(Photo By: Salina Ladha)

Simon and Zoe caught up with HOMESHAKE (Peter Sagar) at The Silver Dollar Room to chat about his new album Fresh Air, due February 3, 2017 via Sinderlyn.

How’s this leg of your tour been?

Peter Sagar: It’s been really good.

So, we got to check out your new album and we both think it’s really good!

Peter Sagar: Thank you guys!

Your new single, “Call Me Up”, seems to be an ode to missing loved ones. How do you deal with that on the road? Do you find inspiration in that?

Peter Sagar: Ah, yeah. Y’know, all the sad things. I get inspiration from all of those. I spend a lot of time on the phone. Gotta get a good phone plan wherever you’re going.

Of course.

Peter Sagar: So that’s pretty much it. It’s about dropping money on an international phone plan to make those connections.

Sweet! How was the recording process for your new album? Where did you record it? How’d you do it?

Peter Sagar: Hm, well I did a lot of demoing and writing in my apartment. I would write a song or two every night for like one or two months. Then I threw away all the trash, which there was a lot of. Then I went into this jam space, party spot, show venue, and recording studio in Montreal. I went in there with my friend Jackson and recorded.

Would that be Drones Club?

Peter Sagar: It would be!

We went there once! It was really nice.

Peter Sagar: It’s not very nice, it’s disgusting! (laughing)

I like it! Great vibes in there. I love that, like, hole in the ceiling.

Peter Sagar: Ah right! Sometimes we put a ladder on top of a table and then climb onto the roof.

That’s sick!

Peter Sagar: It’s very unsafe.

We saw Sheer Agony there.

Peter Sagar: Oh cool, Jackson who recorded the album is the singer in that band.

Wow, small world! What influences did you have while recording?

Peter Sagar: Uh, I don’t know. Sadness? I’m always sad. I’ve been spending a lot of time trying to clear my mind, balance things. Think things through better and be a better adult. Some kind of self improvement.

Yeah, you get to that point where life has to be self improvement.

Peter Sagar: You realize no one is going to fix you.

It’s a harsh reality.

Peter Sagar: That’s just the way it goes.

How does the sound on the new album differ from previous recordings? How have your inspirations changed musically?

Peter Sagar: I don’t know really. People ask that question and I never have an answer. Hm, I don’t know. I have been listening to different music, but I listen to different music every week. It’s hard to say which ones sneak through.

How would you describe your album for someone who has not listened to you before? Especially, the new album. Do you find there’s a different production value to it?

Peter Sagar: Uh, yeah. Jackson and I tried to raise the fidelity up a bit. It was almost like after Midnight Snack we were just figuring out how to record synths and drum machines. Neither of us had really done that much before. So this time around we had a better idea of how to make it sound cleaner.

Do you think the inorganic quality to it kind of changed the vibe of the album?

Peter Sagar: Well see that’s the thing. There’s nothing inorganic about drum machines and synths. I don’t like when people say that, no offense.

I totally get it , that’s kind of what people liken it to.

Peter Sagar: Yeah, but it’s still a machine crafted by a human being. Even computer based music, there is nothing inorganic about it. It just keeps tempo better. There’s just more options.

Do you find you play synths more than guitar?

Peter Sagar: Well I don’t know. At home I guess synth, but I just got into synth.

Nice!

Peter Sagar: I just buy a lot of stuff. But I’ll play whatever.

What kind of synth do you use? Is there a specific one you prefer?

Peter Sagar: The main one I use is a Korg Poly-61. I like that one a lot.

Korg is a trusty brand!

Peter Sagar: This is an old one. It’s kind of a Korg version of a Juno. It’s not very sought after but it sounds very nice. It’s got a colder sound. Yeah, I got that one and a bunch of other ones. That was the first one I bought when I started experimenting a lot more.

You played with it a lot.

Peter Sagar: Yeah, I just know it better. It’s more malleable than the other ones right now.

A lot of people start with a microKorg or something.

Peter Sagar: Yeah, those are not good. There are better options now.

It’s definitely an entry level thing. I hear a lot of artists are moving to Junos.

Peter Sagar: It’s tough with the Junos. The Juno-106 is the most common but they break really easy, according to my synth guy! I really want to get a Juno-60.

For sure!

Peter Sagar: Gotta get it before they cost like 5000 dollars.

We got our Juno-106 on craigslist or something.

Peter Sagar: That’s a great find.

So, I want to talk about the album art for Fresh Air.

Peter Sagar: Yeah!

How do you choose the album art?

Peter Sagar: Salina, my partner of many years, has full control over all album art and designs.

How is it representative of album in any way?

Peter Sagar: You’d have to ask her! She hears it and she says, “Peter this is great!” or “Peter this is not good” and she will ask me about colours and stuff. And I just don’t know and tell her to do whatever she wants. Later I’ll ask for a change and she will get really mad (laughs) so I don’t bother doing that anymore. She doesn’t like being told what to do, nor should she because she is amazing.

That’s awesome!

So this goes for everything you have put out?

Peter Sagar: Yeah, well the only thing that doesn’t have a piece of art she made is the Dynamic Meditation mixtape I did. But that is just a picture of her.

Your last show in Toronto at The Horseshoe Tavern. That was done as a solo act, the band couldn’t make it, and much of the material was new at the time.

Peter Sagar: It was about eight songs from the new album.

Does the current sound of Homeshake favour solo performance?

Peter Sagar: No, it’s just easier to do that sometimes when I can’t have the guys around. Greg plays in another band. Brad plays in a band called Nap Eyes who are also quite active. We just tour when we can and when we can’t, I gotta do it by myself.

You’ve probably been asked this before but what does the name Homeshake mean to you?

Peter Sagar: It’s a handshake a friend taught me. Well it references it, I don’t think it was meant to be called that.

That’s all we got. Thank you so much!

Peter Sagar: Cool, thanks guys.