WEBVTT - Perta: Life Just Before Rock Stardom 0:00:00.280 --> 0:00:03.520 I'm Alec Baldwin and you're listening to Here's the Thing 0:00:03.960 --> 0:00:10.560 You to stop Fight. You used to stop fight. Now 0:00:10.600 --> 0:00:20.840 I'm burning my own body down to stop. Today, I'll 0:00:20.880 --> 0:00:24.120 start with a prediction. This will be Here's the Thing's 0:00:24.200 --> 0:00:51.199 most downloaded episode of next to stud Anyway Stop. This 0:00:51.240 --> 0:00:54.600 show is usually my way of taking you into the 0:00:54.720 --> 0:00:58.120 lives and careers of giants. People at the top of 0:00:58.160 --> 0:01:01.800 their mountain looking down. Today our guests are at the 0:01:01.880 --> 0:01:06.440 base of the mountain looking up. Perda is at a 0:01:06.560 --> 0:01:10.560 thrilling moment for any great band. This track is called 0:01:10.600 --> 0:01:14.920 from Fire, and it's the only song they've released in 0:01:15.120 --> 0:01:19.000 the Beatles timeline. It's after the Kasba Coffee Club, but 0:01:19.280 --> 0:01:23.959 before George Martin. They're represented by William Morris, but the 0:01:24.000 --> 0:01:28.160 frontman still works at Starbucks. They had a profile and 0:01:28.280 --> 0:01:32.480 paper magazine, but the guitarist mom drove them to our interview. 0:01:36.120 --> 0:01:40.160 Perda's frontman is Matt Bazulka, and there are only a 0:01:40.240 --> 0:01:43.679 handful of people in a generation with his talent and 0:01:43.760 --> 0:01:46.959 stage presence. Within a year, maybe two, you will know 0:01:47.120 --> 0:01:50.880 his name. But joined by the band's founder, Colin Kenrick 0:01:51.240 --> 0:01:54.400 in a small l a studio for our conversation. He's 0:01:54.440 --> 0:01:59.240 still just a normal kid, well not normal exactly. Something 0:01:59.320 --> 0:02:03.680 his parents accommodated. I wanted to perform since I was 0:02:03.800 --> 0:02:06.960 very young. Um, they had me trying different sports out 0:02:07.000 --> 0:02:09.320 and then um, one day during wrestling match, I got 0:02:09.360 --> 0:02:10.960 like flipped over and lost of tooth and they were like, 0:02:11.000 --> 0:02:16.400 maybe we should dry the art. And Pennsylvania like rural Pennsylvania. 0:02:16.639 --> 0:02:19.280 It's called the Lehigh Valley. Yeah, it's a small collection 0:02:19.280 --> 0:02:21.799 of towns. I remember I made like the front page 0:02:21.840 --> 0:02:23.560 of the newspaper when I was eight years old because 0:02:23.600 --> 0:02:26.360 I was the only male dancer in like the entire alley. Well, 0:02:26.400 --> 0:02:28.840 when I listened to you is when you're there, You're 0:02:28.880 --> 0:02:31.720 at the gig, at the troubadour. Where's the one where 0:02:31.760 --> 0:02:39.760 you're wearing the white and I'm sitting there watch and 0:02:39.800 --> 0:02:43.040 you stand up, you like make an entrance, even they 0:02:43.040 --> 0:02:46.240 were already there. You stand up, and I'll let you 0:02:46.320 --> 0:02:48.040 describe it. I don't want to say it's Elvis. I 0:02:48.040 --> 0:02:52.480 don't want to say it. Share that white jumpsuits split 0:02:52.560 --> 0:02:55.680 open to the navel, the fringes I'm going look at 0:02:55.760 --> 0:02:59.040 this guy originally was not actually to the navel, but 0:02:59.160 --> 0:03:02.760 they didn't have air conditioning. Yeah, and you opened your 0:03:02.760 --> 0:03:04.320 mouth and I thought I was going to pass out. 0:03:04.880 --> 0:03:08.120 Did you train? I mean I took a year of 0:03:08.200 --> 0:03:12.040 lessons when I was like eleven. Whose idea was it? 0:03:12.240 --> 0:03:14.080 My mom? You and you left there when you were 0:03:14.120 --> 0:03:16.440 how old? Right after I graduated high school to go 0:03:16.480 --> 0:03:19.760 where here? Yeah? Well that's the thing is, it's like 0:03:19.800 --> 0:03:21.919 I have this kind of ignorance, is bliss way about 0:03:21.960 --> 0:03:24.480 like finding things in life. And I just kind of 0:03:24.680 --> 0:03:26.480 followed this one teacher that I really trusted. She's like, 0:03:26.520 --> 0:03:28.799 there's a school called Calerts that I think you'll really love. 0:03:28.960 --> 0:03:30.400 I had never even been to the West Coast. I 0:03:30.400 --> 0:03:32.880 hadn't even really traveled. My first day in California was 0:03:32.919 --> 0:03:37.120 my first day of school. Did you like it right away? Yeah? Absolutely? 