This interview was originally published on the BluesinNZ web site in 2008.The site never really got off the ground due to several reasons I've just scaled it back to create this blog.
So, in the first ever interview I talk one of New Zealand’s premier bluesmen.
Darcy Perry has worked alongside such New Zealand blues icons as Bullfrog Rata, Midge Marsden and Shayn Wills before fronting his own band in pubs and clubs around the country.
Now established on the New Zealand festival circuit, the band is touring internationally and after sharing the stage with Buddy Guy at the inaugural The Coromandel Peninsula Blues and Roots Music Festival 2008 and have finished the hard work on their new album.
ANBTB: Hi Darcy, thanks very much for talking with BluesinNZ. How’s it going?
DP: Great! Thanks for getting in touch and congratulations on the new website.
Darcy PerryANBTB: Thanks... I understand your currently recording a new album, how is that progressing?
DP: Well, this is an album from a band I really enjoy working with. Great musicians and good people. More than ever before, the song writing is coming from all of us. So we're making sure we get all the good stuff packed in tight. Right now we are putting demo tracks down at Helium Studios. At the end of June we will be recording a whole band live demo as part of the pre-production. Then it will be a case of picking the best for a final return to the studio (probably Montage or Revolver).
ANBTB: What role has ‘the Blues’ played in the creation of your music?
DP: I’ve released four blues albums with another one due October 2008. I expect a lot of the songs I write would fit in other genres as well. Definitely my arrangements are open to improvisation when played live. No matter what I do musically (rock, funk, soul, etc.), blues is the style that most people hear. Having a great band helps. With Craig Bracken on harmonica a song gets an authentic blues stamp without much effort on my part! I keep my writing simple. Everything starts with a feeling, the truth and a groove. When it comes to working in the studio, having musical direction from someone as talented as Simen Taylor is also a boon. His skills on the piano have seen him tour internationally with Tim Finn but it’s his ears and love for blues music that I value most when recording.
ANBTB: On your first album you recorded some classic blues covers and of course for Blues 4 Dad. All the songs your other records are all original tunes, do you find that writing blues songs is a much part of being a blues musician as playing them?
DP: My first blues album was 8 covers and an original instrumental, the title track Blues 4 Dad. Previously I had recorded with original indie rock bands (Sweet Deceit, Nacho Mama, The Next Big Thing) and of course, live to air recordings with Bullfrog Rata. Bullfrog's set-list was exclusively covers of blues greats back then. I'd been talking about doing a blues album for years and when my dad died, I decided to record a tribute album. Kingsley Smith had introduced me to a young Norwegian piano player, Simen Aanerud. Simen was playing a lot of the blues standards I had in my set. I asked him if he would record a CD with me and the rest is history.
The instrumental song Blues 4 Dad had not been rehearsed. I gave the chord changes to the band, asked the drummer to play with brushes and we recorded it. Simple as that. I feel that song is my best recorded work to date. It felt like my dad was there in spirit. By the time I recorded the 2nd album (Don't Hold Back), I had a solid working band and a whole lot of song ideas. More than that though, I didn't want to have to pay royalties on the songs we were about to record. It cost about $900 the first time round and I guess I thought I could use that sort of money elsewhere.
In my mind, it doesn't matter who wrote the song. As long as you feel it when you sing it. If your heart is in it, that will shine through.
ANBTB: You've written several songs about your dad, was he a big influence on you as a musician?
DP: My father was a Brass Bandsman. His main instrument was trombone but he played anything else brass also. He gave me a trumpet when I was 7 and I started playing in public when I was 11. I played alongside him in Brass Bands throughout my teen years. Dad's record collection was also huge and covered everything from Tijuana Brass to Homer & Jethro at the Country Club. Classical music through to Comedy and everything in between. My mother had an extensive Beatles collection. She arrived in New Zealand at the age of 14 and knew all the lyrics off by heart but the Beatles didn't hit here until a few years later. In my early childhood the family record player was well-used.
I guess the biggest influence my dad had on me was that he enjoyed playing music. It wasn't serious. It was fun. Playing in the brass band with him was important because there was a connection playing music with him that I didn't have otherwise. Outside of the band hall he was dad and I was his eldest son. Inside the band hall we were men amongst men. I'm not sure I can explain it better than that.
ANBTB: B.B. King and Freddie King and Jimi Hendrix are often quoted as "influences" but didn't you start out with a trumpet? Then as a bass player? Why the switch to guitar?
DP: I always wanted to sing songs and play guitar, even though I didn't start playing until my early twenties. I guess the biggest reason for picking up bass was having a younger brother (Regan) who played guitar. In his early teens he was a regular "Hendrix" and I wanted to play along with him. Being older, I ended up booking the gigs as well. I have 3 younger brothers and we are all musicians. Regan is the only one who pursued music exclusively though. I don't believe he's ever had a job that didn't involve playing guitar. We formed Te Kuiti High School's first Rock Band and entered in the Rock Quest in 1991. Little Wing was the name of the band. We started doing gigs around the area and then changed the name to Native Gypsys (sic) and travelled as far afield as Auckland. I was eventually replaced as Bass player because Regan found a better one! It was around that time I joined a local covers/originals band called Sweet Deceit. I also jammed with anyone and everyone.
Soon after moving to Palmerston North (in '92?), a shared van trip in the company of Bullfrog Rata to see Chicago legend Junior Wells (Billy TK Jnr. Support) at the St. James in Wellington proved to be a life changing event. Bullfrog was looking for a bass player who could play the blues. I actually introduced him to Earl Pollard, his long time drummer and collaborator. I played bass and some harmonica in the band and also picked up some slide guitar tips from Bullfrog. After a failed marriage I left the Manawatu for the Waikato and started busking with an acoustic slide guitar plugged into a pignose amp. I formed a band or two (Basin Street, All Blues) and spent a year at the Polytech learning music theory/guitar studies (Rik Bernards), songwriting (Liam Ryan) and bluesology (Midge Marsden). Then came the move to Auckland, with my new wife and the present she bought me. A Gibson Les Paul. That guitar and a Buddy Guy CD (Vanguard years) picked up in a music store in San Francisco had a profound effect on my guitar playing. Buddy Guy is the biggest influence on Blues 4 Dad for certain.
Lightning Hopkins opened up my ears and fingers when I began working out the acoustic guitar. When I started out as an electric guitarist, Buddy Guy was who I had in my head. People would say to me, “Hey, I liked that Hendrix thing” or “it’s great when you play like Stevie Ray Vaughan” or “you sound just like B.B. King.” Well, I got all that from listening to Buddy Guy. Now further on in my career it’s not as obvious. I’ve made it my own. The whole idea of playing what you feel and being free to do what you want onstage. The band is a part of that too. Working with other musicians and jamming with fellow guitarists has taught me a lot and I share that knowledge whenever I can. Listen to everything and use what sticks. No matter who first inspired you, in the end you end up being yourself. In the blues, that’s the most important thing. Be yourself.
ANBTB: What are your thoughts about the current state of blues scene in New Zealand?
DP: At the moment though there is a real resurgence. The Blues is more popular than it's been for a while. It's always there. It always will be. One2One Café on Ponsonby Road has also done wonders for the Auckland folk & blues scene. Of course nationally you'd have to credit people like Brian Richards, Roger Fox and also all those fantastic blues/jazz/arts festivals New Zealand is becoming renowned for. A new generation of international blues musicians are reaching our shores and that’s fantastic. Blues societies/groups all over are brimming with new members, their love and patronage is boosting the live music scene. It’s a great time to be a blues artist!
The Darcy Perry BandDP: The band loved it! We had a ball, talking and exchanging philosophies with musicians from the world over. Yes, we even shook hands with Buddy Guy. In a sense that was a religious experience. It is fantastic that the Byron Bay festival has grown to the point it’s reached the Coromandel. Not only does this mean we get world class International artists here for Easter, there’ll be more NZ artists turn up over there in 2009. That’s our goal for now, performing at Byron Bay Bluesfest 2009.
ANBTB: Any plans to tour again when the new album is released?
DP: Yes. I’m heading overseas in 2008 with my band, with dates in Australia. We are also looking at venues for a summer tour here.
ANBTB: What's the best piece of advice you have ever received about playing the blues, and what would you like to say to any aspiring blues player?
DP: I guess from my own experience the best advice I can give is to keep playing. In my life I've had plenty of people tell me I'm not good enough. Often I was young and dumb enough to take that to heart. Work on your own thing and find people who share your vision. It's not enough to be a good musician (there are plenty of those out there), you have to be able to work with other people too. Even if you're a solo artist work on your people skills. Everything I have accomplished has been with the help of others. Share that gift as much as you can.
I’m excited that NZ artists are now getting more international recognition. They work hard for it, no doubt. I believe you make your own luck. I also believe you need to have a good band! My advice to others would be "have fun with your music and turn up on time". Attitude is everything!
ANBTB: Thanks very much Darcy, it was great to talk to you. Congratulations on the new record too.
Deatils of where you can get hold of a copy of Phoenix (the new album) are available on the Darcy Perry Band web site.
