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We definitely wanted to make a different album. We didn't want a whole lot of jamming to take place. We were focused on writing good songs.
-Matt McDonald |
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Photo by Jake Krolick
Shifting Colors
Perpetual Groove by Jake Krolick |
Along with caring about Mother Earth, the members of Perpetual Groove care about other issues affecting the world today, especially McDonald, who speaks of politics with unrivaled passion. He speaks just as passionately about the intentions behind PGroove's latest effort. "We definitely wanted to make a different album. We didn't want a whole lot of jamming to take place. We were focused on writing good songs," says McDonald.
Butler gives the impression they've grown up over the last few years. On the newer songs, he comments, "Even if they have the same emotion of our old music, the approach is kind of different. We've learned how do more. We've learned how to be more effective in a shorter amount of time within a song." He mentions "Mayday," another song written in the studio, "I sat down and wanted to write something heavy. I said we need something just (mimes air guitar power chords while putting on an evil face). It's more like that, so that's what we did." Listen to "Mayday" and you'll quickly understand the deep, dark feel Butler was aiming for.
Expectations are sky-high for LIVELOVEDIE, not only within the band but their management, Tree Sounds Studios, and their ever-growing fan base. Fortunately, a week before the album's release it was already a top ten download on Oink.com.
Perpetual Groove by Jeremy Jones |
PGroove seems to have developed a newfound sense of maturity around LIVELOVEDIE. These boys are growing up, and the album reflects that. Brock has the calm wisdom of a grandfather teaching his grandson when he speaks to me about their newest chapter. "Most of [the songs] are just drawing from life experiences - dealing with people you love, be it a family member or a significant other, things that frustrate you when you're out there trying to get through it all," says Brock. "[Some] days you don't feel like getting through anything, other days you feel like the world is your oyster. That's pretty much everything I write about. If I've had a really great day or a really frustrating day, the lyrics become an outlet of some sort for me."
Perpetual Groove by Jake Krolick |
By this point, Butler is wide awake. "When you're a painter you have to be finished. You did what you could with it, with the colors or lack of colors you had available at the time, whatever your tools were. If you're a musician, that's not really the case. You get the opportunity to re-paint it over and over again. When you get new [gear], it's just like having a new canvas. You can go back in there and repaint the song completely different. Or, you can do more a minimalist approach [where] you have so many things available to you that you realize you can say more with just a little bit. Lyrically, I think I'm always more of a fan of [that] kind of impressionist, minimalist [approach] that puts a few thoughts out there and that's all. Let those get into people's heads and see what the audience thinks of it. Sometimes I won't have anything specific in mind, sometimes I do. Usually people will come up and ask me what a song means, and I'll pretty much answer their question with a question - 'What does it mean to you?' Whatever the explanation is that's fine to me."
Before leaving, I ask Butler if there's any particular message the band was trying to send on the new album, particularly in the title LIVELOVEDIE.
"It's not really a message at all," offers Butler. "It's three very huge words, and people define them for themselves. This is life right here - what you consider to be love, your views on death, and those things put together. Is that a morbid thought? Is that an optimistic thing? That's really up to the listener to decide. Someone can say, 'I had the greatest life because I found love.' Or maybe you don't find love and so you're just living and dying. In which case, I would say that's not very optimistic or happy. But, those three words people define for themselves."
Check out Perpetual Groove music/interview on YouTube
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