0:03:37.200 --> 0:03:39.160 I was all weirdo in high school, so I felt 0:03:39.160 --> 0:03:41.320 like I fit right in. Yeah. And for training, I 0:03:41.320 --> 0:03:43.840 mean like they went for acting. So the voice training 0:03:43.840 --> 0:03:49.520 that they did was for speech and distinction like theater 0:03:49.280 --> 0:03:52.680 the right and for you talking to Colin ken Rick, now, 0:03:53.080 --> 0:03:55.760 for you, what was music in your life? Was a child? 0:03:56.000 --> 0:03:59.320 Like what did you listen to? Were you rapidly into music? 0:03:59.720 --> 0:04:03.440 What's what's your musical? D n A. So music was 0:04:03.480 --> 0:04:06.480 the connection to my dad. I was raised on the 0:04:06.520 --> 0:04:11.160 classic songwriters, you know, Paul Simon, Bob Dylan, w local Il, 0:04:11.160 --> 0:04:14.320 A kid in the suburbs and going up my dad. 0:04:14.520 --> 0:04:16.680 I remember him showing me a Dylan song when I 0:04:16.720 --> 0:04:20.920 was thirteen. It was Spanish Boots of Spanish Leather by 0:04:20.960 --> 0:04:23.919 Bob Dylan, and that was a song that it was 0:04:23.960 --> 0:04:27.240 like a sailor song. For some reason, this story really 0:04:27.279 --> 0:04:30.039 spoke to me. And then when I started playing music, 0:04:30.160 --> 0:04:32.040 you picked up a what I picked up a guitar. 0:04:32.400 --> 0:04:34.800 I picked up a guitar and fumbled through some chords. 0:04:35.440 --> 0:04:37.719 So I started with that and I eventually moved on 0:04:37.760 --> 0:04:39.440 to you know, people like Ellett Smith, just kind of 0:04:39.480 --> 0:04:44.039 the classic songwriters, really angsty. That was my bag. So 0:04:44.200 --> 0:04:46.960 shifting this project, it's very much away from what I 0:04:47.040 --> 0:04:50.080 used to write because it's not really worked in my bed. 0:04:50.160 --> 0:04:53.240 How old do you know? I six? Right? Did you 0:04:53.240 --> 0:04:55.960 have another band before the span high school band? You 0:04:55.960 --> 0:04:58.080 know nothing to you know, nothing to write home about. 0:04:58.480 --> 0:05:03.800 Someone's laughing mockingly. It's not me. No, they're wonderful videos 0:05:03.839 --> 0:05:09.680 on YouTube. We're not talking about this. I can't wait. Yeah, 0:05:10.160 --> 0:05:12.480 So I went to school for this and I started 0:05:12.520 --> 0:05:15.159 doing songwriting and I wasn't really sure what I wanted 0:05:15.160 --> 0:05:17.840 to do when I When I left and we both 0:05:17.880 --> 0:05:20.360 went to cal Arts, to California's through the Arts up 0:05:20.360 --> 0:05:25.360 in Valencia, California. Great place. And did you meet there? 0:05:25.960 --> 0:05:28.279 Sort of? We knew each other. We were in one 0:05:28.360 --> 0:05:31.440 class I remember. Yeah, I don't remember that class because 0:05:31.440 --> 0:05:36.719 you were hot and it was a science quote unquote class. 0:05:36.920 --> 0:05:40.400 But what about music of your generation? Beyond the Beatles 0:05:40.480 --> 0:05:43.480 and Simon and graphical whatever. What did you listen to? 0:05:43.640 --> 0:05:46.640 What did you love? Oh? Man, I don't know if 0:05:46.640 --> 0:05:50.480 there's anything I really loved. I think it was just 0:05:51.080 --> 0:05:54.360 a matter of influence for me from you know, where 0:05:54.360 --> 0:05:58.000 I was receiving music from, you know, mostly my dad 0:05:58.040 --> 0:06:00.719 and kind of his group of friends, and you're raised 0:06:00.720 --> 0:06:03.440 on something else. Oh yeah, absolutely? What was this music 0:06:03.640 --> 