|
LINDA PERHACS: PRESS AND REVIEWS |
|
LINDA PERHACS PRESS
INTERVIEWS |
Linda Perhacs's
talent, long unnoted, is finally in full bloom, writes Bernard
Zuel.
"Dental
technician makes a record" is not newsworthy now and wasn't any
more so in 1970. "Dental technician's album stiffs, sending her
back to the surgery and obscurity" is the hardly surprising
sequel. This isn't sounding like an Australian Idol
story, is it?
But how about
"dental technician's album becomes for a tiny cognoscenti a
mythologised album available only on rare, poor-quality
reproductions before dental technician resurfaces more than 30
years later with a high-quality studio tape which is then turned
into a CD that sails around the world collecting rapturous
reviews and abundant fans for a fifty something singer who has
never performed live"?
Bizarre but
true, this is Linda Perhacs's story. And it's a story that keeps
getting better. She's writing again and finding "floods of new
material" coming forth. There's a new album to come later this
year, 35 years after her first, Parallelograms, and among
the contributors will be Devendra Banhart, one of the
much-celebrated young alternative folkies who claim Perhacs as
inspiration and have been singing her praises in interviews for
several years.
"Oh, I can't
wait, I'm so excited," says a softly spoken and utterly polite
Perhacs from her California home. "The possibilities are without
limits. I don't know how to stop the ideas. The main problem is
finding the time and the energy to do these projects because
they're not just simple songs."
How different
it was in 1970 when Perhacs, a closet singer-songwriter in Los
Angeles's Topanga Canyon, played a few of her songs for a friend
who worked in the music industry. So impressed was he that he
immediately recorded her and released her album.
A collection of
folk-based songs with a strong psychedelic edge (in one song she
sings "I'm spacing out/ I'm seeing silences between leaves ...
I'm seeing silences that are his") and featuring a crystalline
voice that could swoop and soar but also threaten, it had
similarities to the work of contemporaries such as Joni
Mitchell, Tim Buckley and Sandy Denny. Unlike them, it attracted
no interest, hardly any sales and was out of print almost before
Perhacs returned to the world of teeth, having given up any
thought of music as a career.
The kind of
spiritually aware person who might still be called a hippie -
she talks about God, "the highest energy" - Perhacs says
philosophically that in her early 20s she probably wasn't
equipped to handle the kind of success she's having today. But
making music was something she had to do.
"Clinical work
and work on healing and helping other patients, which was the
career I had chosen, you're giving energy every moment to other
people, you become their dream," she says. "I felt the need to
pull energy in and though I didn't understand how in those days,
I reached for a guitar and said, 'I need to learn how to play
this, how to write songs'. It came so quickly and naturally that
other people were amazed and I thought it was just normal; it
came naturally, like breathing.
"But I had done
fairly complex compositions, now that I look back, when I was
five, six and seven, but I was reprimanded by the teachers and
adults around me for 'disrupting' their pleasures for the day. I
know those were the best parts of me but I was told to be quiet.
It takes a lot of years to understand that parents don't always
know. If it's going to pop out even at age eight it can't be
held back, it will come out."
It's not hard
to see in that tale a parallel with her adult career, of initial
indifference followed by a late flowering.
"I had the gift
of music popping up now and then in my life, but I'm a deeply
practical person and I knew I needed bread and butter-type
circumstances," Perhacs says. "Now I realize that each feed and
fuel each other. The energy that you receive when you do
something you're passionately in love with not only fills you
but fills others with energy, and it recycles and lifts
everyone."
|
|
|
|
I first discovered a track of linda on a very good compilation album of woman's voices, called "Hippie Goddesses". After the Wild Places reissue I bought the item and enjoyed it very much. Now many years later Michael Piper has traced Linda, and made a second reissue, this time with the album remastered, and with some bonus tracks. I wondered if it was worth buying the new version too, but now when I had the chance to listen, I know now it is worth the further investment. The sound balance on the tracks has improved a lot -Linda seemed not to have liked the LP pressing that much, but she kept one cassette tape from a the original reel to reels, which we can hear now for the first time-. Here each track comes out much better than the earlier versions. The bonus tracks are also worth discovering.
But now about the album, how does it sound ? Although there are various tracks that stand out for various reasons, now with the newly remastered mix I think the complete album is much more enjoyable in its complete score. Linda has a high degree of a serenity in her singing, like a fragile goddess of waters and winds, especially on "Dolphin", or with such a human emotional depth on tracks like
"Hey, who really cares ?". This is combined with the same degree of serenity on (a few times multi-tracked) guitar fingerpicking, sometimes with some keyboards, bass, handpercussion. A few left over tracks (like "Sandy Toes") are a bit more earthly, with more additional guitars, bass, percussion, mostly this still means from a sensitive human level. Above all we now and then hear multilayers of ethereal voice arrangements. This makes tracks like
"Parallelograms"
have an unearthly beauty. I used parts of this track more often, as intro for my radioshow, mixed with Stockhausen's "Stimmung" and a track of Tamia's first private album. You can literally dream on this track, as flowing dawn over water. There even is a very experimental, very ethereal contemporary part in it. Such abstract voice waves are also used as arrangements elsewhere, like on
"Moon and Cattails". This track has besides fingerpicking guitars, also some flute touches ?, and tabla. A track like "Delicious" sounds more like Joni Mitchell during her first album (another album which I regard as an all time classic).
