New Release – Backtracking by The Perics
The Perics is an indieband formed in 2020 by Matt Warren, Gee Nelson and Gwen James. Matt Warren is a UK based power pop singer songwriter. Gee Nelson (Giedeau Nelissen) and Gwen James (Gwen van Genderen) are two Dutch musicians, who are also members of the rock band Animal Revolt.
During the worldwide lockdown Matt and Gee met each other on Instagram after liking a post of the band Eels. After a couple of chats about music they decided to collaborate together on a song.
Matt: “One night, listening to Paradise by the dashboard light, Gee came up with the idea of a song about a man and woman whose relationship is at the end of the road. He asked me to be the male part. For the female vocals he had Gwen in mind. Gwen and Gee know each other in real life. They both live in the same area and met about a year ago via Gee’s wife Marijke. After an online meeting, I recorded my parts here in England and Gee and Gwen recorded their bits at the Netherlands.”
The result was ‘Do You Really Care?’ After the recording sessions they decided to work on more songs together, hence the Perics were formed.
“It was so much fun to do that we decided to be a ‘digital’ band and produce more songs with the three of us.”
The Perics will be releasing their new single ‘Backtracking’ on 19th March.
“The band name is derived from the Dutch word ‘perieken’, a made up word for proles or the lower class. It was used in a dystopian book, written by Gee, where he invented a future language.”
What’s the song about?
Matt: “We’ve all had one of those nights where we’ve perhaps over indulged just a little too much and the first thing you do is try to do is remember exactly just how bad / embarrassing things got?! Well, ‘Backtracking’ is a hyperbole of this scenario… I don’t think any one of us have ever woken up in a skip before but I do have a friend that this has genuinely happened to, so I used this as a starting point and with extra lyrics from Gee we went from there.”
Where was it recorded and mixed?
Matt: “The initial stages and rough demo were put together on my own UK set-up at home. Then, via the wonders of technology I got things across to Gee in Holland who finished the lyrics and added his take on the vocal melody and threw in some extra guitar work. Once we were settled on the outline we recorded the track, again going back and forth via the web, and Gee did the final mix and added the extra sparkles.”
When releasing a new single is there a sense of excitement or panic?
Matt: “I think there’s always that sense of panic of ‘Crap! Should we have maybe not gone with that part or was this the best choice of song to release?’ etc… Also, you kind of want everything you release to be a bigger and better step towards what you ultimately want to achieve and so it’s a worry that you may put something out that moves you backwards instead of forwards. It’s scary, but, yeah, there’s always the flip-side where the excitement comes in. Personally, for me, I like releasing and get more excited because then we have a clean slate to start something new. It’s really easy to get caught up in the minute of recording and it can sometimes be so debilitating that you never feel happy enough to release something. So, I’m always excited once we’ve submitted something for release as it means we have kind of drawn a line under it and can move on to the next thing…. Whatever that may be!”
Gee: “Both, no question about it. Every time I hit the release button panic takes over. Is the mix good, does it sounds radio ready? Should I haven’t spend more time on it? After the release I get used to the song and then the excitement takes over. Especially if you hear radio dj’s announce your song and say they think it’s a great song. It really makes my day.”
Gwen: “With the first one ‘Do you really care?’ it was just excitement, because I didn’t know what to expect. That one set the bar, so now there’s a sense of panic too. It’s your baby that you’re showing to the world and you don’t want the world to say it’s an ugly baby :)”
All songs recorded are played and produced by Matt, Gee & Gwen.
Matt Warren - vocals, guitar, bass, keys, songwriter.
Gee Nelson - vocals, guitar, drums, songwriter, mixing and mastering.
Gwen James - vocals, keys, songwriter.