ALEX CATARINELLA: We had to ask… Who is Orville Peck?

ORVILLE PECK: I’m Orville Peck and I’m a country star. My middle initial is J, but nobody ever told me what it stood for, so I change it up from time to time: Orville James Peck, Orville John Peck, Orville Joaquin Peck… It makes going to the DMV interesting.

AC: Let’s talk about your penchant for always wearing a mask. Are you afraid of being recognized? Stage fright? Bringing back some showmanship to the music world? Is wearing a mask an effort to make people focus just on the music? Is it even that deep?

OP: I studied mask as an art form for a couple years―the method made famous by Jacques Lecoq. It was so fascinating to me because we think masks are gonna hide something, but they actually expose so much. If you put a mask on someone and make them just sit on a chair and do nothing, slowly you will notice the smallest things about them that tell you exactly how they are feeling and who they are. You as the watcher also get to fill in the blanks, so it’s almost more engaging to an audience than if it wasn’t there. I also think there is a lot to be said about the security of a mask that allows you to be completely raw and candid. But honestly, all that being said, I don’t really think about it that much. I do think showmanship is lacking in the world, but I am just doing what I know how, to make art the only way I know how. I don’t know… I used to be a dancer and an actor, and I come from a weird rural, theatrical art world, so I can’t help but make it extra. I also just think the mask looks cool.

AC: You’ve mentioned in interviews that you’ve lived in several parts of the world. How has your upbringing in different places influenced your artistry?

OP: I think my sound and look is probably rooted in Americana. I spent a lot of my formative years between a few places in North America so that probably had an impact. But my experiences span beyond that continent. I was actually born in the Southern hemisphere and lived there for most my life. I’ve also lived in Europe. I just traveled a lot since I was little and I’ve only ever known that I guess. Whenever I start having anxiety or feel like I’m hitting a wall in my life, without fail it’s when I’ve been in the same place too long. I think some of us are just born drifters and that’s that.

AC: You also admitted in interviews that your past involves being in a West End play and playing in punk bands. How did you get to where you are today as a country artist?

OP: When I was a kid I wanted to be an actor, a ballet dancer, a singer, a cowboy, and a surgeon. Surgeon’s the only one left to accomplish.

AC: Where does your interest in music come from?

OP: I used to play my father's guitar when I was little. There was always music around when I was growing up.

AC: Let’s talk about your debut album. Why did you call it Pony?

OP: I named it Pony because it has so many connotations to me: the obvious cowboy aspect, the kind of gay slangy aspect, the showy aspect, the lonely aspect. The pony feels like a sad figure to me. Not quite a horse, not quite a donkey―just a sweet, sad little guy. I feel that.