Four bonustracks comes in pairs. "If you were my man" comes with a more naked idea on the demo and a more developed studio version. The "Chimacum Rain" demo version however has a unique subtleness. The second demo version has additional sounds intended to improve the mood. Another version of "Hey, who really cares" is also added too, here with an extra intro part, an improvement or at least a nice variation. |
|
Linda Perhacs
styles:
folk, psych, blues
others:
Vashti Bunyan, Josephine Foster, Donovan, Nick Drake
 Parallelograms
Kapp, 1970
rating: 5/5
reviewer: willcoma
Thanks Kieran Hebden. Thanks
and no-thanks as well. You're gonna make my cave-dwelling internet
pillaging something I can no longer put aside when writing about
music. Like many, many things I've discovered in the past few years, I
found both your Late Night Tales mix and Parallelograms
illegally on-line.
Do I feel guilty about it? Not exactly. But the pseudo-professional
position I'm in has readers occasionally sending in e-mails saying
"did you even bother to look at the liner notes?" And thanks to hard
to get titles like this one (unless you want to slap down $30 or
higher on Amazon) your deep desire to share the magic with the world
is tempered by the hesitance to tell music fans to get out there and
start thieving (or to not be a flipping hypocrite, tell folks to "Pick
this one up!").
"Parallelograms" stood out to me in a major way on Late Night
Tales. So much so that it made me forget the fascinating
selections surrounding it. I just HAD to get this album. Even if it's
a stretch to say the person I downloaded it from was a buddy, I think
anyone sharing this album must feel the way I do about it. One could
argue that those who would really dig this sort of thing have already
found it. So there's no need for TMT not to wait till the next reissue
(there've been two so far). But this is the DeLorean, and this album
isn't necessarily geared towards those who listen to Four Tet. And
yet, P-Fork did a review some years back, and she's been hyped up by
current folk luminairies like Devendra Banhart. But there must be
some of you that are unaware of the release.
So now I can do what I came here for, to gush like the blubbering,
music eating goblin I am. This album is pure magic. Vashti Bunyan's
Just Another Diamond Day (nope, didn't buy that one either) was
great, but there's considerably more to these songs. They are fleshier
and, lyrically, decidedly less Renaissance Fair-like, if that sort of
thing gives you pause. The production is more involving and, at times,
like on "Chimacum Rain" the title track, trippy. "Sandy Goes" is my
favorite, due to its warm, nimble bass line that reminds me of Bowie's
ballad from Labrynth,
"As The World Falls Down.”
I always liked
that number, and it took another song, a decade or so later, to make
me realize as much. "Call of the River" is another highlight, with its
neat shifts in mood from rapturous to apprehensive and back again. If
you've ever thought, as bright as her lyrics are, that Joni Mitchell
crams too many syllables into her songs, then Perhacs could be a nice
alternative. The timbre of their voices is similar, though Linda is
decidedly more restrained.
As it happens, the most Mitchell-esque tunes, "Porcelain Baked Over
Cast Iron Wedding" and "Paper Mountain Man" are the least notable
songs on the release. They're definitely not throwaways, but Perhacs
shines brightest within the quieter arrangements. These jazzy, jaunty
numbers are passable whereas the rest of the songs are some of the
sweetest, most poignant folk diamonds you're likely to unearth. I
suggest you seek this album out if you like arresting yet soothing,
contemplative folk music. It's well worth the digging. And I daresay
it's worth whatever inflated cost Amazon wants to price it at. I know
if I ever see it, I'll definitely pick it up. But for right now, it's
sweet just to have these rapturous sounds at my disposal. So, pillage
away if you will. The more people exposed to strangely soothing,
obscure singer-songwriter albums like Parallelograms, the
better
1. Chimacum Rain
2. Paper Mountain Man
3. Dolphin
4. Call of the River
5. Sandy Goes
6. Parallelograms
7. Hey Who Really Cares
8. Moons and Cattails
9. Morning Colors
10. Porcelain Baked Over Cast Iron Wedding
11. Delicious |
|
AMAZON.COM
REVIEWS
Exquisite!,
April 12, 2005
Reviewer: William Timothy Lukeman (Oakhurst, NJ USA) -
Here's a superb long-lost gem from the end of the 1960s, a perfect example
of the more thoughtful & optimistic sensibilities of that time. Linda
Perhacs' voice is haunting, playful, yearning, sensual, or soaring, just
as each song demands. There's intelligence & a certain otherworldliness in
her songs, along with an occasional streak of whimsy & mischief. An album
just made for solitary listening, it will take you to a sunnier place
(with patches of cool, mysterious shade) ... and isn't that what we all
need at times? "Chimacum Rain" & "Hey Who Really Cares?" are standout
tracks, along with the wonderfully spacey title track, which just shimmers
with eerie beauty. Highly recommended!
Something special, November 29, 2004
Reviewer: Ms. Felicia Davis-burden (Staines, UK)
This album is a breath of fresh air away from the current crop of
talentless people in the charts and headlines. An intoxicating set of
songs, beautifully sung and created with real attention to detail which we
haven't heard since Joni Mitchell's Court and Spark or perhaps Judee
Sill's Heart Food. Sometimes one gets the sense that certain substances
had been consumed - particularly on listening to the opening Chimacum
Rain, Linda intones 'I'm spacing out...' - but it's really on the title
track Parallelograms where we hear something wonderfully otherworldly. But
the entire album is a multi-faceted gem, well worth anyone's attention.
Beautiful.