0:06:05.359 of your generation? What was it missing? As far as 0:06:05.400 --> 0:06:08.800 you were concerned? I think it really was missing the storytelling, 0:06:08.920 --> 0:06:12.560 the structure of a song explaining a story, whereas it 0:06:12.600 --> 0:06:14.880 just felt like an even more so now about the 0:06:14.920 --> 0:06:18.760 hooks and the catchiness and repetitiveness. Yeah, what's the first 0:06:18.800 --> 0:06:21.240 time that you sang, this is always intriguing to me 0:06:21.240 --> 0:06:23.080 because I had this. I had this wonderful conversation with 0:06:23.120 --> 0:06:27.320 Tom York about this. Tom York sits here with me 0:06:27.360 --> 0:06:29.400 in our studio when York and says, you know that 0:06:29.440 --> 0:06:32.040 he hated his voice. He didn't think he could sing. 0:06:33.240 --> 0:06:35.080 When did you first? How old were you and where 0:06:35.120 --> 0:06:36.800 were you when people first said to you you could 0:06:36.839 --> 0:06:40.680 do this. We went in the bathroom and like a 0:06:40.760 --> 0:06:44.400 share outfit with a brush in your hand. Do you 0:06:44.440 --> 0:06:48.640 believe that Sarah wasn't my da? I mean, of course, 0:06:48.720 --> 0:06:55.520 you know, honor and respect her. But Britney spears, no, no, 0:06:55.600 --> 0:06:59.839 it's perfect, It's perfect. Again in the bathroom of distinctly, 0:07:00.240 --> 0:07:01.680 I got her CD. Oh god, I think it was 0:07:01.680 --> 0:07:03.480 the second one. I wanted it so bad for Christmas, 0:07:03.520 --> 0:07:05.440 and my grandma bought it for me, but she she 0:07:06.120 --> 0:07:07.960 the way she handed it to me. So how we 0:07:08.000 --> 0:07:09.479 did is we unwrapped gifts and then we went up 0:07:09.480 --> 0:07:11.239 and had to say thank you, So I like, unwrapped 0:07:11.240 --> 0:07:12.920 the gift anyway, just saying thank you, and she's like, 0:07:12.920 --> 0:07:15.200 oh that trash, and my mom just yelled from the 0:07:15.240 --> 0:07:17.520 other room. He likes what he likes. Leave him alone, 0:07:17.880 --> 0:07:22.400 always my whole childhood, my mom. Yeah, I don't know, 0:07:23.000 --> 0:07:25.280 but that was the beginning. Well yeah, I mean honestly, 0:07:25.320 --> 0:07:27.960 like my siblings and I would put on productions at 0:07:27.960 --> 0:07:30.360 my grandparents house in the summertime, and I was like 0:07:30.640 --> 0:07:32.360 the one who was into performing. So I was like 0:07:32.400 --> 0:07:38.400 the director and like stars. I was in the nicolas um, 0:07:38.720 --> 0:07:43.760 you know. I I think I pursued acting because I 0:07:43.800 --> 0:07:46.440 didn't really I remember there was a moment in high 0:07:46.440 --> 0:07:50.160 school when I was really starting to think about music seriously, 0:07:50.840 --> 0:07:53.160 and there was somebody who asked me. They're like, well, 0:07:53.160 --> 0:07:55.720 do you understand music theory? And I think that deterred 0:07:55.760 --> 0:07:58.280 me because my mind couldn't really grasp chord progressions, and 0:07:58.280 --> 0:08:00.200 so I was just like, I don't know. I I 0:08:00.200 --> 0:08:02.120 I honestly thought of music as like magic, and I 0:08:02.160 --> 0:08:03.680 was just like, Okay, well that's out of reach, but like, 0:08:03.680 --> 0:08:06.040 how can I continue to express myself? And I really 0:08:06.040 --> 0:08:09.040 love dissecting plays and like reading them. And she's still 0:08:09.080 --> 0:08:10.440 on the fence about whether you want to keep up 0:08:10.480 --> 0:08:12.880 acting and do this full time. No, you know, thanks 0:08:12.880 --> 0:08:15.880 to Colin, like I feel a lot more confident about 0:08:16.040 --> 0:08:18.200 doing this and and I get the best of both worlds. 0:08:18.200 --> 0:08:20.640 So like with the songwriting process, the lyrics are very 0:08:20.720 --> 0:08:24.000 like story driven. Um, we only have the one song 0:08:24.040 --> 0:08:25.680 out now, but a lot of the songs that are 0:08:26.480 --> 0:08:29.880 from Fire and the like, trust that one's about growing 0:08:29.920 --> 0:08:32.120 up in Pennsylvania, that one's about not having much money. 