In June of 2001, I had the opportunity to speak to Joe Pernice as Pernice Brothers were releasing The World Won't End, a record many consider a modern classic. In that interview, we discussed his influences, singing voice, his creative writing background, how the band got together and a myriad of subjects. This time around, we discuss the new release, Yours, Mine & Ours, 9/11, evolution of the Pernice Brothers sound and their upcoming tour.

The new CD combines beautiful songs, lyrics, performances, vocals, recording and magic to make it another modern classic. I urge you to purchase the CD from their website. It will be one of the best purchases you make this year or any year.

Click the cover above to purchase the new Pernice Brothers CD

DF: The new CD Yours, Mine & Ours has been met with uniformly positive reviews. How much of that do you pay attention to?

JP: I try not to pay attention to it. It messes with my head either good or bad. Because I run the label, I might get worried about the CD tanking or not. But I try to stay away from all of that.

DF: What about The Smiths and New Order references in reviews of Y, M & O's by so many critics?

JP: There is a New Order homage on one track in particular. The Smiths thing... I certainly loved them, they are one of my favorite bands. I think it has a lot to do with my new book, Meat is Murder. It is a hook for someone to hang onto. I don't really hear it. There is one song with a heavy reference to them; that's not one of the songs that anyone has ever mentioned.

DF: You are constantly being characterized as sounding like different artists. I've heard Brian Wilson, Bacharach, now...it's Morrissey. Do you think that the different sounds correspond with a mere different space in your life as opposed to the influence of any one artist?

JP: I think you have a wise reading and I appreciate that.

DF: The categorization helps but I think the variety of your influences and the breadth of what you do is not done justice by simple artist comparisons.

JP: I don't mind but today I did another interview and I had done press with the same magazine and the writer had an issue with the different names of the projects and that people might be bored with me because I am doing only one band.

DF: The one word to describe the PBs is not "boring" by any means.

DF: How did 9/11 effect your writing?

JP: The band was in a plane on 9/11 on our way to the UK. We landed and we found out what happened. We were stunned. We played a few shows. People were great to us. We just started hitting the bottle. We were just crazy.

DF: What was it like to play "Flaming Wreck" for the first time after 9/11?

JP: We didn't it play it for the first few shows, but it then became kind of an anthem, even though I didn't want it to be. It took on a whole new meaning for awhile. It was pretty intense the first time after 9/11. We cut the tour short. Right after that, I was so depressed that I was just going to quit because musicians, myself included, tend to be wrapped up in their own thing. I was thinking that I really didn't want to make another record.

DF: You said on your website that you rediscovered the joy of things after 9/11.

JP: I think that is what everyone did with the things they loved, not just me. It was a stunning time. After a few months, I started to come back around and I thought around January of this year that we should do another record. I looked at my list of songs which were ready, about 25 to 30. I really don't recall writing them. That's not like me. I had written them in the year prior but I barely remembered that. I had lifted out of a depression and I had no recollection of it. It was fuzzy. Just flashes.

DF: Do you find that some of your best work comes from your most depressed moments?

JP: For me, I think that you have to come back from that to a point of happiness. When I lifted out of the post 9/11 depression, I had power to do things. The depression phase I went through before informed the work I did later on when I felt better.

DF: There is a great quote from a Boston Globe interview: ''I've never gone anywhere with the happy songs. I just don't feel it,'' Pernice says. ''You know, I love my life. I've also had my share, like everybody, of things that are disturbing. Sometimes I dwell on fragility. I always feel like the person in the songs could just come apart at any minute. But when I listen to a sad song that seems to resonate with that truth, even though it might be dark, I find that so uplifting and so affirming. It's not even a misery-loves-company thing. There's just something inexplicable and beautiful about it.'' What I hear you saying is that the dark moments in the song subject may lead to a pure truth or discovery in the song subject. That is the beauty of it. Does that explain or illustrate the beauty at all? It seems the dark moments in time are moments of self examination that lead to truths about what is important to people in life. This is where I think that the beauty in your songs comes from.

JP: (Laughing) You have got to step out on a limb.

DF: I think really your music is happy.

JP: I think so. It's not always pretty but the truth is nice.