Linda Perhacs: The Girl Next Door, October 11, 2004
Reviewer: T. R. Yarborough (Alexandria, VA)
With her hauntingly beautiful album, "Parallelograms," Linda Perhacs
offers each listener a stunning gift: a magical journey into the world of
psychedelic folk music as the gods meant it to be. Her lyrics and music
mirror a love of nature, along with the personal and most intimate parts
of her soul. Listening to her, one is continually struck by the perfection
of Linda's voice; you cannot help being emotionally moved. This wonderful
CD personifies perfection...with taste, warmth, sensitivity, feeling,
perception, and all the womanly virtues.
When it comes to this singer/composer, I confess to a large dose of bias
that might influence my objectivity about "Parallelograms," or at least
render it suspect. You see, Linda and I are dear friends and were high
school classmates together in Mill Valley, California. Some reviewers
claim that Linda was a Love Child of the 60s, but in high school she
embodied all the attributes of the classic "girl next door;" all the boys
wanted to date her, and all the girls wanted to be like her. Linda was
head cheerleader, an honor student, sang lead in the school musical
("Pajama Game"), and was homecoming queen. By any measurement, she was a
sensational 17 year-old girl. Now, years later, she is an even more
beautiful woman, still brimming with talent and spiritual insight. It
wasn't by accident that "Mojo Music Magazine" picked "Parallelograms" as
one of its 67 all time best lost albums. Let's hope Linda favors us with
another masterpiece---soon.
Reviewer: Michael Millist (SYDNEY, NEW SOUTH WALES Australia) - See all my
reviews
Despite having a strange name,Linda Perhacs has a brilliant voice.Mix up
Joni Mitchell,Grace Slick, B'ork and what have you got? One hell of an
album!"Chimacum Rain" leads you in with a soft Joni Mitchell type song
then on the next track,"Paper Mountain Man" she explores a more bluesy
,jazzy and purposly off key rant similar to Grace Slick.Not only can she
sing the softest lullaby folky lilt but can mix it up with some hard
hitting,slightly political songs as well.If you like the above mentioned
artists,buy this album-you wont be disappointed.
how did this lay dormant for 30+ years?, July 9, 2004
Reviewer: A music fan
hmmm... she does have a joni mitchell thing about her, but more like if
joni and nick drake spent the winter writing songs together. then there's
a grace slick feel, with a proto-ann-and-nancy-wilson groove. and yoko ono
came by the studio one day. maybe. i mean all of this in the best way
possible. this should have been a record famous for its innovative blend
of folk and psychedelia. i don't know why it's been buried for so long.
linda perhacs' voice is beautiful. buy it.
Primo '70s Psych-Folk, June 26, 2004
Reviewer: M. Starr "Amneziak" (Kansas City)
A lot of people compare Linda Perhacs to the early works of Joni Mitchell.
This is somewhat true in some cases, but the truth of the matter is that
Parallelograms is a lot more haunting and distant sounding than any of
Mitchell's albums. As a love child of the '60s, Perhacs recorded only one
album that, even today, very few people have a great deal of information
about; some aren't even sure about the exact release date. But in addition
to being somewhat of an oddity, this is unquestionably one of the better
folk releases of the 1970s. Perhacs voice is paired perfectly with gentle
acoustic guitar and other occasional instruments. The lyrics are from left
field at times, but they always have the most pure and innocent quality.
Luckily, Perhacs was located sometime in the late `90s and master tapes
were used to re-release this beautiful classic to a new generation.
Amazing!
A Thing of Beauty..., June 3, 2004
Reviewer: Stuart MacRae (Scotland, UK)
...is a joy forever. Linda Perhac's voice is pure and true; this album is
a long-lost treasure from the sixties and yet, like the work of Nick
Drake, the songs are both timeless and contemporary. "Hey Who Really
Cares" is one of the most poignant and moving tracks I have ever heard;
and is just crying out to be included in an important mainstream movie
soundtrack. Inventive harmonies, spiralling guitars, trippy touches, and
above all written from a woman's point of view, light some candles and
allow Linda's pitch perfect voice to enfold you. Linda, if you're reading
this, please please record some more music as the world is a lesser place
without your talent. |
|
By Bernard Zuel for
www.smh.com.au
January 8, 2005
This forgotten album of folk music is as beautiful now as it
was in the '70s.
Linda Perhacs, Parallelograms (Ace Of Discs/Aztec Music)
As music clichés go, the "great lost album" is often
used with a touch of license. (Sometimes those albums weren't so much lost
as quite rightly hidden away.) But Linda Perhacs's 1970 album Parallelograms
fits the bill on all counts.
That it is the only album the American singer-songwriter released
before almost disappearing from sight for more than two decades is a good
start. That it was all but impossible to find, except on a rare and poorly
mastered reissue, until recently when she resurfaced with an original master
tape makes for a great story.
But the real talking point here is its quality, its sheer, shimmery
beauty and delicacy, which is matched by oddly turned but unmistakably good
writing. If this isn't a great album, it is as close to it as most artists
have a right to dream of. That we have a second chance to discover it is something
that should not be wasted.
What is it? It's folk music seen through a prism of late '60s
psychedelia, like a Greenwich Village coffee shop with the beans lightly dusted
with hallucinogens. That is, while there aren't guitar freak-outs or gibberish
- in the main, this is low-key, often acoustic, with only occasional electronic
treatments - there is a sense that minds have been stretched willingly, that
eyes are seeing not just the wind blowing through the grass but feeling the
ripples.