0:08:32.200 --> 0:08:34.080 I'm gonna get to the songwriting thing after I ask 0:08:34.160 --> 0:08:36.240 you described me. How did the whole group come together. 0:08:37.160 --> 0:08:40.520 It's kind of a long road. So, like I said, 0:08:40.520 --> 0:08:44.360 we kind of knew each other in college, and you 0:08:44.400 --> 0:08:46.840 knew we could sing. No, no, I had no idea 0:08:47.120 --> 0:08:49.920 nothing of the start. So I left cal Arts. I 0:08:49.960 --> 0:08:52.319 got a great education, but I was very deterred from 0:08:52.400 --> 0:08:56.320 music making. I was very self conscious about my own process. Um, 0:08:56.360 --> 0:08:58.679 I was looking around and Cal Arts is the best 0:08:58.720 --> 0:09:00.959 of everybody, right, It's like the best of every town 0:09:00.960 --> 0:09:02.800 in the country coming together. So you get there and 0:09:02.800 --> 0:09:05.920 all of a sudden you're like, wow, I thought I 0:09:05.960 --> 0:09:07.640 was great, but this guy is super good at this, 0:09:07.720 --> 0:09:09.640 and this guy is really good at this, and it 0:09:10.360 --> 0:09:12.600 deterred me from my own process because I was trying 0:09:12.640 --> 0:09:15.120 to do what everyone else was doing. So by the 0:09:15.120 --> 0:09:17.280 time I graduated, I thought I was done with music. 0:09:17.440 --> 0:09:19.600 I thought music was like behind me. I went into 0:09:19.720 --> 0:09:21.599 music management, you know. I got a job at a 0:09:21.640 --> 0:09:24.760 music management company. I eventually end up working as a 0:09:24.800 --> 0:09:27.600 talent agent for a little bit where I worked at 0:09:27.600 --> 0:09:30.160 a place called First Artist Management and shout out to them. 0:09:30.160 --> 0:09:33.720 It's a small boutique UH composer agency for film and 0:09:33.760 --> 0:09:39.040 television composers. But I was managing another group out of college, 0:09:39.440 --> 0:09:42.880 Um and Matt. We put them in a warehouse show 0:09:43.080 --> 0:09:47.320 for them and Super Illegal and Matt very opened for 0:09:47.360 --> 0:09:49.320 the band that I was working with, and he came 0:09:49.320 --> 0:09:51.800 on stage with the producers a guy on a computer 0:09:52.800 --> 0:09:54.400 and like opened his mouth and I had the same 0:09:54.400 --> 0:09:57.560 reaction you did. I just like stopped. I walked up 0:09:57.559 --> 0:09:59.520 to him immediately after the show. I was just like, 0:09:59.679 --> 0:10:03.360 d how do I not know this about you? You know, 0:10:03.400 --> 0:10:05.000 how do I not know you're this kind of singer? 0:10:05.679 --> 0:10:08.240 And I just said, let me take you to dinner tomorrow. 0:10:08.280 --> 0:10:09.640 It was like the next day, I was like, let 0:10:09.640 --> 0:10:11.520 me take you to dinner. Did you have the money 0:10:11.559 --> 0:10:13.439 to take him to dinner? Did you actually have them? 0:10:13.440 --> 0:10:17.199 I pretended, absolutely pretending because all we got was appetizers. 0:10:17.240 --> 0:10:20.400 I got drinks. It's a very nice place, so we 0:10:20.440 --> 0:10:23.040 sat down and I said, you know, you're amazing. What 0:10:23.080 --> 0:10:25.120 do you wanted of music? What is it that you need? 0:10:25.200 --> 0:10:27.880 And we both kind of simultaneously came to the conclusion 0:10:27.920 --> 0:10:31.280 that he needed live musicians because being on stage by 0:10:31.280 --> 0:10:33.760 yourself with a guy on a computer didn't feel like 0:10:33.800 --> 0:10:37.400 it fulfilled his vision. I find this facet you began 0:10:37.440 --> 0:10:41.400 to conceive is going to bet you with a synthesizer. 0:10:41.559 --> 0:10:43.520 It was just we wanted to We wanted a band 0:10:43.520 --> 0:10:46.679 because he because he was so dynamic on stage, and 0:10:46.880 --> 0:10:49.160 I got the sense that he was a little bit 0:10:49.200 --> 0:10:51.600 bored because he didn't have the ability to interact with people. 