Peter Broderick

Peter Broderick

10 September, 2009
by: Gina Louise

When it comes to Peter Broderick, it's hard to untangle the music from the man. Raised in a musical family, he was encouraged to learn the violin at the tender age of 7, and has been producing his own experimental neo classical ever since.

Broderick's songs are full of beautiful intricacies and unique field noises; layering a multitude of instruments over each other to produce works that are as uplifting, as they are soulful. Whilst his forte is the piano, he has recently branched out to include vocals in his work - combining beguiling lyrics and instruments you have never even heard of to create music that will haunt you to your very bones.

Enjoying a mountain of critical acclaim from a myriad of music magazine hot-shots for his latest album, Boderick seems unfazed by the recent and prolonged success. The 22 year old composer is still grounded, answering his own fan mail and carting himself around the country whilst gigging.

Having toured with the immense Efterklang, and with a continuing side project in the shape of Horse Feathers, Peter Broderick is now undertaking in his solo tour around the world. Showcasing a plethora of artistic talents to the world, he found time between performances to answer a few quick questions.

You mentioned that you were having to drive yourself around for your current tour, is the travelling the hardest thing about touring? What do you enjoy most about it?

Well, I really hate to complain about anything...  Travelling can become a bit taxing when you do it too often.  But when I think about what I'm travelling for, then it never becomes hard.  I have the chance to travel all around and share my music with other people, and learn about other places and different parts of the world.  That's the best thing.  Experiencing different places, and seeing them in person.

You are notorious for answering fan emails yourself and keeping things personal. Do you think you will be able to do this in the future when your career escalates?

I don't catch myself thinking about the future too much these days.  At least not the distant future.  I like that you say 'when your career escalates', because it's hard for me to see it like that.  Right now I think things are going quite well for me, but it seems impossible to tell how long that will last.  That said, I love to answer people when they write me, and it would really take a huge overload of mails to make me sick of that.  Maybe there are a few that go unanswered here and there, but those aren't just fan mails, those are any kind of mails.  I think I'm just as likely to forget to respond to good friend or a family member, which doesn't happen very often.  Also, most of my favourite artists are ones who I know personally, to some degree. 

A lot of the time for me, getting to know a person is just as important, or maybe even more important, than the work they create.  When you love what someone creates, and then you also come to love them as a person, that's the best, and a lot of my favourite artists are the ones who have been open enough to let me get to know them.  Of course I don't expect to get to know everyone extremely well, but I think a small exchange with a person can leave a very strong and lasting impression.

How did it feel to be invited by Efterklang, one of your musical favourites, to come and play with them all over the world? Is there anyone else you’d love to work with?

Being invited to join Efterklang and move to Denmark was an absolute dream come true, and it still is.  They still make some of my favourite music in the world and are now some of my favourite people and best friends.  There are a lot of people I would love to work with.   Musicians, writers, filmmakers, strangers...  Someone asked me recently if there's one filmmaker I would love to work with, and I said Miranda July.  She's one of my favourite artists in general, and I'd be more than honoured to work with her one day.   Or just shake her hand or something.
 
You like to set boundaries with your music, restricting your instruments, or choosing to omit some entirely from albums. Do you find these confines help you to produce more concise, driven songs?

I think limiting yourself often forces you to become more creative, and try things you normally wouldn't do.  Before I recorded the album 'Home', I never really thought of myself as a songwriter, nor did I ever really plan to try and make an album that could be lumped in the singer/songwriter category.  I thought I wanted to make instrumental music with pianos and strings and other lovely things, and playing the guitar and singing was just something I did for fun on the side.  But then I said, well what happens if I make an album and don't allow myself to use the piano or violin?  And I guess that could have turned out a million different ways, but for me it became an excuse to try and make an album of ‘songs’ on the guitar.

What can your fans expect from you in the near future?

In the near future, I have a number of smaller releases and collaborations being released, I'm playing a handful of more shows in Europe throughout the rest of year, I'll be travelling around and playing quite a few concerts with Efterklang, and I'm working on my next proper full-length album, which should be released sometime next year.

In your live gigs you have been known to get the audience to participate and incorporate them into the gig. Is this something you enjoy doing?

Absolutely.  I think what goes into making a great concert and a nice evening (or day or whenever the concert is) is so much more than just the music happening on stage.  The atmosphere, and venue, the people, the sound, everything.  I just want people to enjoy it somehow, and I want to enjoy it myself, and I think the best way I can make both of those things happen is to get some kind of interaction going.  I think the very few bad concerts that I've had have been bad because I failed to get some kind of connection with the audience.

You have said before that you haven't felt comfortable singing. With your latest project concentrating heavily on vocals and guitars, have you felt like you have got more at ease with it?

Nowadays I love to sing.  I have come to love the voice, as an instrument, as a storyteller, as a mystery.  Sometimes I'm a bit uncomfortable because I feel that maybe some people won't like my voice or the words I'm singing, or the way I'm singing...  But the more I sing, the more I love it, and the more I become comfortable with it.

Where do you take your inspiration from?

I think inspiration comes from everywhere.  Sometimes maybe it can come from a great record I've been listening too, but it can just as easily come from how well I've slept the night before and what I ate for breakfast.

Your music is quite romantically charged, are you romantic outside of your music?

Hmmmm, it's really hard for me to say if I'm romantic or not.  I don't feel very romantic, but I also love to play with romance a bit, and use it at the right moments, and there are probably moments when I get wrapped up in romance and don't even know it...

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Gina Louise