Perfume Genius Interview July 2010
By: Izzy James
Rockfeedback likes Perfume Genius so much that not only was he recently crowned our Artist of the Week, but we just yesterday awarded a four star review to his quite brilliant debut LP, Learning. Izzy James went to London’s Strongroom Studios to meet the man behind the moniker, Michael Hadreas, so we could express our admiration to his very face.
RFB: How are you enjoying London so far? Is this your first time here?
Perfume Genius: Yeah, I love it. Everybody I’ve met has been really cool. I just haven’t really had time to like look around yet, so hopefully tomorrow. I’m happy here though for sure.
RFB: I’m sure you’ll come back a lot more in the future
PG: Yeah. For sure.
RFB: When listening to Learning it’s very obvious that each song is extremely personal to you. What made you want to share these songs with the world? Did you feel that it was therapeutic or cathartic in any way?
PG: Originally I wasn’t thinking that’s what was going to happen. It was therapeutic in a way. I was getting it out and trying to make it in a real way. I know it’s very personal but I was trying not to do a straight up diary entry, but write it with a perspective where it would be more what actually happened and not how I feel about it, or something victim-y like that, but just kind of talk about what happened.
RFB: It’s very brave of you to do so
PG: I guess so.
RFB: It’s a very honest sounding album, if you consider that to be a compliment.
PG: Yeah for sure! That’s like the ultimate compliment to me. That’s the goal too. I made other songs too that were a little more angst-y and then I had to throw them out. It’s hard to tell how honest you’re being in the moment but it doesn’t take too much time to figure it out afterwards.
RFB: Many people have had a strong emotional reaction to your music. Does it comfort you to know that other people might have had a similar experience to you or that they empathise with you so deeply?
PG: That’s a really cool feeling. I don’t think I was trying to have some sort of message or anything, but looking back on it now, it’s cool when people write to me, and that’s happened a few times. If they feel like somebody else has been through something similar then that’s really important because it’s really easy to feel really lonely and alone in your problems. Everybody feels like that y’know? So if you have a glimpse, like a partner in music, I did that growing up, then that’s really good. It’s amazing that I would be like that for anybody in any tiny way.
RFB: I’m sure it works the other way as the people listening are finding comfort with the fact that you’ve been through something similar and then when you hear that they’ve had that reaction it comforts you. It’s a two-way street.
PG: For sure, it’s really nice.
RFB: You’ve also said before that Learning was sequenced in chronological order of when the songs were written. Did you think it was important to display the songs in that way so that listeners could hopefully get a feel of the progression you went through when making it?
PG: When I wrote them all I wasn’t thinking of how to arrange them at first. It was more afterwards when I had to make an album and I compiled them all and they just made sense in that order. I wasn’t trying to have a gimmick at first but I like that you can kind of hear the sound funnelling out and the things I talk about get a little more or less vague or something.
RFB: So therefore do you feel like the songs on the latter part of the album are clearer to both you and maybe even the listener?
PG: They are to me at least…in a way…oh maybe not. I don’t know!
RFB: Did you hope that the listener could sort of hear that maybe your thoughts could get less muddled?
PG: Or just that the mood gets heavier. It’s more all-encompassing instead of that first straightforwardness with just one thing going on. I kind of like that I didn’t intend to, but there’s more mood and stuff like that.
RFB: You have also said that your fear of singing was a big reason as to why you haven’t made or released music earlier. What made you change you change your mind?
PG: That’s still there, I just don’t care anymore and with performing, I get really terrified but it’s what I want to do so you just bear and deal with it. And the same with being personal or emotional; It’s kind of nerve wracking but it’s important to me so you do it anyway. After I made myself finish a full song, it felt like even when I was by myself I could feel like “Ah this is what I want to do”, so I left all that bullshit that I think aside, but it’s still always there all of the time but you just push it away. Push it down every day.
RFB: Have you started working on any new material yet?
PG: [nods]
RFB: Is it very different to the songs on Learning?
PG: I don’t think it’s too different actually. I think I know this time other people are going to listen to it. At least 10 people, so that’s going to change it! That can either be bad or it can be good in that it’s nicer to think about that and try to make something really clear. I think the songs or the subject matter is maybe a little nicer. More hopeful. Yeah, it’s nice.
RFB: How long ago was it when you recorded the first song that went onto Learning?
PG: I think it was two years ago.
RFB: So quite a long progression of time then. I’m sure now you don’t have as much time to write new songs, which could possibly lead to the subject matter of the next album being more compact?
PG: Maybe yeah. I’m sure felt pretty consistent for two years but I never really thought about that. That could be true, because it’s going to have to be in a shorter span.
RFB: Do you still live in Seattle?
PG: Yeah
RFB: It’s known for having quite a big music scene. Did that ever influence your music or were you very involved in it whilst growing up?
PG: Not really. I’ve known a lot of friends that make music but not really based there, more in New York. I don’t know, it’s a social thing to go to shows there every night and drink and I don’t know how I kind of skipped that. I listen to music a lot but I don’t really. I don’t really know what’s going on in Seattle really!
RFB: Well obviously its history is quite grungy.
PG: Yeah that was a big deal growing up when I was there.
RFB: Are there still aspects of that leftover?
PG: People kind of respect it but they don’t talk about it as much because they’re trying to do something new.
RFB: That’s quite removed from what your music sounds like.
PG: Yeah, maybe the next album will be a compact grunge album!
RFB: How did you feel when you made that leap from home recordings to live performances?
PG: I was really scared before I did it and even during the first show I had a sober blackout because I was so freaked out! I still get like that but there are moments where I relax and I get really into it that are really fun and it’s the same kind of thing as writing. It’s catharsis I guess, but sometimes because of my nerves those moments are really short. I’ve only played 8 shows or something so I’m kind of learning how to stretch them out a little bit.
RFB: Your music has been likened to that used on the TV show Twin Peaks. Are you a fan of the show?
PG: Yeah, big time! My babysitter actually was on that show. Well she was just in the very first episode where she’s walking all bedraggled and beat up down a bridge and I watched that ‘cause she was in it. I don’t know how I old I was, 10 or something? It f*cked me up! I was really into it but really terrified, but you don’t really know why. It’s just that kind of sinister mood but kind of slow motion music and I’ve always really liked that.
RFB: Do you see the similarities in that music to your own music?
PG: Yeah. Well it’s weird because it’s not something I listen to on headphones all the time but it’s kind of stuck with me.
RFB: Have you ever been curious enough to read any of the reviews written about your music?
PG: I can’t help it, yeah.
RFB: All of the reviews I’ve read about you have been supportive; does that help with your insecurities about singing and playing live?
PG: I don’t know if it does. I mean I’m really thankful for it but I’m still just as freaked out. It helped me feel like it was more of a real thing and that’s really nice. It’s weird that even good stuff can make me feel more anxious. I wish it wasn’t true because it sounds like such a whiny thing to say. There are moments where my nerves are gone and all I am is grateful, but there are times too when I can’t help it and it just catches up with me.
Artists in this article: Perfume Genius