0:10:52.080 --> 0:10:54.560 It felt it was it was it was lonely to 0:10:54.600 --> 0:10:58.839 be honest, like like it was. It was a very 0:11:00.200 --> 0:11:02.600 no I mean yeah, I mean I was. I'm just 0:11:02.640 --> 0:11:04.880 like used to like being an ensemble and like it 0:11:04.920 --> 0:11:07.720 was a lonely process and like, um, there was a 0:11:07.720 --> 0:11:09.520 lot of times where I wanted to change something, but 0:11:09.520 --> 0:11:12.160 I didn't necessarily have the vocabulary. And now, like being 0:11:12.200 --> 0:11:14.040 in a room full of like live musicians, I can 0:11:14.080 --> 0:11:15.800 be like it should you know, if it could feel 0:11:15.800 --> 0:11:18.120 like this, that would be amazing. And like Danny our 0:11:18.120 --> 0:11:19.800 bass player can be like Okay, well, what if we 0:11:19.840 --> 0:11:21.840 try you know what I mean? Sometimes all I can 0:11:21.920 --> 0:11:24.640 use is like imagery for that kind of stuff because 0:11:24.679 --> 0:11:27.000 I don't have the vocabulary that they have. So the 0:11:27.040 --> 0:11:28.960 two of you go out and get who what happens now? 0:11:29.080 --> 0:11:31.920 So after we talk, I texted a lot of the 0:11:31.920 --> 0:11:33.440 guys who you know are now in the group, and 0:11:33.480 --> 0:11:36.000 I made a joke. I'm like, I'm starting supergroup right 0:11:36.080 --> 0:11:39.200 around this lead singer. Here's like a voice moment on 0:11:39.240 --> 0:11:42.319 an iPhone, maybe a thirty second clip of him singing. Right. 0:11:42.400 --> 0:11:45.559 So I texted, you know, Daniel Zuktar bass player, Justin 0:11:45.640 --> 0:11:49.800 Siegel are drummer, and I was like, tomorrow my bedroom, 0:11:50.080 --> 0:11:53.640 everybody meet, bring your instruments. And it was the next day. 0:11:53.720 --> 0:11:55.959 They were like, yeah, I'm in sounds great? Was that 0:11:56.080 --> 0:11:59.080 like for you? I was so embarrassed because they like 0:11:59.240 --> 0:12:02.760 actually joyed that clip enough to like come in. And 0:12:02.800 --> 0:12:04.280 I also like, growing up, I didn't have a lot 0:12:04.320 --> 0:12:05.679 of guy friends, so it was like I was very 0:12:05.760 --> 0:12:08.080 very nervous. In fact, I had one guy friend, Um 0:12:08.200 --> 0:12:10.800 and Colin made everything really really comfortable and the guys 0:12:10.800 --> 0:12:13.000 were super super chill, and but I was nervous because, 0:12:13.000 --> 0:12:15.120 like I just didn't know if they were interested in 0:12:15.200 --> 0:12:17.079 the thing or if they thought something was like stupid 0:12:17.200 --> 0:12:19.800 or um and I, you know, I just I don't know. 0:12:19.840 --> 0:12:22.720 I was very like on edge about the whole thing. 0:12:22.800 --> 0:12:24.199 But then like as soon as we got into the 0:12:24.280 --> 0:12:26.960 room and there was this the first song UM written 0:12:27.000 --> 0:12:30.559 was a song called Skittles and UM, we just started 0:12:30.600 --> 0:12:32.320 playing it together there they're Colin was like, let's just 0:12:32.400 --> 0:12:35.280 jam on it, and I was like, that's I had 0:12:35.280 --> 0:12:36.760 like a kind of like a I was like this. 0:12:36.920 --> 0:12:39.160 I was like, this is it. This is like never 0:12:39.240 --> 0:12:42.880 jammed before, never had and so I don't know, it 0:12:42.960 --> 0:12:45.360 was cool. It was cool, It was it felt fun. 0:12:45.559 --> 0:12:48.400 It was before actually had a different guitar player at 0:12:48.440 --> 0:12:52.439 the time. Interesting, how do you tell someone but it's 0:12:52.440 --> 0:12:56.199 not he's so sweet, like a very sweet I think 0:12:56.240 --> 0:12:58.760 what happened ultimately was it's nothing to do with reflection 0:12:58.760 --> 0:13:02.200 of anybody's ability or talent. It became clear just at 0:13:02.240 --> 0:13:04.040 that point in our lives, at the four of us, 0:13:04.320 --> 0:13:05.560 you know, we were the ones who are like this 0:13:05.600 --> 0:13:07.600 is this is it for us? This was kind of 0:13:07.600 --> 0:13:10.160 are all in. There was no like backup options. It 0:13:10.280 --> 0:13:12.680 was just for a bunch of young men. Where do 0:13:12.720 --> 0:13:15.280 you rehearse? Where do you right? How do you get 0:13:15.280 --> 0:13:18.360 out of the garage and into the club and performing? 