A Maine man in Co Galway, Peter Broderick's new album, Blackberry, is out now. We ask him the BIG questions...
Tell us three things about yourself?
1. I was born at home during a blizzard in Searsmont, Maine, delivered by my father.
2. Whenever I played The Game of Life as a kid, I always got most excited when I pulled the career card that said 'Rock Star'. If you haven't played The Game of Life, just imagine a board game where you pick a card to decide what your career is.
3. I love to forage wild edible plants.
How would you describe your music?
Curious. Exploratory. A balancing act of dark and light.
Who are your musical inspirations?
My biggest inspirations are my friends and family who play music. My older brother was a huge influence growing up. My mother and father are both wonderful musicians. My sister, Heather Woods Broderick, my wife Brigid Mae Power, friends Daniel O'Sullivan, David Allred, Shelley Short, Laurel and Birger Olsen, to name a few. And here's a handful of musicians I've never met who have been hugely inspirational over the years: Arthur Russell, John Cage, Laurie Anderson, Brian Eno, Arvo Pärt, Michael Hurley, Shel Silverstein, Félicia Atkinson, Joni Mitchell. The latest record I bought was Erykah Badu... she's amazing!
How did you occupy yourself during the coronavirus lockdown?
I made a book of poems for children, moved house from London back to rural Co Galway, and have done tonnes of foraging and various preparations for releasing my latest album, Blackberry.
What's your favourite song right now?
Andalucian Dance by Bob Gibson. It's a shredding solo banjo performance!
Favourite lyric of all time?
I feel like there are probably some Bob Dylan lyrics that I should be thinking of for this. Bill Callahan has some great one-liners too. But what comes to mind right now is this lyric by Arthur Russell from the song All-Boy All-Girl: 'At the same time that they were letting go, they were kissing'.
If you could only listen to one song for the rest of your life what would it be?
I honestly think I'd go mad with only one song for the rest of my life! I think I'd rather have no song at all. But if I had to choose right now, I'd say Come in from the Cold by Joni Mitchell. It may sound a bit random, but my mother listened to this song a lot when I was a kid and I only recently rediscovered it. It's a long song - about seven-and-a-half minutes - so I think it'd hold up and remain interesting after tonnes of listens. And, well, it just touches my heart very deeply.
Where can people find your music/more information?
I've got a website: www.peterbroderick.net... and I'm on Twitter: @BroPeterick... and most of my work can be found on all the various streaming platforms. You can order directly from my record label on their website: www.erasedtapes.com... and I've got an online shop via Bandcamp with some of the more odd bits I've released, some of which aren't on streaming platforms: peterbroderickmusic.bandcamp.com.
