When asked about the biggest misconception people have toward him, Joe Pernice, frontman and songwriter for The Pernice Brothers, allows barely a second to pass before answering from his New England home. “That I’m depressed, all the time. Every once in a while I’ll read something about myself, and I always get that. ‘He’s the king of mope. How does he live?’ Blah, blah, blah. Honestly, though, there isn’t much time that goes by when I’m not cracking a joke.�
It’s an honest mistake to make, considering this is the same guy who once began a song with the line “I hate my life.� The truth of the matter is that Pernice is a showman, and though his lyrics may be at times melancholy, they’re just as often filled with humor and wit. A sample lyric from a song on Live A Little, the band’s new album: “She threw a dart at Europe/she hit Michigan.� The Pernice Brothers’ live shows are just as often playful and jocular, a recent tour even featuring a song from the Chitty Chitty Bang Bang soundtrack making regular rotation in the band’s set. Yet, on record, Pernice & Co. create a wintry atmosphere with poetic narratives and jangly pop arrangements, ranging from the elegant chamber pop of Overcome by Happiness to the streamlined guitar rock of Discover a Lovelier You. Where Live A Little stands is somewhere between the two, laden with strings and horns, yet still largely carrying the sound of a rock album, which partly comes from Pernice’s decision to go back and make a record the old fashioned way.
“The last few records we had recorded in a different way,� Pernice says. “It was all digital, using protools and editing and piecing tracks together. But there’s a certain warmth you get on analog tape. I wanted to go into a studio and record on analog 2-inch tape. It sounds a lot warmer and makes the songs a lot more intimate. And I also wanted to get as much of a full performance out of people as I could.�
Just as Pernice has done with his last three records, Live A Little is being released on Ashmont Records, the label he runs with partner Joyce Linehan. After having worked with other indie labels like Sub Pop, which released Overcome by Happiness, Pernice reasons that releasing his own records, rather than dealing with a separate intermediary, is the only way he envisions putting out records at this stage in his career.
“I don’t sell tons of records,� Pernice says. “The amount of records I would sell would result in being dropped from a label, well, unless one of my songs became a hit. It’s all about sales. So there’s really no choice but to be on an indie label. This way, I make more money, I have complete control, and I sell a decent amount of records. When I was signed to a label, I would be fighting to get posters mailed. It’s a different set of problems. Now when there’s some level of success, it’s so much more gratifying. By the time I put out a record, I don’t bask in it for too long. I’ll get the finished records, and I’ll look at a copy, and I’ll remember writing the songs, making demos, recording, mastering, sending it to my publicist and I know I have had my fingers in it every step of the way. It’s an exciting thing.�
After spending part of his afternoon giving insight into what goes into a Pernice Brothers record, Joe makes one final request before departing. “Make sure you let people know I’m not just a fuckin’ suicide victim.�
~ Jeff Terich
Photo: Laura Stein
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http://www.pernicebrothers.com
http://www.ashmontrecords.com
The Pernice Brothers' album Live A Little is out October 3, 2006 on Ashmont Records.
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