0:13:18.400 --> 0:13:23.439 We're still in the kitchen. That's were the bedroom band 0:13:23.480 --> 0:13:26.120 to a kitchen band because there was another place. But 0:13:26.400 --> 0:13:28.360 in an ideal world, is there another place you should 0:13:28.360 --> 0:13:32.240 be rehearsing? Yeah, certainly, I just think, Uh, there's an 0:13:32.320 --> 0:13:34.080 endless amount of studio space in l A. It's just 0:13:34.080 --> 0:13:37.000 to rehearse, to rehearse. It's just it's expensive and unfortunately 0:13:37.040 --> 0:13:39.800 that's the process. I mean, we're pretty young as a band, 0:13:39.960 --> 0:13:42.839 and we've been incredibly fortunate um for a lot of 0:13:42.840 --> 0:13:46.080 the opportunities we received. You know, we started out playing 0:13:46.120 --> 0:13:50.319 like the smallest bars and clubs you've never heard of, 0:13:50.480 --> 0:13:53.720 right like where Yeah, like the State Social House, you 0:13:53.720 --> 0:13:56.120 know what I mean. We're like in West Hollywood, Like 0:13:56.160 --> 0:14:00.079 this is all like many seats, we're playing to a 0:14:00.080 --> 0:14:03.640 wall and the people the literally very small and like 0:14:03.640 --> 0:14:08.560 this is the stage was as big as this stage. 0:14:08.679 --> 0:14:11.840 Imagine like a drum kit, basis, a keyboard, everything was 0:14:11.880 --> 0:14:13.199 on and you were one of how many acts on 0:14:13.240 --> 0:14:15.400 the show That meant oh that was just us. It 0:14:15.480 --> 0:14:20.640 was just thirty five minutes. Yeah, we did our best. Yeah, 0:14:20.760 --> 0:14:23.440 the sound guy took a phone call and yeah, exactly, 0:14:23.840 --> 0:14:28.480 it was amazing. That's why it's it's interesting to the 0:14:28.520 --> 0:14:30.360 process like where we started and obviously we have a 0:14:30.360 --> 0:14:32.880 long way to go, but you know, we've been really 0:14:32.960 --> 0:14:35.440 lucky about you know, we headlined the Trooper Door at 0:14:35.440 --> 0:14:37.520 some point because we got an option. Did that happened? 0:14:37.680 --> 0:14:40.280 So we got an opportunity to open for We played 0:14:40.320 --> 0:14:42.720 there twice beforehand. You would play there a couple of 0:14:42.720 --> 0:14:45.480 times before. How do you first get into the Trooper Door? Okay, 0:14:45.480 --> 0:14:48.800 so you send up a tape. Usually came to the 0:14:49.120 --> 0:14:52.400 little club that you were in. The first opportunity was 0:14:52.440 --> 0:14:55.240 our bass player played in another band, kind of local. 0:14:55.240 --> 0:14:59.040 They've since disbanded um and they were playing and they 0:14:59.040 --> 0:15:00.800 wanted an opening act, right, They had a couple of 0:15:00.800 --> 0:15:03.240 bands playing, three or four bands playing, so we played. 0:15:03.760 --> 0:15:06.960 Then the next time one of the acts was there 0:15:06.960 --> 0:15:09.880 and saw us. Him and his manager approached us because 0:15:10.160 --> 0:15:12.600 they thought we fit their style and they really liked 0:15:12.600 --> 0:15:14.920 our show and like, will you guys be our opener? 