I've known Peter Salett for a long while. We've played together on many stages, and I've always enjoyed his work. Here, we discuss his new record, In the Ocean of Stars, his film scores and what it's like to have Ed Norton as your own personal guitar string winder.
By Mike Errico
You refer to your new record as a "a song cycle about trying to connect to yourself and your loved one in a world where you're constantly living in a state of memory." What do you mean?
Nostalgia is a big part of how a song connects, to me, and I tend to bring a sense of that — a regret for what hasn't happened or what didn't happen in moments past. Neil Young has that feeling, with that bittersweet twang in his voice. Hank Williams seems to have it, as does Roy Orbison.
Was it hard to capture that voice this time around?
Yes. I actually tried to mix it twice. But in the mastering stage, Joe Gastwirt, a great engineer who has done everything from Neil Young to Miles Davis said he loved the music, but that the mixes weren't up to snuff. It really hurt at the time, but I realized that he was right; I needed to have the mix be more in line with the songs. I ran into (mix engineer) Marvin Etzioni at a diner in LA, and he was able to be less precious and fuck some stuff up. The end result was more mysterious and more inviting, with a three-dimensional quality.
The song "Sunshine" has an interesting story attached to it.
I literally recorded that at my friend's place where I was crashing. This little indie movie I was working on had zero dollars to pay me, so instead of money, I asked for a portable Pro Tools system called an M-Box. It just happened that I had seen Down in the Valley, and thought I could write something better for a particular scene. I wasn't even thinking about scoring the movie at the time. Soon after that, they were going to part ways with the composers, and I came in with the song that I recorded on in the house, and they loved it. There is a sweetness and purity to it that people seem to respond to.
Is it true that, back in the day, one of your volunteer string changers at your live shows was Ed Norton?
Well, I've actually known Ed for a long time; we grew up as kids together. Ed was an unknown actor I used to go see in little tiny theaters, and he would come down and change my strings when I would break them. My two main string changers were Ed and Tom Lennon, who has gone to create and star in Reno 911.
Were they any good at it?
[Laughs] They were both excellent string changers, very diligent, which I needed because I was insane at that time: I was a dreadlocked, folk/punker who slammed the guitar all the time and would break 2 or 3 strings a night. I always needed someone there to help me out.
You recently moved to LA from New York. Here's your moment to rekindle an east coast/west coast beef.
[Laughs] The culture is just so different. I've now landed in Venice, California, which is the first place in LA where I actually feel comfortable. But New York is still my home, that's the truth. I was walking in the Lower East Side the other night, and I think I saw seven people I knew in a two-block radius. New York still really feels like home to me but obviously work-wise, LA is a good place to be.
Finally, tell us: What's the location of your favorite jukebox?
I haven't been there in a while, but it's the jukebox — and photo booth — at the Lakeside Lounge in New York City. I also have to give a shout out to the Brooklyn Social — that's a good one. And not just because I'm on it.
In the Ocean of Stars is available now.
Peter Salett official site www.petersalett.com/
XML Feeds