9/9/07 - The NorVa, Norfolk, VA

[Mike]

It’s Perry’s Party
Alt-icon and Lollapalooza pioneer talks about the new lineup for his spacey opus,
saving the planet, and the benefits of being friends with The Doors
By Andrea Rizzo
Wednesday, Sep. 5, 2007


Perry Farrell is a rock icon who shaped the canvas for what was originally referred to as "alternative rock." Between bands Jane’s Addiction and Porno for Pyros, and the creation of Lollapalooza in 1991, Farrell has continuously supported the music and touring industry. He took a few minutes to chat with me from Houston, Texas, while touring with his newest band, Satellite Party, which comes to the NorVa.


What inspired you to put together the Satellite Party?

The world has changed so much since I started playing music, and especially in the music world. We’ve gone through incarnations, Jane’s Addiction and Pyro and Lollapalooza, and I was just looking to do something fresh. It’s a digital world today, and the way we pass information around is just amazing—especially in the world of music. You know, music and mail are really the two biggest... paradigms, how we share our messages and share our music. And with the Satellite Party, the whole idea is we can self-promote, we can self-distribute, and I think that can change the world, on our own—without government, big business. And I just want to do it in style and in fashion, and with fun and celebration. Using music as the catalyst for change—world change.


Well, that’s a good enough reason to start a band! Can you explain the global warming theme that runs through Ultra Payloaded.

I have his idea to have a beautiful weekend in space, and basically throw a party; it would be the first space party. When we look at the world from afar we begin to see the world, and start to see the world in another perspective. And that perspective is that we need to take care of Her because that is our home. And so that’s how it ties in. The idea that we see the world from afar and we see the polar caps melting, and what a wonderful place it is and how messed up at the same time She’s become.


How will the Satellite Party contribute to this awareness?

The thing that I can do right now is work through Lollapalooza. We did an amazing festival in 2007; it was completely carbon-neutral. But I was able to invest almost a quarter of a million dollars to do that and change not just the merchandise but the paper plates, forks and cups into not just recyclable material but, in some cases, the cups were made out of corn, and so were the utensils. Satellite Party is developing, on a small scale. We recycle as we tour, and our message is there but actually it’s going to take us more time to do bigger gestures. I found out that it costs approximately $80,000 to $120,000 to run on biodiesel as far as the buses go, and it would be impossible to afford that at this point. But as we get bigger, we’ll do that. It’s just a matter of growing in size and getting bigger guarantees, if you follow me. But we’re doing what we can on a small scale. I’m going to [have] 100 percent cotton merch, and bamboo merch. We did a good thing when we pressed up our CD...it was carbon-neutral, and it was made with recyclable paper, with non-toxic ink.

But let me just say this—there’s one other thing, there’s one other piece to this puzzle. I wanted to be a complete digital artist, and I wasn’t able to accomplish that with Columbia Records. I gave them a specific outline on how we could do that, and they didn’t approve it. So I took my record back, and from here on, I started my own label with Satellite Party. The label’s called Bells are Ringing, and so the next body of work we do is going to be completely digital—there won’t be any paper at all. There won’t be any carbon emissions through CD pressings at all.


I understand you had a recent line-up change. Tell me about the new members.

We have amazing young players. I was sad to see the other players go, especially at the time...they left me in kind of a precarious position—we only had 10 days before our American tour. And it was a very scary time for us. But guess what? I think as fate would have it, luckily smiling upon us, I think we have the next guitar hero with Nick Perri. He’s amazing. I can’t wait for you to see him. And Jordan Plosky is a great young drummer, too. And he’s modern. When it comes to drums, drums [are] almost the next frontier for musicians, because we’ve had effects going for voice, and for guitar, and bass, but it isn’t common for drummers to use effects—and we do. That way we get to have a unique sound in the drum area and that makes your songs sound special, you’ve taken the extra time to think about those drum tones and you’ll here when you get there, it’s beautiful. It’s like house music mixed with rock music—it’s thick.


How did you get access to Jim Morrison’s unreleased track [included in Satellite Party’s "Woman in the Window"]?

Just being friends with The Doors. I went to them, and I knew that there was maybe some existing material, and they were very kind to allow me use some rare, rare material...there’s very little left on this planet. But they liked the story; they liked where it was going and where we were heading. And they liked me [laughs] so together we did it.


You may not want to answer this, but what songs from Jane’s Addiction or Porno for Pyros can we expect to hear at the NorVa?

We’re doing a lot. The difference from the original Satellite Party team...there were veteran guys, coming from kind of a different place. But I have a lot of stuff that people love, and I want to play it—it is a party. I look at this record, and it’s a new record but with music heritage going forward. So we do "Just Because," we do "Stop!," we do "Paint a Ride," we do "Jane Says," "Pets," "Tahitian Moon," and "Been Caught Stealing." We just keep learning more and more songs. The group’s only been together for a few weeks but I can tell you, it’s already feeling so good that I have started to get visions, new visions, which is a great, great sign when you feel like, with this group, we can accomplish this. The shows have gotten so exciting. Back in the day I used to get a fever pitch [to] where I felt I was going to pass out. And last night I felt like that again, and so did the whole group. They were telling me they were losing their consciousness, because it gets so feverish in the room. So we’re up to speed because I used to feel like that a lot during the Jane’s Addiction days and Porno days, I would feel like that every night.