It's an intensely personal record but one that does not confine
itself to matters of love. Perhacs's voice invites intimacy and the silence
around the songs asks you to step inside, but the imagery is evocative (colours
and physical sensations dot the lyrics) and the subject matter is often quasi-spiritual.
It's quite lovely, but also has the kind of darkness on the
fringe that hints (and it's often nothing more than a hint, which you can
ignore if you choose) of disturbance and of knowing a little bit more about
yourself and the ways of the world than would come from a quiet life.
Throughout this album (and its six extra tracks, all of which
enlighten in some way), there is a sense that this is a work of its time,
of the experimentation and the simultaneous anchoring in the earthiness of
human emotion and thought that marked the work of Tim Buckley, Grace Slick,
Nick Drake, Skip Spence and Joni Mitchell.
|
3/31/05
Steve Tauschke, “Beat” Magazine, Melbourne Music Street Press,
C/O Lou Ridsdale, Aztec Music.
Dear Steve:
Hi and a warm hello to all of you. Australia and also New Zealand are both
places I have always wanted to see- great to talk with you even though it
is on paper, so far!
I apologize for the volume of words- but feel free to “edit down” as you
see fit. These are sketches and answers to your questions from a girl who
is “moving and doing” all the time. Sorry for the delay.
Before I answer your questions, I would like to start out by saying that
all of my life, I have seen patterns of music, dance, color and “surround
sound” (as we call it today) or sound and light and color in 3
dimensional, moving patterns. I have always seen them as one- like
Japanese paintings, all in balance, but moving like a sound sculpture. So
it was natural for me to fall in love with nature, IE the natural universe
and become a student of all the incredible possibilities out there to
wonder at. So my music expresses this wonder and search.
Perhaps the reason the album has had such a following for so long is
because it evolved as an attempt to be in harmony with the natural
universe as I perceived it and these balances are timeless and belong to
everyone!
Last week I saw an exhibit in Los Angeles entitled “Visual Music” at the
Museum of Contemporary Art. It was so exciting to see because the title
track on my album is Parallelograms and it was originally created to
combine these elements of sound and light and color into a moving
sculpture.
All these years I have known that we did not yet have the necessary
equipment or the technology musically to do “Parallelograms” to it’s
full extent. This spring, 2005, Ron Shore of LA helped
me to realize this dream by using today’s equipment to re- do this title
song.
It is amazing!!! And, it is finally what I saw interiorly years ago when I
created this piece. I do hope to release this cut very soon.
Ron is a genius and this new “Parallelograms 2005” using today’s equipment
and surround sound has sounds that are really both wild and wonderful!
And, they are exactly the sounds I originally envisioned years before this
equipment was available.
The middle part of “Parallelograms 2005” really goes out into the universe
and you go with it as the sound creates circles and semi circles and
parallel sounds all around you- it is kind of a journey in the ethereal
and the beautiful; sometimes a bit eerie, yes, but it has harmony and a
soft ethereal quality that leads you out with a cadence of rhythmic
guitars and voicings. It was always meant to be a composition of multi-
dimensional sound, color and forms and light. (Earphones are a MUST!)
Soon, I hope to complete a Visual Journey to go with it via DVD---
You asked me how do I reflect on ‘Parallelograms’ after 35 years- both
conceptually and in terms of its influence?
Until five years ago, it was unknown to me that this album was still
selling all over the world. When Michael Piper (The Wild Places) found
me and told me about how popular the album was after all these years,
THEN showed me E mails from people all over the globe, I was stunned!
And now, even the recent re-issue is moving all over the globe- I am
amazed, too! I am both
humbled and delighted in learning that so many people have really been
influenced by ‘Parallelograms’ even to this day!
You next asked me, “What was the feeling hanging in LA in the late 60’s?
Where they Exciting times? I’m guessing you saw ‘The Doors’ perform? Any
interesting groups worth mentioning?”
The 60’s and 70’s were indeed exciting times! The general feeling
surrounding all of us in the late ‘60’s and early ‘70’s was that they were
times that were electric with creativity and it touched all of our lives
in every way. Food changes, emotional changes, music was everywhere and
always vibrantly innovative and creative. Spiritual ideas were coming in
from all over the globe- every phase of our lives was receiving new input-
you could feel it as people talked in business elevators all the way out
to remote areas. It prevailed all our lives- it was festive, highly
vibratory and creative to the max!
Love and peace were the most commonly used words when greeting even
strangers and everyone felt welcome. A terrible war was going on but news
of this war was not the immediate on- the- scene type of reporting we see
today. It was highly filtered, and this, I deeply regret. Music was all
around us and supercharged with a creative vibrancy I have not seen since.
It was not in just spot concerts, it was all over the culture, even inside
business suites.
Unfortunately, I never had a chance to see ‘The Doors’ perform. A close
friend of mine saw them perform in Colorado many years ago and remarked
that it was a wonderful experience. ‘The Doors’, to put it mildly, were
dynamic in those days. My windows in my little house in Topanga Canyon
radiated loud and clear quite often with their hit song “Lite My Fire”.
I’m sure the closer neighbors thought there was a live concert inside!
I loved many of the groups from that time, and Joni Mitchell was always
for us all an inspiration!
To respond to your question “Did drugs play a role in your creativity?
I must answer, no. I saw what drugs did to others and wanted no part of
that. I have seen colors, sound and form entirely naturally since I was a
child.
You also asked me to describe how the songs physically came together.