DF: The dark subjects are unpleasant things that allow you to compare them to the beautiful things in one's life.

JP: A theme I touch on is that the person in my songs seems to be making the same mistake over and over again. He's really stripped and struggling and trying to learn.

DF: Well, that person/song subject/theme seems to be evolving a bit through your career. Like on "Grudge Fuck" the guy is so detached, so isolated and so distant from the girl. "I feel like getting high. I promised that I would never touch you. No one could ever touch you." But there is the truth/realization there. With that, maybe he can find the strength to move on, but he hasn't really expressed how he feels about it. Then, something like "Shaken Baby". He begs her to stay, but he admits that he is "tired of the weight of pulling [her]". But he is now expressing himself. This CD, on "How to Live Alone", the subject finally seems to come to grips with fighting the isolation and neediness and is now comfortable alone, so he can truly be with someone. He is trying to "keep a foot out of the blacker end...how to live alone. A still and simple life". The subject has come full circle from isolation and inability to articulate his hopelessness to the truth of independence and understanding of self. The subject has clung to something/someone, now he is a whole person and can live with himself by himself, allowing him to be able to live with some else too. There is such maturity, depth and intensity there in the evolution I see.

JP: That's a really good reading.

DF: What is the inspiration for the title of the new record, Yours, Mine & Ours?

JP: It is from one of the songs on the CD, "Waiting for the Universe". There is also a Lucille Ball movie that inspired the Brady Bunch. It's a feel good movie that is obscure. It is tied in with a lyric that is anything but feel good.

DF: I see the record as a next step. There is a directness. No strings. I think that you and Thom got new sounds, the beautiful ambience, the space. You seem to be taking more away and the sonics are getting bigger. The gorgeous reverbs. You seem to be getting closer to a Pernice sound. Do you see an evolution at all?

JP: I do. You are right about the space. We wanted to make this record seem more powerful and bigger.

DF: I think that Thom is a master of understanding the sonic spectrum in terms of panning and finding a spot both location and frequency wise for every instrument and every track. You hear everything. You are subtracting but the more you do that the bigger it gets.

JP: So long as you don't subtract the necessary components.

DF: Of course, but the compositions are so strong melodically and arrangement wise that that is not an issue.

JP: Peyton delivered on this CD.

DF: He is really tasteful and has great chops.

JP: His playing has a personality that has a distinct sound. We are just getting more and more comfortable playing with each other.

DF: What about the next record?

JP: I think I am going to do a Chappaquiddick Skyline record. I'm writing for the next PB record. It's nice to try other things. I think my voice unifies all of the projects. I don't think is that it is a crazy leap.

DF: Do you write melodies in a range that suits your voice?

JP: Absolutely.

DF: Talk about your lyrics.

JP: I do it for myself and the enjoyment but I think I also have come to the point that I am doing it for someone else to listen to. I have stopped myself and said: "Joe, that is just too much for you, saying what you are about to say." I am more and more aware of others. It's like reading someone else's poem.

DF: What about the book, Meat is Murder, are you excited about it?

JP: It was fun to do. I had a good time. I wrote for two months.

DF: What about a novel?

JP: I am actually working on a musical. My partner is riding me like a red headed stepchild to work on it.

DF: How is working with Joyce? She is very nice and so knowledgable about the business.

JP: She is great. She signed me. I never had any money. Joyce was always there. I've learned a lot from her. She is a good friend. There were times when there was nothing going on for me and she was right there. She never busts my chops.

DF: I think the successful people in the music business have a complete dedication to the artist's vision.

DF: You are touring with Warren Zanes. How did that come about?

JP: He has a record out. Joyce introduced me to him. He lives down the street.

DF: What about a set list for the tour?

JP: The new CD in full. Maybe 30 songs and if the night calls, I'll do them all.

DF: Any cities you are looking forward to?

JP: San Francisco, Chicago, the big cities, New York are all exciting and fun. The small cities too.

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See the Pernice Brothers Summer 2003 tour itinerary here

Purchase the new CD, Your, Mine & Ours here

Read the June 2001 Fufkin Joe Pernice interview here

Read the Mike Bennett review of Y, M & O here

Read the Fufkin review of The World Won't End here

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