MARTIE
PETERS (PUSH/MPG)
We recently had a chance to catch up with Martie Peters, Danish singer/songwriter and frontman for bands Sateria, PUSH, and Martie Peters Group. The release of MPG’s self-titled, debut CD (2005/MTM records) featuring monster tracks like ‘Riot on the 5th Floor’ and ‘The Beast Inside’, resulted in waves of stellar reviews, and response to this year’s ‘Road to Salvation’, is even more intense, the demand for live shows exploding globally. At the time of this interview, just a couple of weeks ago, the “if and when” in the possibility of MPG answering the requests of US fans who want to hear songs like ‘Shallow’ and ‘Swimming In Your Blue Eyes’ live in the near future, were sketchy at best. We’re happy to announce that the “if” is no longer, and the “when” is a lot sooner than originally anticipated!! Martie Peters Group will, in fact, be appearing right here in the States, as part of the melodicrock.com 10th anniversary festival, in South Bend, IN, October 2007, so grab your tickets (they’re going to go fast), and join Martie, with guitarist Martin Slott, BJ “Mr. Bass”, and Jacob Schlein on drums, for what promises to be an unforgettable live experience this fall. For now, join us here at Blast, so Martie can fill you in on, well, everything else…read on….
Blast:
First of all, congratulations on the success of ‘Road to Salvation’, a fantastic
CD start to finish, though I am a bit partial to ‘Waitin’ In Line’. Do you have
a favorite track on it?
Martie
Peters: Thank you very much for the kind reception. My favorite is Chosen One,
which means a lot to me.
Blast: Any of the tracks on the CD could be released as singles, they’re all
great. What made ‘Shallow’ the first choice?
MP: You're
right, it was kind of hard to pick which one I should use but I went with
‘Shallow’ because I felt it represented everything about what I stand for now.
It's probably the track that is most up to date sound wise but it still rocks
and that is what I wanted people to hear - that I still rock!
Blast: What are your plans as far as touring?
MP: Right
now we are working on a European tour for the fall which includes Germany,
Denmark, Holland and Belgium, but I would love to add some shows in the US. It's
difficult though; it's expensive and very hard to set up shows in America but we
are fooling around with some ideas and we might just do something later in 2007
there. Cross your fingers...
Blast: Your music, from Push to present, is incredibly diverse both musically
and lyrically. What inspires you to write?
MP: Life in
general and my imagination, ha, ha... it used to be a lot of stories about sex
and rock and roll I made up... but this time with "Road To Salvation" the lyrics
are very personal and describes the hell I went through in 2005 when I got
divorced, to some it may seem like very straight forward songs about a broken
heart but they mean a lot to me! This time around I also wrote a few songs with
my good friend Matt Tritico, in fact they were poems he wrote about ten years
ago and I wrote some music for them and added a verse myself here and there, it
turned out really great. We might just do that again on the next one...
Blast: MPG has been referred to as the “re-birth” of Push, involving musicians
you’ve worked with in the past. To give some of your newer fans a little
background, what would you say are some of the major differences between the two
projects?
MP: The
biggest difference is that I am my own boss now and I call all the shots. No
more arguments in rehearsal and all that. Martin Slott came along for the ride
because we have fantastic partnership and his playing fit my writing and singing
perfectly. PUSH was a party rock band, we loved to get drunk and fool around…we
still do that! (lol) - MPG is serious business most of the time. I can take my
music in any direction I feel like, whereas in PUSH we had to do the party rock
thing because that was all we could agree on.
Blast: What’s the most rewarding thing about MPG for you?
MP: It's
therapy for me. I am a very shy person and some of the issues on RTS are hard to
deal with for me so I write music and it helps, it really does. And then when I
look at the album I still go, “wow, it really is me!!”
Blast: A couple of years ago, you indicated that the music scene in Denmark was
a little less than exciting. Is it any better now?
MP: It's
better than it used to be, though it's mostly heavy metal bands coming out from
the scene over here. But basically it's the same as everywhere else I guess.
Blast: You’ve spent some time working with Mike Tramp, both on his albums and on
the road. That must be one hell of a show! Are there plans to tour with him
again in the near future?
MP: We're
good friends but he's very busy these days with White Lion 2; they are touring
the US with Poison this summer so nothing will happen here and now. I would love
to hit the road and open for him, that would be a great bill too...
Blast: Is there any place you haven’t played yet that you’d like to?
MP: America
and the moon!
Blast : Doesn’t get much more goal-oriented than that! As US rock fans have
become more familiar with your music, there’s been quite a call for you to play
here. What are the chances of that happening?
MP: As I
said earlier it might just happen sooner rather than later, we will have to wait
and see. But if you know someone who will have us, let me know!
Blast: Are we likely to hear as much Push as MPG music live?
MP: We only
play a couple of the older songs, most of what we do live now is from the new
album.
Blast: Who are some of your strongest influences?
MP: Rod
Stewart, Goo Goo Dolls, John Waite, Def Leppard and Enuff Z'Nuff, and countless
others.
Blast: At what point in your life did music take over?
MP: When I was in high school I
realized that music was the best way of expressing my feelings…and to get in
touch with girls! (lol) So I formed a band with my good old mate Rene Shades.
And it paid off instantly.
Blast: What keeps you busy when you’re not writing and playing music?
MP: My two
children, I have twin boys. They are eight now and I love them more than life. I
am also a mad soccer fan.
Blast: What does the future hold for MPG?
MP: More
albums and world tours…hopefully!
Blast: We hope so, too! Any words to your fans?
Thank you
for your support over the years, you are one of the biggest reasons I am still
in this business!! See you out there!
Blast: Martie, thanks so
much for taking time out with us! We hope to see you on the road soon!
Ok, you guys, so that’s
the deal….what else can I say? If you don’t have ‘Road to Salvation’ yet, it’s
not one to be missed. You can check out a track-by-track review of it here at
Blast, along with many more on MPG’s website. If you don’t have your
melodicrock.com festival tickets yet….what are you waiting for?! While we’re
certainly hoping to see more US dates with MPG, we’re not willing to risk
missing them….are you? Didn’t think so! See ya there!!
LINKS:
On the web: www.martiepeters.com
On myspace: http://www.myspace.com/martiepetersgroup
Festival info: www.melodicrock.com