Through my clinical work as a Dental Hygienist, I became friends with
Leonard Rosenman, who at that time was a very well known film composer and
his wife.
We all enjoyed each other so much and one day, Leonard said, “Linda, I
can’t believe that all you do is your clinical work with patients” and I
said, “Well, I travel a lot, out into the wildest natural places and I
have a very creative husband (then) and I write little songs”. And he
said, “Would you let us hear the songs because we need inspiration. We
have more assignments than we can take to do for movies and TV scenes.”
So I agreed to bring him a little homemade tape. They called me the next
morning (Saturday at 8 AM!) and said, “How soon can you get here? These
are beautiful!”
I walked into their home and entered an incredible sphere of musical
imagination; speakers playing sounds I had never even heard before! It was
wonderful!
I explained the song “Parallelograms” to him and how I envisioned it. I
drew it in picture form saying it needed to be a moving sound- sculpture.
He got a very serious look on his face and said on the basis of that alone
he would see to it that an album of my music was recorded and he would
produce it.
That is how it happened. And the album was created from the beginning
without hype or promotion. It was done with love and inspiration by people
who were happy just to create music.
You asked about my impression of the sound of the album at the time of its
release and what are my thoughts now on the re-issue in terms of the
sound.
Michael Piper (“The Wild Places”) in July, 2003 fairly much summed up my
opinion of the sound of the album at the time of its release by quoting me
as saying “she told me she was so disappointed by the pressing of the
vinyl that she only played her copy ONCE, choosing instead to keep a
cassette run off the tapes”.
The re-issue, especially the second re-issue with the added tracks is more
what I wanted to begin with for the original release.
Was there any particular reason that I stopped writing/ recording after
‘Parallelograms’?
To be honest, I thought that no one cared about the album so I went into
the other parts of my life until Michael Piper contacted me 5 years ago.
To answer your question about interviews and if I resisted doing press, I
was never asked to do any press of any kind at the time of the album’s
release. And, up until recently, I did only a few interviews.
You asked if I was surprised to learn Devandra Banhart was a fan, and
about my interview with him.
I was contacted last summer, that Devandra was a fan of mine and that he was performing in down town
Los Angeles. I was told that Devandra was going to sing one of my
songs and wanted to know if I would like to meet him. I was honored by the
offer and upon meeting Devandra that evening; we were instantly soul
friends, because of our mutual love for the natural universe and music. It
was hard to stop sharing and talking with him- it was a great evening for
all of us there! Quite memorable for us all!
I would love to share some recordings with him and hope we can do so in
the very near future. I have a special new song I am saving just for him
right now.
Are my songs love poems to the natural world? Yes. I am in love with LOVE
itself. And, yes, this includes the natural Balances in our universe…. and
it makes me very sad to see these balances so disrupted by man’s errors
and mistakes. I also feel that hatred and violence is powerful enough to
throw all these delicate balances in nature off drastically- because all
of life is one vibrational sphere- and what we do to one another, we
ultimately do to ourselves.
I haven’t heard of Juliet, but she sounds interesting and I will be sure
to look for her.
I don’t think I considered myself a hippie in the general meaning of the
term. I always stayed focused on my career and my goals. All throughout
the 70’s and even up until now I have always had a very “straight” job in
the world of the healing sciences. And I blend this with my love of the
spiritual world and music. I see this all as one with no divisions--- I am
in love with LOVE itself and I will always favor love and peace and
gentleness.
Finally, I have been working on new material and hope to be able to have
it out very soon! I don’t have any plans to perform live, though. I prefer
to record in a studio and to share this music with a hope it will add more
joy and love in a world that so needs some help- from ALL of us- and that
was the central spirit of the early 60’s and 70’s. Those times were an
upward energy force and not a doom and gloom consciousness. We still have
the opportunity to counter balance some of the effects of hate and anger
by projecting more of its opposite which is always love and light.
Steve, thank you so much!
Stay in touch!
Love,
Linda.
April 16, 2005, to Richie Unterberger:
Dear Richie:
Thank you, I am very honored and happy to answer your questions. I am
including a copy of another interview that recently occurred for your
files. It is longer, but may provide for you some back up information for
you in future days whenever you need it, should you need a line or two.
You are a master at clear brevity and I greatly admire your gift of a “to
the point” writing skill; I do not have that skill,- so please feel free
to edit down as much as you want!
I have finished many interviews this past year with a vast array of
interesting people wanting to know more about “Parallelograms”. I think
that what surprises me more than anything is that even after doing
interviews that are considerably deep and searching, more questions are
generated.
I am very grateful and somewhat humbled to realize that what I have done
so long ago has not only a good following of people that enjoyed it when
it was first issued, but is also gathering appreciation and interest from
the “now” generation. It is quite wonderful to reflect on remarks that I
get via E-mail these days from fans from all over the world. A musician in
Canada recently sent me an E-mail saying, “Your album is a rare breed of
beauty, light, and organic authenticity. It seems like it was made out of
sheer love, with no pretense towards fame and fortune. I listen to it now
to remind myself why I make music.”
You asked what qualities about the album may have made it so attractive
and relevant to recent listeners, many of whom did not know about the
album or were even too young to hear the album (or not even born yet) when
it first came out.
Perhaps the reason the album has had such a following for so long is
because it evolved as an attempt to be in balance with the harmony of the
natural universe, and these balances are timeless and belong to everyone!
(There was never any attempt to match a fad- hit consciousness). It was a
creative endeavor done from the beginning without hype or promotion. It
was done with love and inspiration by people who were happy to create
music.