What are you most looking forward to while on the road?

People are beginning to know the Satellite Party numbers, and so they mix in very well with the back history. And I’m just looking forward to every song, we just kind of nail people. When they love to hear the back history song, I’m looking forward to the set getting better and better and better with the new Satellite Party songs, and people getting onto the MySpace page and building a community, building a Satellite Party community. And, if and when we build this community, we can develop our live show—that’s what I’m really looking forward to. I feel that the future’s really bright for us. Any musician that can break on the road, that is where they’ve got to do it. They can’t think about the record, because records are not being sold anymore. But tickets still are being sold, and community is being made just out there on the road. So I look forward to that happening, and putting together greater and greater shows so we can build this and have the power and importance that we had in 1991 when Lollapalooza first broke. I’m looking to build Satellite Party to that point.


Do you have any additional comments, especially about the Norfolk area?

From what I understand, you have a very big military base there. It’s been awhile since young people have been recruited and taken out to war. I can’t speak for everybody, but I’m going to assume that they all love rock-n-roll. I’m going to reach out to that community and see if they’d like to come down and hang out, cuz...these guys are ass-kickers, but they’re also people who love to party and get down, and they definitely need some release—and we’d love to offer it to them.

http://www.portfolioweekly.com/Pages/In ... p/iID/3275

[Pastel]

Thanks man

[OzMic]

[Mike]

Concert Review
Party People
By Andrea Rizzo
Tuesday, Sep. 18, 2007



The NorVa seemed awfully spacious on September 9. This was not the sold-out crowd of the Morrissey concert or even Interpol, but rather a sparse, incredibly warm group of fans that have obviously been with Farrell throughout all of his incarnations.

This may have been because his new band’s name, Satellite Party, seems to infer that that he would only be there via satellite TV, or because it was a Sunday night, or because it was $25. Whatever the case, the show ended up being a fun romp of 12 songs, spanning Farrell’s musical career.

Mink, a charismatic band from NYC, was a great choice for an opener. The five-piece (with a female drummer) was all hair, skinny jeans, and bandanas, and sounded like D-Generation when the songs were good and more like The Strokes when the songs weren’t so good. They won the crowd over with an energetic cover of David Bowie’s classic "Suffragette City."

From the moment Farrell walked from behind his hiding spot of the stacked speakers, it was obvious that the Satellite Party was meant to be a party—for both the band and the fans. Farrell and his group were all sparkles in white and black, shining profoundly under the stage lighting. Faithful to their album, Ultra Payloaded, the band broke out with "Wish Upon a Dog Star," an energetic little number that got the crowd going. The second selection was "Just Because" from the most recent effort by Jane’s Addiction. After a dip into the past with Porno for Pyros’ "Under the Tahitian Moon," the Satellite Party went way back with "Mountain Song," and the crowd was revved up from there.

Farrell proved he is still the consummate performer, engaged with the crowd the entire time. He ran the course of the whole stage, and made sure he had personal interaction with as many folks as he could. During a few of the more classic tunes, fans jumped up and sang along with him and were then safely returned to the floor without any attitude from the bouncers.

The two new bandmates, drummer Jordan Plosky and guitarist Nick Perri, held their ground. The silken-haired guitarist looked like a future metal god, especially with his Flying V romps. Farrell’s wife and backup singer Etty Lau prettied up the stage, wearing a tube top and tiny short-shorts with sequined tail feathers. Some of her antics were a bit much, especially when she got up on the drum stand and pulled her leg up into a standing split.

After running down more of memory lane with "Superhero," the Satellite Party mixed in originals "Hard Life Easy" and "Only Love, Let’s Celebrate" in between classics like "Pets" from Porno from Pyros, and Jane’s "Been Caught Stealing." The main set ended with the Satellite Party’s theme, "Ultra Payloaded Satellite Party," before the band came back out with "Stop" and "Jane Says." The Satellite Party left the intimate crowd wanting more, which is the best way to leave it. •

http://www.portfolioweekly.com/Pages/In ... p/iID/3327

[Mike]

I just found a killer clip on youtube!

The band soundchecks the Jane's Addiction classic, "Superhero" before their show at The Norva in Norfolk, Virginia.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QknBhCxUJw8

[StickyFingers]

I can remember Perry rarely showed up at Jane's soundcheck before '91?

I listened lot of soundchecks of early jane's and was a Eric-Dave-Stephen jam....with Perry apart doin some drugs i guess....

Now being on tour with his wife and in front of his own fans and much more healthy.....
and much happier