ELVIS PERKINS
Hi Elvis and thank you for taking the time out to speak with us at Musicology. Firstly congratulations on the new record Creation Myths. Every album tells a tale and what is this new LP saying to the world?
Thank you much. Creations Myths will tell as many tales and say as many things as it will have listeners. That to me is one of the supreme realities of sharing songs with the world and I would be the last to suggest what a given song, let alone an album might be expressing to another. The album relays different messages at different times even to me. So much depends on who, where, when the listener is at the time listening. Not to mention how they are feeling that moment and their general thoughts on why they were brought to this Earth in the first place.
An album can be a lifetime worth of experiences concentrated and refined into a body of work that encompasses many years and phases in life. Other times it is a snap shot, a brief period in time crystallized into a record covering a specific epoch. Was it a case of either / or for Creation Myths?
Well it’s a bit of both, as these songs were all written years and years ago, more or less in specific epoch, and have travelled with me through the many phases to the present day.
From the opening track Sing Sing through to Iris there is an otherworldly instrumentation throughout. Were there certain sounds and instruments that you sought out to expressly convey the more cosmic nature of the album that couldn’t be found in more traditional styles and sounds?
As much as to the instrumentation, that impression I think can be attributed to the musicians playing the instruments, and particularly in the case of these songs where there are often unusual, if not unearthly, changes afoot. In both Sing Sing and Iris I think you are probably in large part experiencing the dimension-bending keyboard mastery of one Tyler Wood.
There is a beautiful poetic and whisky bar salon, alt-country flavour to The Half Life. Further evidence of the eclectic and diverse nature of the record which begs the question; is it a music first, lyric second methodology that you use or do you tend to write your lyrics and a melody takes shape around the wording?
I wouldn’t necessarily mind having a methodology, but more than anything I feel at the mercy of the process. Songs come into being, and often just as quickly into non-being, in all sorts of ways I find.
What were some of the challenges in putting this LP together and conversely what were some of the greatest surprises you experienced through the writing / recording process for Creation Myths?
The main challenge was getting these early songs to belong in the present day, and to feel at ease in the hands of the present self. They are sort of like visitors from the past on a time-traveling voyage, doing their best to blend in. I’d say the greatest surprise was having the surprise and disbelief of the musicians when they learned the provenance of the songs. I was somewhat apprehensive that the songs would suddenly come across dated once they were being heard and played on by the excellent players involved.
The video clip for Anonymous with masked performer on a blackened turntable is a hypnotic one. Can you elaborate on the symbolism within the clip and ultimately the subject matter you are addressing?
The symbolism is completely the beholders’ to construct or deconstruct as one wishes. I’d recently met and become acquainted with the work and vision of the video’s director, Steven Sebring, and I knew something good would happen if I just showed up at his studio one day for a few hours. He was into the song and we did just that, without much conversation or plan, let alone storyboards and the like. His 4D shooting environment is incredible and the morning of the shoot I hatched the idea of a masked man, assuming that whatever such a figure would get up to in Steven’s realm would be more interesting than a man with a guitar pretending to sing a song. It was filmed before the Coronavirus was really upon us so it was an extra layer of surreality when I undertook editing the video during the lockdown. I stumbled into the mirror imagery during the editing process and that obviously aligned well with a song called Anonymous, and the mystery of self and other knowability.
Having performed with so many amazing artists over the years, has there been any words of wisdom spoken to you that really resonated with you and in-turn altered the way you approach your craft?
I once toured with Joan Armatrading and when she plays outside in direct sunlight she detunes her guitars a hair before taking the stage. After a minute in the sun the guitars find themselves in tune with the keyboards and bass and the rest. A simple and succinct example of a human being acting in-harmony-with-the-elements, a thing far too rare in this world.
Can you share with us one special gig that you have performed and what made it so memorable?
The first time Dearland and I ever played in Spain we did so unexpectedly once our European tour was already underway. We flew from Paris to Barcelona for its Primavera festival and the airline misplaced all of our instruments. And these were our harmonium and trombone, marching drum and upright bass, so we were entirely bereft of the tools essential to our band. It was pretty well near a train wreck, and in front of what was our largest audience to date. Luckily they were very sympathetic and forgiving, and a kind stranger tossed a harmonica onstage when I requested one.
Lastly, on a philosophical level, what does music give you that nothing else does?
It’s the best way I’ve found to process and express the mystery of my own existence.