You also asked why the album was not promoted. For this, I have no answer.
I simply do not know. But quiet things are sometimes the rare and special
ones, and time has proved this to be so in this case.
To answer a very important question “What kind of musical directions do
you think you would have explored--?”
Actually, Richie, I feel more ready now than at anytime since the first
album. The inner development and growth inside me is stronger now than at
any previous time. Songs pour out of me faster than I can write them down.
And I am only hampered by the demands of “life”. But the creativity level
has increased because it is pure spirit- it flows through us when we are
truly ready to receive it.
You asked- “What type of music?” Deep in my soul I have always longed to
create multidimensional and visual music. Because even as a tiny child, I
have seen music and color as twins (and they are twins in physics) it is
all a wave- length phenomena of amazing beauty—shapes and movement also
correspond. Our universe is incredible! That is why I love nature so much.
Leonard Rosenman and I were both experimenting with early multidimensional
sounds in our music, long before the equipment was created to do this type
of music. He loved A-Tonal classical and my love was softer, more ethereal
sounds. I created the title song on the album, “Parallelograms” to express
music this way, IE as a 3 dimensional sound and color and light sculpture
in movement. But the musical equipment to do this type of music was not
yet created.
Finally, this year, and unusual music composer, Ron Shore, (
www.musiccomposer.com )
of Los Angeles helped me to realize this dream by using today’s equipment
to re-do the title song. I call it “Parallelograms- 2005”. It is amazing!
Ron is a genius at multidimensional music sculpting and layering of
harmonies and unusual sounds (you can hear a demo (rough copy) of it by
going to the above web site and following the prompts, but ear phones are
a MUST!). There is a “visual” mix version that is very contemporary but
not my own. I have a very special dream for the final visual, it will be
graceful and full of light and color.
I feel that in other dimensions of life, we express our love for one
another in not only words, but in color and tones and shapes. I feel that
this is a more complete expression of our love for one another. I want to
create music to express this and to increase this love in our world today.
Linda Perhacs
www.lindaperhacs.com
May 8, 2005
TO: Shaun Perkins
Layout Manager
Tabula Rasa
Swinburne University of Technology,
Melbourne, VIC, Australia
FROM Linda Perhacs
www.lindaperhacs.com
Hi, Shaun, I would like to answer your good questions in a conversational
way that flows more naturally for me. I hope this will work for you, also!
Thank you so much for your time Linda, it is greatly appreciated! I wanted
to cover as much ground as possible in this interview, so if you find some
of my questions long winded or too difficult to answer, please feel free
to skip them.
I have finished many interviews this year with a vast array of people
wanting to know more about “Parallelograms”. I think what surprises me
more than anthing is the deep and searching questions that it seems to
have inspired.
Was there any particular reason that you stopped releasing music after
Parallelograms? Did the minimal recognition of the album divert your
attention from music, perhaps because your music was not reaching the
audience you had hoped for, and you had felt compelled to affect as many
people as possible with your spirit?
The “business” of music is aimed at a very large market. The goal is the
bottom line figures as in most businesses. It is somewhat unusual that
this audience found me slowly and steadily. It is global, but it came as a
natural flow. No hype, no pushing.
For years, even I did not know this was happening. It grew even without my
awareness until 5 years ago. I feel comfortable though, that this balance
is the best one. It is the one I love the most, because it is soul to
soul, mind to mind, heart to heart. I believe this has more value when it
all happens this way, and I am as amazed as anyone, and also very humbled
by all of this.
Bottom line figures should not be our sole motive in life. If we have a
gift, it means just that- but one has to return the gift to the world and
help replenish life for all people and time will tell its’ true value.
Perhaps the reason the album has had such a following for so long is
because it evolved as an attempt to be in balance with the harmony of the
natural universe, and these balances are timeless and belong to everyone.
Fad- hit consciousness is a level of thought impossible for me to
comprehend. When I am creating music, I am immersed in a love for the life
that pervades all the universe and hold within me a reverent gratitude for
that life.
What else has occupied you since Parallelograms and have you wrote any
music since? Do you plan to release any future or past recordings?
Not knowing the album was still moving all over the world, I simply went
on to other things. I was exploring other areas of learning; mainly
spiritual and healing and the natural universe and now I am more able to
bring this all together in a fusion, and I hope to have some new music for
you very soon!
How so, and do you think that the
repression or denial of these creative tendencies in any way impaired your
future efforts? Do you think there is a creative spirit inherent in
children that if stunted, cannot be fully restored?
You have claimed in past interview that you have had the ability to see
patterns of music, dance, colour and light in moving 3 dimensional
patterns all of your life. Correct me if I’m wrong, but this sounds
similar to a condition known as synaesthesia - the stimulation of one
sense by something which is meant to stimulate another. Have you met many
other people in your life that experience similar sensations and have you
felt an affinity with them? Do you think that your music can be fully
appreciated by audiences without similar sensory abilities?
Yes, these displays of music, dance, color and light in moving 3
dimensional patterns do occur naturally in me and those people who are
“tuned” in to this can see and sense and feel these patterns naturally. It
is not unusual- rather it is a natural latent talent possibly in all
people, but we seldom recognize that we have it nor take the time to
develop it enough.
