After establishing themselves with a string of impactful offerings throughout the last few months, Italian outfit The Peripheries recently returned once again to deliver their immersive new single 'Murmansk'.
Lifted from their newly unveiled debut EP 'New Oblivion', which is available to stream now, 'Murmansk' makes for an incredibly broad and atmospheric listen. With its brooding post-punk-inspired textures layered throughout, they are continuing to cement themselves as one of the more captivating names on the rise right now.
So with the new single available to stream now, we sat down with them to find out more about their background and what has been inspiring them most over the years.
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What was the first instrument you fell in love with?
John: The piano. My first musical memories are the afternoons I spent at my grandparents’ council house in Bristol messing around on an upright piano in the living room while everyone else was in the garden, fortunately for them. At that time I really had no idea what the notes were or what I was doing, I just used to sit there trying to make it sound nice.
What kind of music did you love when you were younger?
John: I was a teenage Goth of the slightly arty type, hairspray and eyeliner, tie-dyes and floral shirts, that type of thing. My first love was anything on 4AD, mostly Cocteau Twins, Dead Can Dance, This Mortal Coil, but I also worshipped Joy Division and some of the later indie and shoegaze bands, especially My Bloody Valentine.
What was the first album you remember owning?
John: As a kid Abba were gods, but I think the very first album I can remember actually buying myself was ABC’s Lexicon of Love. Still a masterpiece!
What is the one song you wished you could have written yourself?
John: So many…but there's nothing more powerful or more difficult to pull off than simplicity, so I'd have to say “Do you Realize??” by The Flaming Lips. Perfect in every imaginable way.
Do you have any habits or rituals you go through when trying to write new music?
John: I’m a firm believer in the idea that creativity requires boundaries. Songwriting is like a game: it only works if there are rules and a playing field. The Peripheries songs follow a very specific methodology. In the past I’ve usually written my songs by starting from chord progressions on the acoustic guitar, so I ruled that out. My ambition is to treat new wave music as a type of ground zero of contemporary music, so it’s like going back to first principles. “In the beginning was the bass”, so Peripheries songs are built upwards from drum and bass patterns, to which guitar and keyboard lines are added later, as well as the vocal melodies and lyrics. The harmonic structure therefore emerges from these intersecting lines like a counterpoint.
Who are your favourite artists you have found yourself listening to at the moment?
John: I tend to retreat into my shell when I am making a lot of music of my own, but recently I've been listening to some Arooj Aftab and Lankum, but also investigating the sound palette of hyperpop used by artists like Sophie and trying to play around with that. I’m also a fan of early music and have been enjoying a collection of Venetian music called Passions.
Udo: At the moment lots of IDLES
Carlo: Actors, Holy Wire, IST IST and Pol
Flaminia: A pretty random selection of current listening faves would have to include Beth Gibbons. I only discovered Fontaines DC recently, and have only got as far as their debut album. I’ve also been returning to a personal favourite, Tigran Hamasyan.
If you could open a show for anyone in the world, who would it be?
John: LCD Soundsystem
Udo: IDLES
Carlo: Nation of Language
What do you find is the most rewarding part about being a musician?
John: Synergy with other musicians, when something entirely intuitive and spontaneous happens that no one could have predicted or planned for.
And what is the most frustrating part?
John: The increasing difficulty in finding venues for live music. The physical experience of creating music together with other people and an audience is not just a detail, it's the whole reason for doing it in the first place.
And what is the best piece of advice you have received as a musician?
John: Not for me personally, obviously, but nothing beats the advice from Brian Eno’s Oblique Strategies, “Honour thy error as a hidden intention”.
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The Peripheries' new single 'Murmansk' is available to stream now. Check it out in the player below.