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ALICIA J ROSE
im Perry could see it all around him—
that dreadful, six-letter word that's
able to kill a musician, a band, or even
a whole scene: apathy. It was brewing in his
native Portland music scene, and he was ready
to call it quits.
"I looked around me and saw a lot of
shoulder shrugging. Very little wholehearted,
enthusiastic commitment to a feeling. That
creates a not-very-safe environment to state
your feelings outright," he says. "I came out
of [past bands] a little jaded on music and
the experience of working with other people,
just because people work together so differ
ently and commitment means a lot of different
things to a lot of different people. I decided
that if I was going to do it again, I was going
to do it with people who were very whole
hearted about it and as enthusiastic as I was
to play music."
Perry's willingness to return to the music
game with AgesandAges, a seven-piece folk-
rock band, was contingent on a nearly perfect
lineup of like-minded others. With that lineup
in place, the bandmembers (figuratively)
retreated from the negativity they saw around
them to create a community where their song
writing process could creatively flourish.
"These songs and this music and the way
I went about writing it thematically and lyri
cally were pulling out of some imagery of a
collective or a commune or a cult of sorts,"
says Perry. "I envisioned this group of people
who willfully removed themselves from what
they considered to be a very negative place.
They put themselves far away from this and
built their own community and, essentially,
wrote a bunch of songs reaffirming their
beliefs."
AgesandAges is, in many ways, an exem
plary commune Each member takes great
care in even the smallest of tasks to serve the
greater good in their tightly wound, soulful
folk-rock sing-alongs.
"Every hand clap, every shaker, every per
cussive offbeat is an addition to the overall
idea. Every harmony, every background vocal
part and every voice that adds to the epic
choral moments is absolutely necessary," he
says. "We don't have seven members just
because one of them hums towards the end
of one song. There's energy coming from all
those different people, constantly doing some
thing different to create the song and create
the moment."
The potential energy of a moment was
the driving force for the recording process of
the band's debut, Alright You Restless, which
focused less on high-tech equipment and
accepted method and more on serving the
song as the band would in a live setting.
"We live in a time where we can go in
and overdub myself 24 times and sound like
a room full of people, but when it comes to
playing live, that doesn't come across," says
Perry. "That means when we went into the stu
dio, we made a definite decision that we were
going to blast through the songs live. Just set
up a mic in the middle and do it. We didn't
even use headphones."
Perry took his time deciding to form a
band again in the first place, and more time
in assembling the crew around him. So. it's
no surprise that he preaches patience in what
that group produces as it moves forward.
"It's like fishing or something. You can
wait and wait and wait, and it just takes a
while... It may take a month to write a song,
but at the end of the month you've got a
song, and it really doesn't matter anymore
how hard it was and what you had to go
through to get it. At the end of the struggle,
it exists."
And it now exists for the first time on the
road, a place Perry is certain his high-energy
collective can captivate the audiences soon to
see them for the first time.
"My first and foremost hope is that this
will all be a productive conversation," he says.
"We're just gonna go and play our hearts out
wherever we can, playing and establishing
that connection and taking part in that con
versation. We're excited to meet people and
let good times prevail."
Alec Wooden
WHO: lake, AgesandAges,
Casper and the Cookies
WHERE: "The Dream Operator," email
quaiityfaucetrecords@gmail.com for info
WHEN: Friday, Apr. 22,9 p.m.
HOW MUCH: $5 suggested donation
V ■ ✓
TIVAL
Honoring Earth Day
Easter Sunday Church Service
8:00am
AmerioA*! Oldest Brewery
3 Days (g) $50
1 Day @ $35
Super Easter Egg Hunt- Free 10:00am
w/T»cket Purchase
For 12yrs & younger
Li
Msaws-t-c-.-.
Durhamtown Plantation
April 22 nd , 23 rd , 24*
3 Days & Nights
Over 45 Bands on 3
ATV-Dirt Bike Riding
Park Open all
weekend!
j * DP Special*
I $10 Ride fee with Event
Ticket!!
Rock, Country Rock, Reggae, Acoustic, Blues, Alternative, Metal & More!
Comedians * Glass Blowing * Back Flipping Motorcycles
Street Bike Stunts * Cirque du green *Allegreen House
Hot Dog Eating Contest * Vendors *Frisbee Golf * Art Activities
Kids Activity Area * Easter Egg Hunt
Come for 1 Day or 3 Days * Camping Available * No Coolers Please!
More info: www.durhamtown.com or 706-486-4603
APRIL 20,2011 FLAGPOLE.COM 19