Doctors and nurses often become adept at these keen senses in order to
feel what is the truth regarding their patients. Mothers are often masters
at these feeling senses regarding their children’s needs. Musicians often
have keen sensitivities to sound, color, light, etc. All of these
perceptions are normal, but need to be developed, and do they occur as a
natural part of our universe as found in physics? Yes! The study is
endless and amazing! Light and color are twins in physics!
I recently watched Ron Shore’s audio and visual interpretation of the song
Parallelograms. It sounds and looks fantastic! Are you pleased with his
work, especially the visual aspects?
This version is still in “demo” stage and we are still working on the
video. I am calling it “Parallelograms- 2005” The sound is amazing! Ron is
a genius at multidimensional music sculpting and layering of harmonics and
finally these sounds are exactly the sounds I originally saw and heard
inwardly years ago when I wrote it. It really goes out in the universe and
it is a kind of journey into the ethereal and the beautiful! We are still
working on the visual aspects, but at least I know that the technology is
there to perfect my ideas on the visuals.
The swirling, kaleidoscopic patterns of colour in
Ron’s work are
reminiscent of computer ‘visualizations’ - programs for computer media
players that display splashes of colour and geometric shapes that change
with the beat of the audio that is playing. Have you ever seen a computer
‘visualisation’ and if so, do they come close to replicating your sensory
experiences of music?
I have seen computer visualizations when the computer adds a color or
theme that pulses with the beat of the music. I find them clever, but most
two-dimensional visualizations are without soul. Do they come close to
replicating my sensory experiences with music? I can only say somewhat.
Ron’s working of Parallelograms sounds a lot ‘fuller’ and adds great
textural quality to the original piece. Is accurately capturing the
texture and other aesthetic qualities of sound (a difficult task with
earlier recording equipment) something that frustrated you earlier in your
recording career? Have you noticed any disadvantages with modern digital
recording equipment compared with analogue equipment?
Back in the “analogue” days, the state of the art equipment in the studios
took a master to really accomplish all the mixing and arranging that was
needed to produce the sounds the artist had envisioned it should be. Even
as such, one could only go so far and then all the master tapes had to be
sent off for a vinyl pressing, At that point, it was impossible to add or
delete any sounds or ideas inside the songs on the tapes for changes that
the artist may have envisioned.
It still takes a master to accomplish the mixing. But it is much easier to
add ideas!
I would love to share some recordings with him and hope we can do so in
the very near future. I have a special new song I am saving just for him
right now.
Thanks Linda!
Shaun Perkins
shaunio47@hotmail.com
Shaun, I need to close for now. Life has many responsibilities but at
least this is a beginning, and we will share ideas again very soon, I
promise!
Love,
Linda
May 8, 2005
TO: Opulent Magazine
C/O Lou Ridsdale
Lance Rock Publicity
FROM: Linda Perhacs
Hi, Lou. Could you see that Opulent Magazine gets this with my many thanks
for their interest!
1.What was it like breaking into music from the very different field of
dentistry?
Reflecting on all of this- I see it as a continuum- a whole. Like where
does the air in one room stop and the air in the next room start? I see no
division. No start or stop. I see all as one whole process- I no longer go
to work and then come out and do my music. I see them as one. I express
both all day, every day from an inner center and inner awareness that
healing sciences and music are one and the same expression.
When I walk into a room to touch a person, to help them in healing, it is
all an energy of giving and working together to draw the best out of both
of us towards a positive goal- healing.
I express music similarly—it is a wholeness of expression aimed towards
others in hopes that it will help to bring more “ tunement” to those able
to receive the gift.
We are all in an inter- reactive sphere of energies everyday and no matter
what we are expressing, it does affect others!
I value you and all people enough to physically reach out and touch anyone
with love and kindness. Music is the same as healing. My goal is to bring
someone more life- not to take it away!
For students looking towards their own careers, it is good to see all
endeavours as a whole- without compartmentalizing- IE when going from work
to play to creativity, see no divisions. Do all as from a center, a
wholeness of expression. This keeps your “straight” job alive instead of
lifeless because you are keeping all things in an energy flow; pouring
through all you do.
2.What initially inspired you and the early demo tape, which you gave to
film composer Leonard Rosenman?
The era of the 70’s was very intense and highly vibrational. Creative
expressions pervaded in everything we did. We were all emersed in it, from
those who wore business suits to those in remote wilderness areas. It
simply pervaded the culture and it was very natural to share ideas openly.
I had been inspired to write and compose music for a long time and it was
not uncommon to give poems, songs or ideas to someone. One day, Leonard
asked me if I had any hobbies and I told him that I write music. He asked
me if I had a demo tape so I made one and gave it to him. It was an
expression that matched the culture at the time, and my original intension
was to add inspiration to Leonard’s writings because he had so many
assignments for TV and movies and needed fresh inspiration from the young
generation of the times.
3.His interest in your music saw the birth of Parallelogram, at this point
were your attitude to music changing?
Deep in my soul, I have always longed to create multidimensional and
visual music. Even as a child I have seen music and colour and sound all
together as one moving sculpture. It is all a wavelength phenomena of
amazing beauty- our universe is incredible, that is why I love nature so
much!
Leonard and I were both experimenting with early multidimensional sounds
in our music, long before the equipment was created to do this type of
music. Leonard helped me to keep being inspired with what we did with
“Parallelograms” as I had originally wrote the title song as a 3
dimensional sound, colour and light sculpture in movement. We did the best
we could with the equipment we had to work with at the time, but the
musical equipment to do it as I longed to was not yet created.
4.What was it like working with Shelley Mann and Milt Holland?
