Perry Farrell The Solutionist
Huck: How did the Satellite Party concept album come about?
PERRY FARRELL: I started to write in my garage about three years ago. It really was going to be house music but the more I started to write, the more it spoke to me and created its own story and myth. Each time I wrote a new song, I would write it about the previous scene. The strength of the music is the most important thing and so if that’s good, who cares what the concept is? You don’t have to know the story – or even understand English – to appreciate the music.
How difficult was it fitting the Jim Morrison track into the album?
That was tough. Obviously, he wasn’t around to speak or re-record anything. It was just a pure, pure coincidence that this very rare remaining material happened to suit the story. The material had been sitting in a vault for thirty years and I had to create a song out of it, as it pretty much wasn’t a song. There was no verse, chorus or music. It was very appropriate that the songs spoke about the world from a point of view of an angel. We were very lucky to meet up in the twenty-first century with those words.
‘Just try and stop us, we’re going to love’, what do you think Jim meant by that?
That’s what I find to be the most remarkable aspect of it. It is basically the oldest adage in the world that love will conquer all. It takes a moment of composure and love to really conquer the issues we have today.
When did political activism become a part of your life?
It came through the Lollapalooza as I was afforded the chance to work with such great causes and inform myself about global issues. I focus on environmental issues because I feel I can do the most good if I take care of Mother Earth. This is a very bold statement but I believe we can really cure this within ten years. I know G8 say give us until 2050 but I think we can do it a lot quicker than that. Bono and Geldof shouldn’t wait for these guys from the G8, they are not our parents. We have every right to be angry and I’m glad that they are there and pulling them up on their shit. But let’s do it ourselves.
Would you say that Lollapalooza is setting an example that other festivals should follow?
I would say yes. However, we don’t really point the finger. We present solutions and are proactive about them. We are showing that we can have a festival of 200,000 people and be carbon neutral. The Satellite Party CD is a carbon neutral album as we offset all the emission. We show that it can be done.
Have you been surfing much lately?
I haven’t been in the water for a while. That said, Kelly Slater and Rob Machado are working on a new film on the origins of surf music, and we are planning a trip somewhere around the world in the next year to make music and go surfing. Kelly invited me to his private party in Tavarua with other surf legends like Mark Occhilupo. I’ve been out with some great, great surfers in my time and they always blow my mind. They are on another level.
HUCK: So would you say that surfers have a lot in common with your own causes?
PF: Absolutely. To be honest, the number one reason I am so driven on environmental causes is because of my love for action sports. When I started surfing in the seventies, I never worried about pollution. I remember seeing oil slicks in Miami Beach and never paid much attention other than trying to avoid them. But now, I go surfing in Venice and I’m constantly on the look out for oil and floating debris. I have to hand this world over to my kids, and it troubles me that they are going to have to look online just to see if it’s safe to go in the water. I can’t sit around and let that happen. It’s time to get the solutions going.
Satellite Party’s album Ultra Payloaded is out now on Columbia.
www.satelliteparty.com
This story originally appeared in Huck #006.
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