14 Oct 2014 — Henry Schiller

Cold weather, warm showers, slick grooves, capital letters: HOMESHAKE (the pseudonym of Montreal-based Peter Sagar) has one of the most full-bodied aesthetics of any act I’ve had the pleasure of covering. The former Mac DeMarco guitarist's debut album, In the Shower, came out last week on Sinderlyn / Bad Actors. I chatted briefly with Sagar over email about his album, his friends, and his influences: both musical and meteorological.

NFOP: Hi Peter. I know you'll be in New York in a couple of weeks for CMJ. Is this your first time playing the festival? Are you currently at home in Montreal or are you already on the road?

PS: I've been down to CMJ a couple times, we did it last year as well. Right now I'm at home.

NFOP: You’ve mentioned Canada’s "icy landscape" as an influence, which is a fairly atypical point of reference. There is, however, an undeniable iciness to your music. Not to say that its lacking in warmth or emotion, but your music feels like it would be a good soundtrack for being bundled up in an igloo. How is it that you feel your musical output has been shaped or affected by growing up in a cold climate?

PS: I remember when I was a teenager in Edmonton I'd always think "fuck this I'm going out I won't let the weather get me down" while I put on three pairs of socks and 5 sweaters to take the bus across the river to drink at some dank bar, but eventually it broke me and I stopped leaving the house. It was probably at that point I started spending a lot of time recording music on my own, so I suppose it is directly responsible for my output.

NFOP: Is HOMESHAKE your first project, or just the latest in a long line of musical pseudonyms? What are some other projects or bands you've been involved in, and in what capacity?

PS: I had a band in Edmonton called Outdoor Miners, it was sort of noisy 90's style stuff, didn't last a long time though. Then I started making solo music under the name Sans AIDS, but the name was terrible and offended people so when I got to Montreal I ditched it. For the last few years I was playing guitar with Mac DeMarco, lots of fun, saw the world, went insane.

NFOP: We don’t cover a ton of guitar music at No Fear of Pop, so when we do it’s usually because we're listening to something downright unique. You seem like you might have a fairly “standard” guitar, bass, drums setup, but your sound is very difficult to place. Who are some of your biggest influences?

PS: A few would be Curtis Mayfield, Angelo Badalamenti, R Kelly, Herbie Hancock and Broadcast.

NFOP: Kind of in the same vein as the last question, but what kinds of groups / acts are you usually compared to? Have you gotten any comparisons that completely took you by surprise?

PS: Most comparisons are with friends of mine, which is fine because I have some very talented friends.

NFOP: You recorded In The Shower at Montreal's Drones Club this past winter. What was the process like? Do you think of this as a studio album or more of a DIY piece?

PS: I recorded it with my friend Mike, a few days here or there over a fee months. We would do a couple songs and then not work on it for a a few weeks. I paid him with several bottles of Jameson, he deserves better.

NFOP: No Fear of Pop’s readers are on the sharpest point of the cutting edge when it comes to new music. Any acts you’ve been playing with, or otherwise getting into who you think our readers ought to know about?

PS: Wow great job everybody! A few acts I'm into big time these days are Tonstartsbandht, Silk Rhodes and Jerry Paper.