To say it was an amazing experience would be an understatement! But the
most awesome moments have been watching the composers in their most
creative moments. Leonard Rosenman was magnificent to work with. And, this
year, I am working with Ron Shore and like Leonard, Ron is awesome in his
wide range of creative abilities- watching them I realized why so many of
us feel so alive when we create music. It is the oxygen that connects us
with all of life, and for many of us, it is when we feel most alive.
Prayer, meditation, immersion in nature, creating music etc, all of those
endeavours reconnects us with life itself and so we return again and
again.
5.Looking back at Parallelograms do you feel that same way about the
album?
Yes. The album was always a work of love and a work in progress. It was
wonderful to watch it all come together with so many talented people
excited about what I had created.
Finally, this year, I met Ron Shore who has helped
me to re do this title song (I am calling it “Parallelograms- 2005). After
all these years, the song now really goes out into the universe and
surrounds you with circles and semi- circles and parallel sounds. It is
kind of a journey into the ethereal and the beautiful as this song was
always meant to be, a moving sculpture of sound and color. I hope to
release this very soon with some new music that I am working on.
6.Kapp it seems didn’t do a great job in promoting the album, and you
didn’t record again, what drew you away from music?
I had a career prior to the recording, and I never gave up that career
during the recording. Music has always been with me so I never was drawn
away from it. I did continue on with my life and started exploring other
areas of learning, mainly spiritual and the natural universe. Now I am
more able to bring them all together in a fusion.
Life deepens us. Our creativity does not disappear; it simply grows
stronger as long as we stay connected with the higher energy levels,
because these levels give us the greatest flow of creativity.
7.What influence do you think people like Devendra Branheart have had on
your music now?
I would say that it could not be anything but positive.
Friends in the music field kept saying I should really meet Devandra, and
in their sensitivities to us both, they mentioned the same to Devandra. So
finally I was contacted last summer that Devandra was a fan of mine and that he was performing in down
town Los Angeles. I was also told that Devandra was going to sing one of
my songs and wanted to know if I would like to meet him. I was honored by
the offer and upon meeting Devandra that evening we were instantly soul
friends, because of our mutual love for the natural universe and music. It
was hard to stop sharing and talking with him- it was a great evening for
all of us there! Quite memorable for us all!
I would love to share some recordings with him and hope we can do so in
the very near future. I have a special new song I am saving just for him
right now.
I hope all of this helps!
Thank you and much love to you all at Opulent Magazine- I hope we can all
share ideas again soon!
Love,
Linda Perhacs
May 8, 2005
TO: Christine Harch
Gympie Times
C/O Lou Ridsdale
Lance Rock Publicity
FROM: Linda Perhacs
Hi, Lou. Could you see that Christine gets this E mail? Thank you!
Hi, Christine- Here are your questions with my answers.
Thank you,
Questions for Linda:
Who were the main music influences on you when you were growing up?
“Inner Spirit”---- Even as a child, I saw music and light and color as
one- in moving patterns and so it was natural for me to eventually fall in
love with nature; IE: The Natural Universe and become a student of all the
incredible possibilities out there to wonder at. So my music expresses
this wonder and search.
The CD, to me, has haunting melodies - I mean that in a positive way -
what
instruments were used to get that effect? and was that the effect you were
looking for?
The songs were written using a guitar and each song has an individually
created tuning for the guitar to enhance the modular quality and the
dreamy, harmonic ethereal characteristic of each song. And, yes, what you
hear is the effect that I was looking for.
How would you define your music?
A fusion of Spirit and Life and Reverence for our natural universe and all
of us within it.
What would you like the listener to feel after hearing your CD?
Perhaps a greater appreciation for attempting to connect with the higher
energies that are around us.
Are you from a musical family?
No. But over the years I have realized that my family is God and all His
people. I see all of you as family, and yes, music is one of my most
important expressions of this love.
As an artist, do you have a particular message for people through your
music?
Oneness— and opening up to an appreciation and reverence for our natural
universe and our oneness within it.
What next for Linda Perhacs? Is there another album on the way - if so,
what can your fans expect?
I am working on new music at this time and we are hoping that we will be
able to release it in the very near future. Please look forward to
deepening because as years increase our depth and appreciation for all
that is around us, so this will be reflected in my new works.
What is your favourite track from the CD and why?
“Parallelograms” is my favorite because It is a composition, a 3D sound
sculpture rather than a linear song. I had originally wrote the title song
as a 3 dimensional sound, colour and light sculpture in movement. We did
the best we could with the equipment we had to work with at the time, but
the musical equipment to do it as I longed to was not yet created.
Finally, this year, I met Ron Shore (
www.musiccomposer.com
) who has helped
me to re do this title song (I am calling it “Parallelograms- 2005). After
all these years, the song now really goes out into the universe and
surrounds you with circles and semi- circles and parallel sounds. It is
kind of a journey into the ethereal and the beautiful as this song was
always meant to be, a moving sculpture of sound and color. I hope to
release this very soon with some new music that I am working on.
Tell me how you got into the music industry and what makes you stay in it.
A well- known music composer, Leonard Rosenman, heard my music and
believed in me. I have stayed in music because of my love of people.
Thank you so much for taking the time to answer my questions and thank you
for delivering such beautiful music to the world.
Kind Regards
Christine Harch
Thank you Christine for your beautiful questions that inspired these
answers!
Much Love to You—
Linda Perhacs
|
|
Time and
technology reveal a singer's parallel universe