janesaddiction.org

Satellite Party Issue #39
A party built in space
By Britt Julious
Published: March 5th, 2009 | 9:50am

They call the band's concept "light and loud," but taking a closer look at the Satellite Party — the music collective formed by former Jane's Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell and wife Etty Lau Farrell — "live" seems to be a more appropriate adjective. The Satellite Party is not just about releasing their latest album. Instead, the band members work to create a more cohesive performance aesthetic built around sporadically structured electro-rock songs, flamboyant yet stunning costumes, inorganic shows done outside of the standard rock club, and a desire to connect to the larger world through their music and with a little help by, of all things, Google.

According to lead singer Perry Farrell, the Satellite Party is not your average band and they wouldn’t want it any other way. The group is representative of a resurgent DIY aesthetic that focuses more on the performance and collaborative effort of the band’s members and less on the cyclical business aspect of the traditional record company. Satellite Party was formed by musicians and artists who, according to Farrell, “Just loved to put together parties.” This collaborative, party-enthused beginning was an important catalyst in structuring the group as something other than the run-of-the-mill bands cluttering the market. A scene was soon formed, conceptualized not just around having a good time, but also on producing an all-inclusive atmosphere and creativity through the zeitgeist.

“It’s the idea of what you can do with attention,” Farrell says. “You can do kind of worthless, mindless things or you can apply it.” From there, they began to write music together and play shows. Unique on a number of levels, the Satellite Party became an experiment in the conjunction of public gatherings and art — and what can happen when a band produces things other than music together.

The band’s three primary members are Farrell; back-up singer, dancer, and wife Etty Lau Farrell; and bassist Carl Restivo. Etty, a former back-up dancer for Jane’s Addiction, has performed with Perry in one capacity or another since 1997. The Satellite Party as it stands today, though, is not as visually bombastic in concert as the Jane’s Addiction of yore. Performances are conducted with less than a handful of other members on the crew making organizing smaller impromptu shows less difficult than with normal bands.

“We find performing live to be a very, very important aspect to the project,” Farrell says, “So we’re trying to like find ways to number one: get out there and perform.”

“I like the pleasure of music. I like the excitement of music. I like the sensuality of music,” Farrell chimes, and this enthusiasm translates in all aspects of the group’s image. The band’s aesthetic is derived from the instrumentation of their songs as well as through the individual tastes of Etty and Perry.

“We’re definitely into dressing up,” says Etty. “I think we try to set an example by that. Our music has an electronic sound and our outfits go with that.” Outfits are created to be consumed by the live, dance-oriented setting.

“We dress special, like [we’re] going to a party in space,” Farrell says. Simple jeans and a t-shirt are out of the question — dressing up seems to be par for the course. “We feel like, with whatever you’re comfortable in, you can still dress to the nines,” says Etty. The photo shoot for Venus Zine, however, was a step in a different direction than their typical stage fare. Etty, however, is certainly not complaining. “It’s obviously a little conservative,” she states, perhaps in reference to her own stage costumes which range from high-waisted short shorts and sequin-encrusted bustier tops to delicate, hyper-color jumpers. “But I think it’s wonderful,” she continues, “I wish that we could go back to taking a bit more time for how we dress.”

The interconnectedness of space, the transcendence available through technology in this new millennium, is just as critical to the group’s overarching style. Orchestrated lights and video imagery from the Google Earth perspective are important in continuing the collaborative community aspect that first defined the group in its earlier stages.

“It’s kind of a breathtaking feeling,” Farrell says when discussing imagery ranging from the Malibu coastline of California to Paris and the Eiffel Tower. These closer shots from across the globe create a sort the “satellite party” in question.

“Not only are you alive, awake, and enjoying yourself, but you start to get that feeling that you are connected to the entire world,” he says.

And although the group’s highly stylized stage show would normally lead one to believe that the life of a married rock duo hinders family time, both Perry and Etty disagree. Rather than merely producing an album, such as 2007’s Ultra Payloaded (Columbia) and incessantly touring, the Satellite Party writes and produces one track at a time.

“We like to stay busy on the road and stay busy in the studio and keep switching back and forth. You want to be able to play music,” Farrell says.

When on the road, the Farrell’s children often accompany their parents, at least during school and holiday breaks. When back in school however, the parents try to spend as little time away from the kids as possible. Due to the sporadic nature of their performances, they are able to do what they love while still spending quality time with the people they love.

“This is our hobby. Our children matter first,” Etty says. Perry agrees. “You just have to know what’s important to your life,” he says. “You [just] have to make adjustments to those things and it just works out.”

Indeed, the band’s ethos provides the leverage to not only write and perform using their own methods, but also to balance the more personal attributes of life as husband and wife. “Do your job out there, then come back, and fulfill your other job,” Perry says.