piano in a house filled with music by Bach,
Brahms, Beethoven, Mozart etc... I played violin in several youth
orchestrasone that was directed by my father. I had a solo recital
debut as a 12 year old in front of the local ladies community cultural
association and started off as a classical music major in college.
But as a kid I had always wanted to play the guitar and my father
wouldnt let me. So when I went off to college and my roommate
had a guitar that he rarely played and didnt mind that I was
always borrowing, I was in heaven. I started writing music in college
and putting together various bands. We always had to play my songs,
because I wasnt good enough on the guitar to play many cover
tunes.
mwe3: Youre from Seattle originally? When and why did you decide
to live in NYC and how has New York City treated you and influenced
you since you arrived? Were you influenced early on by the music coming
from New York?
PG: I grew
up in the suburbs north of Seattle and plotted my escape from an early
age. I moved to New York in 1981, shortly after graduating from the
University of Washington with a degree in Graphic Design. My professors
all highly recommended that I leave town and go to LA, Chicago or
NY to start my career. All the music I was listening to at that time
was coming out of either London or New York. I didnt have a
passport, so I moved to New York, sight unseen. Bands like the Talking
Heads, Blondie, The Ramones and Television were still kind of local
New York bands. I think when I first arrived in New York, I may have
gone straight to CBGBs from the airport. There was a lot of
interesting music going on downtown in those days. I was exposed to
the noise-rock of Glenn Blanca, the glam-rock of Alan Vega, and the
pop-rock of The Bongos, and I saw a lot of 80s hair bands for
one dollar at the old Peppermint Lounge. Early on I met a musician
named Robert Aaron who played sax on David Bowies Lets
Dance album and he toured with Blondie and Laurie Anderson. Robert
and I worked together on an album of my songs that was never distributed,
but just working with Robert was a great learning experience for me
and introduced me to a higher caliber of musicianship and studio expertise.
I still find the New York music scene very stimulating, and love the
fact that everyone in the world plays here at some point. I recently
saw a fabulous Brazilian musician, Tom Zé, playing at Lincoln
Center. He sang a bossa nova song with lyrics improvised from the
New York City phone book.
mwe3.com: How do you balance your time as a musician with your company
Galperin Design? What else interests you and occupies your time?
PG: Ive been working as a graphic designer since college, and
over the past few years Ive also started doing a variety of
video projects. My interests in design, video, and music are intertwined
and all-encompassing. Every day varies depending on the projects Im
working on at the time. My design studio, music studio, and video
editing studio are one and the sameI just have to pull the shades
down for video, or turn off the AC for recording. Some days I might
be making a corporate design presentation at a clients office,
another day I might be with the band in a rehearsal studio, and on
another day I might be videotaping or editing a film project. I love
the variety. My only other interests, other than my family, are an
avid curiosity in the world at large, and a somewhat superficial interest
in technology.
mwe3: What are your upcoming shows in the city, wholl be playing
with you and can you let the readers know any other plans regarding
the new Perfect World Today album?
PG:
Im playing out at clubs in New York City about every 6-8 weeks
with the band, and in-between with some solo acoustic gigs. Weve
got an upcoming full band show at The Bitter End on Saturday, Sept.
17 at nine PM. Im hoping we can get a good crowd out for that
night because its one of New York's best live music clubs. The
guys in the band are all exceptionally talented working musicians.
Our drummer Andy Blanco plays in a lot of Broadway shows and recently
performed with Sting at the Apollo, bass player Patrick Derivaz regularly
backs up Tom Verlaine and just finished engineering the soundtrack
for the HBO show Bored to Death, and our newest member,
Carl Riehl, is a sought after accordionist who plays in the pit band
for Second Stage Theater. Im lucky to have these terrific musicians
joining me on stage. Playing the songs from the CD live with Andy,
Patrick, and Carl has made the songs even stronger. And playing with
these guys has pushed me to write another CDs worth of new material,
which weve been playing in our live sets. So the short term
plan is to get this band into the studio sometime this fall to record
my next CD. Ive recently launched my official music web site
at www.petergalperin.com,
and Im in discussions with some management agencies to help
with bookings and syndicated song placements. If youve listened
to my lyrics youll know that, while Im not the most optimistic
guy, it does look like musically things are moving in the right direction.