0:15:15.360 --> 0:15:18.920 And after that show, I got in pretty close with 0:15:19.080 --> 0:15:22.680 the booker at the Troubador. His name is Amy. She 0:15:22.880 --> 0:15:24.680 like emailed me the next day like hey, great show, 0:15:24.680 --> 0:15:27.120 Like when we booked Purda for a headlining show, and 0:15:27.120 --> 0:15:30.240 then that was it. And then from there we did 0:15:30.280 --> 0:15:34.320 our headlining show and someone from w OM came because 0:15:34.320 --> 0:15:37.440 he knew Amy really well, and she's like, you gotta 0:15:37.440 --> 0:15:39.360 come check out the show, and you know, we we 0:15:39.400 --> 0:15:42.640 did a couple of creative things. My roommate actually works 0:15:42.680 --> 0:15:45.360 at WOM, so he went to the A and R 0:15:45.880 --> 0:15:49.120 people secretly without mentioning our relationship, was like, listen, you 0:15:49.200 --> 0:15:52.520 gotta cover this show. I promise you'd be great. So 0:15:52.520 --> 0:15:55.040 they sent a couple of agents who had no expectations 0:15:55.040 --> 0:15:58.400 like all right, some local band whatever. And after the show, 0:15:58.480 --> 0:15:59.880 like they all came up to me, and you know, 0:16:00.240 --> 0:16:02.920 our agent, Ben Schiffer was just kind of like this 0:16:02.960 --> 0:16:06.280 is amazing, um, like can how do we talk? The 0:16:06.600 --> 0:16:09.200 reason I love this because this is something I'm kind 0:16:09.200 --> 0:16:11.880 of obsessed with is I'm always saying to people like 0:16:11.960 --> 0:16:15.360 when they'rever I've taught acting, they get right to the 0:16:15.440 --> 0:16:17.520 career question. If we do a Q and A. They 0:16:17.520 --> 0:16:20.320 don't want to talk about lighting in films and they 0:16:20.320 --> 0:16:22.040 don't want to have anything technical. They're like, how do 0:16:22.080 --> 0:16:23.520 I get an agent, how do I make it? You know? 0:16:23.920 --> 0:16:26.480 For their version of that, And I'll say to them, 0:16:26.520 --> 0:16:28.760 you know, be in anything like, you got to just 0:16:28.800 --> 0:16:30.600 put it out there. You gotta play in the shitty 0:16:30.600 --> 0:16:34.920 little club that's got like we're just playing to a wall. 0:16:35.240 --> 0:16:37.320 You've got to put it out there and it's going 0:16:37.360 --> 0:16:39.320 to come back to you. And if you don't, it 0:16:39.400 --> 0:16:41.400 might take some time. And if it doesn't come back 0:16:41.400 --> 0:16:42.960 to you and you put it out there, then you 0:16:42.960 --> 0:16:51.680 know you tried. This is not what our My guests 0:16:51.680 --> 0:16:56.040 are lead singer Matt Basolka and keyboardist slash manager Colin 0:16:56.120 --> 0:17:00.000 Kenrick of the band Perta. This is their song still Unrelieved, 0:17:00.000 --> 0:17:06.520 East the Woods on the Brier. Nobody had an eye 0:17:06.560 --> 0:17:10.200 for the big act like Ron Delsoner New York's foremost 0:17:10.280 --> 0:17:14.040 concert promoter for more than forty years. It's a huge 0:17:14.119 --> 0:17:17.800 and poorly understood job. I had this show at p 0:17:18.040 --> 0:17:21.119 eighty four, which has appeared that the long showman control that. 0:17:21.200 --> 0:17:23.400 I didn't really know that until they said, hey, we've 0:17:23.440 --> 0:17:25.240 got to help you here. A lot of the guys 0:17:25.280 --> 0:17:27.120 day will connect the who cares. I'll tell you about 0:17:27.160 --> 0:17:31.040 that later when the guy dies he's still alive. The 0:17:31.119 --> 0:17:34.520 rest of that conversation in our archive that here's the 0:17:34.600 --> 0:17:39.359 thing dot org after the break. What it's like having 0:17:39.560 --> 0:17:42.520 major label A and R court you at night, then 0:17:42.600 --> 0:18:04.520 serving Latte's in the morning and come do this let 0:18:05.640 --> 0:18:17.040 that game. This is Alec Baldwin and you're listening to 0:18:17.200 --> 0:18:22.240 here's the thing. I'm gonna take flight off the chi 0:18:22.800 --> 0:18:26.719 because I can feel in my bones. I've got that 0:18:26.800 --> 0:18:32.720 East Coast thunderfol cats in the valley on my pelvis, 0:18:32.840 --> 0:18:36.040 and I got in my family's faith and I gave 0:18:36.160 --> 0:18:47.800 it to me. I gotta trust funds like it doesn't 0:18:47.840 --> 0:18:51.320 love trust fund from the band Perta, which includes my 0:18:51.400 --> 0:18:55.120 two guests today, Colin Kenrick and Matt