I really enjoyed listening to ‘Every Silver Lining’. What was your thought process behind the title?
Pete: “First of all, I am hopeless at thinking of titles for my tracks and for my albums – it’s always such a struggle for me. One previous album was actually called ‘Nameless’ because I couldn’t think of a name! But in this case, I did think about it more and was partly responding to comments I’d had about my music containing elements of melancholy as well as being uplifting. As I say in the insert that comes with the album, I always try deliberately to make positive music despite suffering from depression. It’s a decision I made a while ago but on this album I felt there were a few quite melancholy tracks, particularly Wintersong. And in that case, I made Summersong as the antidote to that. So ‘Every silver lining’ comes from the saying ‘every silver lining has a cloud’ which is the pessimistic or cynical response to the traditional British saying of ‘every cloud has a silver lining’. So it reflects my feelings that life is a mixture of dark and light.”
How was your album making process different this time?
Pete: “The main difference was the fact that I held on to the tracks and didn’t release them straight away. I also have ADHD and music is the one thing that I can focus on for hours so I make new tracks more or less every day and, in the past, I’ve released them quickly to avoid losing interest in them. This time, I didn’t rush and that gave me the opportunity to do two things: I was able to adjust small parts of tracks to make them better – by adding a new start or deepening the feel of a track – and I was able to really think carefully about the running order. I spent a lot of time (for me) trying to get the right pacing from the opening tracks to the last track and some people have noticed this which feels great. Also, unusually this time, I had quite a lot of tracks to choose from so was able to choose the ones that I felt went together best. Just in case people don’t know, though, all my tracks are made on an iPad using an app called Beatwave which can sample but doesn’t allow overdubs.”
What was it that first drew you to the music industry?
Pete: “I don’t know about the industry, but I have loved music for as long as I can remember. It is something that I just can’t do without. My first instrument was a drum kit and before that I used to bang on plastic boxes. And usually alongside the drums was some kind of keyboard – a Casio VL-1 or something else. My early musical tastes were a mix of electronic music like Kraftwerk, Vangelis, Tangerine Dream; prog rock like Yes, Rush and Genesis; heavy rock and punk. I grew up in Manchester and one of my earliest gigs was seeing Buzzcocks supported by Joy Division. I decided a couple of years ago to put my music out on Bandcamp because I wanted feedback and, of course, hoped that people would like it. I also started going to EMOMs (Electronic Music Open Mic nights) for the same reason. That’s a very supportive community of people and it’s been great to see more women coming through to perform in recent times.”
I think my favourite on the album has to be ‘summersong’. Do you have a favourite song or one you enjoyed making most?
Pete: “Oh, that’s a tough question. Usually when I finish a track, that one becomes my new favourite – I’m such a kid! Of the songs on the album, Silver Lining and Third Stroke were the last ones I wrote. I remember being very pleased with the first track, Radiance, because of the way the bass comes in and how the end builds up. Funnily enough, when I couldn’t think of a title for this, I asked my friend Jess Brett what the track made her think of and she replied ‘radiance’ so that was the title. I deliberately put Invisible Parade as the final track because I like how the melody comes around again as a distant echo. Summersong is certainly the most up-beat track, and very obviously influenced by Kraftwerk, and I was happy with how I could take the melody from Wintersong and create this positive companion track.”
How would you describe the music industry community?
Pete: “My experience of it in terms of trying to find ways of reaching people with my music in a very small way, has been mainly positive. I found lots of very helpful people on social media – people who run internet radio stations and podcasts – and they helped with advice about how to use services like Distrokid to get onto Bandcamp and Spotify. And they gave me positive feedback on my tracks, particularly recognising my love of my 80’s influences. Getting live gigs is harder but, again, if you can use your connections to recommend you, that certainly helps. Another musician friend of mine, Mistrust, helped me get some gigs in branches of HMV which was a great experience. Fortunately, I’m doing this because I love it, not as my career.”
What do you do when you’re not making music?
Pete: “I’m really happy to be doing the communications for a project dedicated to addressing climate change so that’s my full time job. I like photography and being visually creative too. We also have a two year old labrador who is a great source of dopamine for me.”
How would you detail your music taste and does it influence your own style?
Pete: “My musical taste is quite broad I would say and if I like something, it doesn’t matter which genre it’s from. I really love CMAT at the moment, The Staves, Dan Brown, Christine and the Queens. I often listen to 6 Music but sometimes I feel I’m not cool enough to listen to it! But I would say my own style is rooted in those early synthpop pioneers – like Kraftwerk, Tangerine Dream, Vangelis, Depeche Mode, Visage, Yazoo. I like rhythm and melody and simplicity – oh, and did I mention positivity?”
You can listen to Found Object’s music here: