Liam Peroyea

Interview With Liam Peroyea

SBS:  Welcome to our pages!  Whether you’ve been here with us in some way before, or you’re brand-new to the site, it’s probably best to get an introduction from you so that we get everyone on the same page to start.  Tell us a little bit about the history of your music, and what’s happening with it lately!?!

Liam Peroyea:  Thanks for having me!  I am so happy to have my first interview ever about my music!  I’ve been making music seriously for about a year now, even though I’ve been playing piano for a while before that.  Earlier this year, I released my second album Burn, and it’s been amazing to see people connect with it.  Right now, I’m continuing to explore a mix of rock and emotional piano-driven songs, and I’m really excited to be releasing a brand-new single very soon.  It’s a track I’ve put a lot into, and I can’t wait to share it with everyone.

SBS:  Let’s talk about the before and after of where you’re currently at.  What’s something about the music that you’re making now that you don’t think you could have done five years ago, and what’s something you think you’ll be able to do with your music five years from now that you can’t do today?  How have you grown as an artist/band, and what steps do you take to continue your artistic evolution?

Liam:  Five years ago, I didn’t even know how to write a full song.  I was just experimenting on the piano, trying to make sense of the sounds I liked.  Now, I’m writing, producing, and releasing music that feels like a true reflection of me.  I’ve grown so much as a songwriter and as a storyteller.  In five years, I hope to be performing live, collaborating with artists, and hopefully reaching even more people.  I want to keep evolving, both technically and emotionally, and continue challenging myself with new styles and stories.

SBS:  If you were to assess the overall health of the independent music scene right now, what would you say?  What are the positives and the negatives about the current state of independent music, and what do you feel like artists & bands can do to contribute to the community & help it grow beyond the music being made?  If you’re not actively looking to listen to the music of other independent artists/bands, is it really all that fair to expect anyone would listen to yours?  How do you help the scene around you grow?

Liam:  The indie scene has a ton of talent and ideas, which is awesome, but it also means there’s a lot of noise.  It’s easy to put music out now, but getting people to actually care is a whole different thing.  You’ve just gotta keep making good stuff and hope it cuts through.

SBS:  What do you consider to be the biggest accomplishment or achievement you’ve had with your music to-date?  How do you personally measure your own success – is that something that even can be measured?  Is it awards, accolades, chart position…or is your definition of success based on something entirely different?  Should success, however you define it, be something that artists are continually focused on – or is success something that naturally occurs in the course of doing what you love to do?

Liam:  Probably releasing Burn.  It’s my second album, but it’s the first time I really pushed myself to make something that felt polished and consistent all the way through.  I focused a lot more on structure, flow, and making sure every track had a purpose.  It marked a turning point in how seriously I approach my music.

SBS:  When you’re working on something brand-new, and something about it just doesn’t feel like it’s coming together the way that you think it should, how do you know when it’s time to give up on it, or how do you know that it’s time to dig in even harder and find a way to make it work?  Are there distinct red flags you can hear when something’s not working?  What are the signs you look for that tell you to stop forcing the material?  What would actually encourage you to keep going with the process instead?

Liam:  When I have a new song and I keep on listening to it over and over again, I know the song is worth working on.  What I do when I come up with a new song is immediately record the song and work on it, writing lyrics, adding harmonies, and adding instruments.  If something keeps pulling me back to an idea, that usually means there’s something worth finishing.

SBS:  One of the points of general consensus in the art of making music, is that we all get our sound from somewhere…we hear what we like, then more often than not, we take tiny pieces of what we love to find our own voice & approach to go on and make music in our own way.  Essentially, what I’m saying is that it’s absolutely natural to be inspired by other artists/bands, and almost every artist/band ends up having that inspiration show up in their own work in some way, shape, or form.  What the real key is though, is retaining your own organic perspective – you still wanna be original too, right?  So how do you go about doing that?  Are there artists or bands that you know have been an influence on your style & sound?  How were you able to incorporate that influence without becoming too noticeably derivative and still be yourself?  Should we embrace and celebrate our influences more than we do?  It’s almost like we try not to admit influences exist in the pursuit of being original, but it’s like, bruh…if it’s there, we can hear it.  We all borrow something from those that came before us to some extent, don’t we?

Liam:  I definitely get inspired by artists like Coldplay—I love how they blend emotional lyrics with huge, powerful soundscapes.  One line that really stuck with me was “and nothing else compares” from “Clocks.”  I actually reworked that part with new chords and rhythm just to see how it could feel in my own style.  I think it’s okay to borrow ideas, all artists do, but it becomes original when you filter it through your own emotions and experiences.

SBS:  Has there ever been a time where you wrote something inside one of your songs…maybe it’s a lyrical line, or maybe it’s a riff of some kind…something that you did, where you surprised yourself?  I like to think we all have a moment or two where we can stand back and be amazed by something we created, and appreciate the fact that maybe, just maybe, we exceeded our own expectations of what we thought we could accomplish – you know what I mean?  Get as specific as you can so the fans out there know what they should be paying attention to when they hear it – what’s your favorite thing that you’ve written on the inside of one of your songs, and why does this particular piece resonate so much to you?

Liam:  Yes — for sure.  In “Out Of Time,” there’s a moment where the chord progression takes a turn I didn’t expect while writing it.  Back to being inspired by other artists, I was inspired by the song “God Put A Smile Upon Your Face,” which has really strange chords, because it’s in an alternate tuning.  In the song “Out Of Time” it has this chord F#7♭9♯11 which sounds super confusing and “music theory-esc” and I don’t really know what it means, but it was such a confusing chord, that I was surprised.

SBS:  I’ve been having a lot of great debates lately about whether or not everybody that’s making music has the right to be heard…and you’d probably be surprised by how different people seem to feel about this issue.  I know where I stand on it, and I think you can all probably get an idea of what my position would be from this free interview we’re doing here & the way we run things at sleepingbagstudios…but regardless, I’m putting this question out there to you, because I’m interested in YOUR perspective.  Just because you’ve made a song, does that mean people should listen?  If your answer is yes, do your best to explain why you feel that way & why we should make a sincere effort to listen to the music of others.  If your answer is no, explain why you feel that way, but also explain why people should still be listening to your music if that’s the case – what would make your music the exception, and not follow the rule?  Is there any value to an idea that’s not finished, or a song in its demo stages, or maybe something that’s not recorded in a top-shelf studio or with good equipment – somebody still took the time to make that song to the best of their ability with the means they had to create it – should that be listened to, or not?

Liam:  Yes.  Every song is a piece of someone’s heart and effort.  Even if it’s just a demo recorded on a phone, it still deserves a listen.  People are putting themselves out there, and that takes courage.  We can’t expect others to care about our music if we’re not willing to care about theirs.  Listening is part of being in a creative community, and I try to do that as much as I can.  It’s not about how “polished” something is — it’s about the emotion behind it.

SBS:  There are ups and downs in the dynamics of almost every album we listen to, with very few exceptions.  Even those exceptions, probably still come down to more of a personal preference about what we enjoy about music and how we personally hear it, rather than anything being completely and totally “perfect” – you know what I mean?  Does an album actually need to have some kind of up/down dynamics in terms of what’s appealing to the masses in order for the best of the best songs in a lineup to be fully appreciated?  Wouldn’t every artist & band avoid the ‘down’ side (less accessible/less popular for example) if they could?  Does the ‘down’ side represent something else perhaps, like the story of an album or journey of an artist?  Is the ‘up’ side of a record as potent or noticeable if it doesn’t have a ‘down’ side to go with it?  Would a completely balanced album somehow be boring if it didn’t have the ups/downs that most have?  Do we HAVE to like every single song on a record for it to be considered complete?  Are the dynamics of an album something anyone can really steer in the direction they want to, or are all artists & bands simply going with the strongest material they have created at the time?

Liam:  Yes, I think albums need dynamics to tell a full story.  If every song is high-energy, none of them stand out.  The quieter or more experimental songs give the big ones more impact.  Burn has some emotional, stripped-down songs and also some that are more Rock and intense.  It’s about the contrast.

SBS:  I wanna send out a shout-out to YOU from me personally – I appreciate everyone that has taken the time to talk tunes with me throughout the years, and I appreciate the time YOU have taken with this interview too.  Because this one’s a little different in the sense that it’s been sent out to multiple people and is a little more generic in that regard, I have no doubt whatsoever that we probably didn’t get to talk to you about something you wanted to talk about – so let’s fix that!  This final space is what we call the SBS Open Floor – a spot where you can say anything else you want to say to the people out there.  It can be anything at all…your main websites…something else you want them to know about you and/or your music…your favorite bands in the scene right now…the secret 11 herbs and spices to the Colonel’s secret recipe – you get the idea, and it’s probably best you choose something that suits you rather than take any of my suggestions, but feel free to take the SBS Open Floor for a ride.  Whatever it is you want the people to know, now is the prime time for you to tell’em!  Thanks again for everything – keep in touch!

Liam:  Thank you so much for this opportunity!  If you’re reading this, I’d love for you to check out my music — my latest album Burn is available on all streaming platforms, and I’ve got a new single on the way that I’m really excited about.  You can follow me on Instagram, YouTube, and all socials @liamperoyea.  I appreciate everyone who listens and supports indie artists — it really means a lot.

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