Basalka, who are 0:18:55.160 --> 0:18:59.200 still figuring out how to overcome stage fright. This is Matt. 0:18:59.520 --> 0:19:02.960 I do very very nervous, but I have this thing 0:19:03.119 --> 0:19:05.720 I haven't told anybody yet, but I like pretend like 0:19:05.760 --> 0:19:08.200 I'm walking into warm water and that really helps me. 0:19:08.480 --> 0:19:11.240 And I always try to make an entrance um one 0:19:11.280 --> 0:19:14.200 for the theatricality of it, but like also because fans 0:19:14.280 --> 0:19:17.879 demanded right exactly all three of them. Um. It just 0:19:17.920 --> 0:19:20.960 helps me like kind of like click into place I 0:19:20.960 --> 0:19:22.720 can fall back on the technical if I need to, 0:19:22.800 --> 0:19:24.960 But I end up always kind of after at least 0:19:24.960 --> 0:19:27.080 the first song. I I always kind of get lost 0:19:27.119 --> 0:19:30.000 and like I don't know, like I said, when I 0:19:30.040 --> 0:19:31.960 was growing up and I was performing those shows for 0:19:32.040 --> 0:19:34.760 my grandparents, it was always just such bliss and freedom 0:19:34.840 --> 0:19:37.560 and like um and we were running amuck around the 0:19:37.560 --> 0:19:39.480 house and like all of the crafts were available to 0:19:39.560 --> 0:19:41.000 us from the basement, so we were able to make 0:19:41.000 --> 0:19:43.399 these costumes. And because the lights are in my eyes 0:19:43.440 --> 0:19:45.840 are like it really feels like I'm going back to 0:19:45.960 --> 0:19:49.520 like those times. If I would do a movie, it 0:19:49.600 --> 0:19:51.840 was always like what can I do to stay in 0:19:51.880 --> 0:19:55.480 a certain state that is symbiotic with the work I'm doing. 0:19:55.480 --> 0:19:57.879 So if I'm doing something very light, the hardest thing 0:19:57.960 --> 0:19:59.760 is to be as light and free and funny and 0:20:00.000 --> 0:20:02.560 warm and generous of spirit. So I was doing like 0:20:02.560 --> 0:20:04.639 a comedy. I go in my room and I'd watch 0:20:04.680 --> 0:20:07.840 like Dopeye comedies on the TV. I'd watch something like 0:20:07.880 --> 0:20:10.560 it Hot, and I'd watch Nothing to Take to blow 0:20:10.640 --> 0:20:13.280 the wind, you know. My sales in any direction that 0:20:13.400 --> 0:20:15.920 was like heavy, so that when they say, okay, we're 0:20:15.920 --> 0:20:17.399 ready for you, they knock up the trail and they 0:20:17.440 --> 0:20:18.440 go We're ready for you, and I go out and 0:20:18.480 --> 0:20:22.399 be like, hey, I'm ready and whatever my thing is. 0:20:22.440 --> 0:20:23.840 And then if it was the opposite, if I was 0:20:23.880 --> 0:20:27.480 doing something really heavy and really dark, We're watching Scarface 0:20:27.560 --> 0:20:29.760 on a loop like for nine hours old and wanted 0:20:29.840 --> 0:20:32.159 to stay in that zone of like you want to 0:20:32.160 --> 0:20:34.399 funk with me, you want to funk with me, okay, 0:20:34.720 --> 0:20:36.600 but then I want to paddle back into that current 0:20:36.760 --> 0:20:39.160 in front of the camera. So for you, you try 0:20:39.160 --> 0:20:41.480 to relax and get yourself in some zones. Yeah, I 0:20:42.320 --> 0:20:45.800 usually spend the day like being alone. I have to. 0:20:45.840 --> 0:20:48.600 I have to like interesting. Yeah, even in New York, 0:20:48.680 --> 0:20:50.960 like the boys stayed in one house and I got 0:20:50.960 --> 0:20:52.959 to see you when you were barbed, like don't come in. 0:20:54.440 --> 0:20:57.920 You never's quiet, and then the day of the show 0:20:57.960 --> 0:21:01.080 comes and it's just like silent. It's you know what 0:21:01.080 --> 0:21:02.960 I mean. He doesn't want to talk to anybody. It's 0:21:03.040 --> 0:21:06.879 like very like you whisper to him. He's the maestro. 0:21:07.080 --> 0:21:09.320 He's drinking teen Like all right, so talk to me 0:21:09.359 --> 0:21:13.439 about songwriting. Do you have an album's worth the songs together? 0:21:13.880 --> 0:21:15.679