[EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW] Twitterview with Mike Peralta

[EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW] Twitterview with Mike Peralta

[EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW] Twitterview with Mike Peralta

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Southern California native, singer-songwriter Mike Peralta has more than 150 songs to his name. A guitar player since high school, Mike has been been in and out of bands only to learn that going solo was the choice for him. Since then, Mike has gained a huge following on sites such as MySpace and Twitter. Curious about the hype, The Sights and Sounds recently had a chance to sit down and ask Mike a few questions. Here’s what we came up with.

@TheSightsSounds Mike, you hail from So Cal. How are things going for you? Enjoying the nice weather?

@mikeperalta I’ve never lived in bad weather except when I was in riverside for a year, so I wouldn’t know if this is good or not lol. I’m pretty much just happy. I’m glad it’s been raining too because I have a phobia of Captain Picard coming on TV again telling everyone, “Imagine how you’d feeeeeeeel if you couldn’t get wataaaahhhh.”

@TheSightsSounds Haha, that’s funny. What projects are you currently working on?

@mikeperalta Right now I’m sitting on maybe 8 songs that are ready to be released, but I’m lagging because they also require that I get photos and artwork together. My next release is going to be a silly song called “Fosner”, in which I basically rant about how I’m going to marry Jodi Foster one day, and golf with Kevin Costner, and essentially expose myself to the world as a nut job haha. I need a really really bad pic of myself for the cover though, so I haven’t been shaving or cutting my hair for awhile. And catching a flu probably helped. I may or may not do the pics today actually.

@TheSightsSounds That sounds really cool. I’m interested to see how the pics turn out. Growing up, you were in & out of a lot of bands with your friends. How did this help shape your sound as a musician?

@mikeperalta Being in and out of bands didn’t shape my sound very much at all. We always pretty much just used the songs I’d already written, since fellow band members probably completed a whopping 3-4 songs in the 10 years I band-ed total. Being in bands really just helped me form opinions and theories on what it means to be in a band. For starters, it’s easier to gain an audience. You have 3-4 people promoting and forcing friends/family to support. You also have buddies you can be with when fliering or doing brave shit like yelling to people to come to your show walking around bars and stuff lol. So the audience was always larger when I was in a band. However, every band I was in never wanted to play my music in quite the exact way I envisioned them, which I didn’t like. Plus splitting the money several ways made it harder trying to profit as an indie. Plus usually I was the only person who did online hustling/work, and our street work wasn’t really that big/effective in proportion to the number of members. Plus coordinating practices and dealing with people flaking on performances & stuff. Plus I’m really really anti-social sometimes, in that I’m totally awkward around people. I always felt more comfortable playing on stage than hanging out at an afterparty with a ton of people. I love people, but I feel more comfortable watching everyone have fun than trying to be the center of the fun. Plus I feel somewhat more comfortable just being alone sometimes. All that led me to go solo eventually.

@TheSightsSounds You site Nirvana as a big musical influence. Who else is a big inspiration for you as a musician?

@mikeperalta Oh man there are so many. I have a bad memory too so I get influenced by someone then totally forget them lol. Probably Colin Hay – I play several of his songs when I do long gigs. Coldplay. Green Day. Filter. Cranberries. Soul Asylum. Bob Dylan. Oasis! Don’t look back in anger, bitch. Uhm.. Jimmy Eat World. Weezer. The Foo I guess. I’m not a super fan of theirs but love Dave Grohl from Nirvana, or however you spell his name. I used to sing LFO backstage all the time when I worked as an entertainer at Disney hahaha. Girl on TV babaaaay! Plain White T’s. Radiohead. Counting Crows! I’m probably leaving a bunch out.

@TheSightsSounds Are there any artists you would like to collaborate with?

@mikeperalta I’m very open to collaboration, I just suck at writing a song with another person. I’m a perfectionist and an OCD control freak when it comes to my music. So I’d prefer to collaborate by bringing someone to help record one of my tracks, or to help them complete theirs. I worked with a friend awhile back who has a studio in Hollywood. He took my song “Ugly” and turned it into this crazy trance remix. Totally new song, but just a few of my lines were in there. I had to go to his studio and sing my vocals to the beat he was doing. It was fun as hell. I think it’s on iTunes right now under my name and probably “Vadim” or “Midav Music”, and several remixes I think.

@TheSightsSounds There are so many artists doing so many different things in the music world today. What artists currently stand out to you?

@mikeperalta Pretty much my all-time favs stand out to me the most, whether or not they’re currently standing out in the world. I’m currently in a phase where I’m just trying to study people, and figure out what they’re doing right and wrong, and trying to apply it to how I might be able to take my indie stuff to the next level. For instance okay, sorry to be cliche but Lady Gaga is an excellent promoter. It’s obvious by watching her that when you take things to a certain outlandish level, people start going crazy over you. I’d like to bring more story and branding to my own work somehow. There’s an indie-turned-success named Ernie Halter that took himself from obscurity to a success, pretty much just by spamming and being a huge, huge online marketing genius. I feel like I stand to learn the most from him and others like him who are breaking out now.

@TheSightsSounds If I took control of your iPod, what kind of stuff would I find myself listening to?

@mikeperalta Old shit from the 90’s pretty much and talk radio. Oh and a singing lessons, “me me me” track haha. And my own album for when I feel like I might be out of practice and need to rehearse it a little on the way to driving somewhere. I’m probably the worst music fan ever in terms of being cultured and staying on top of the latest tracks. When I fall in love with a band or song, I’ll learn to play it, then play it all the time at home instead of actually listening. Then sometimes if I feel I’m doing it justice, I’ll try to work it into my live set. Oh, John Mayer! I left him out, lol. I play “Who Says” a lot live. It makes me feel like a hypocrite though since I’m not a pot head. Although I do love pot heads. They’re so fun and nice and hippy. Hugz out pot heads!

@TheSightsSounds You have an amazing following on Twitter. How important has social media been in getting your music to the masses?

@mikeperalta Thanks! It’s taken a lot of work and a lot of clicking. I think right now Twitter is my primary outlet for music. If it weren’t for Twitter I probably wouldn’t have half the activity or feedback I do now. I have a Myspace with almost 30k friends, but of course that doesn’t mean a lot now. And my mailing list is pretty large but I try to save that channel for somewhat important stuff. The day to day fan-love, making new friends via music, and just getting it “out there” is alllllll about Twitter now.

@TheSightsSounds When you’re not making music, what can you be found doing?

@mikeperalta I’m a huge, huge nerd… so you can find me working on my website. I program it myself. Or watching a nerd show like Star Trek (any and all series). Or trying to convince family/friends to watch Revenge of the Sith with me haha. Or just reading indie blogs, trying to figure out how to improve my strategy. Or playing live, of course. Or hugging and kissing my little dog and basically annoying the crap out of him. Or occasionally hitting the gym. I used to be super buff. 185lbs and 4% bodyfat, verified by underwater fat testing. I was the she-it. Now I’m more of a computer nerd musician body type. Anyway. lol. Oh and of course when I’m not making music, you can sometimes find me tweeting with muh twitter tweeps!!!

@TheSightsSounds Thanks for the interview. It’s always great to be able sit down with the musician and get a peak behind the curtain. Keep up the great work and if you’re ever in Chicago, make sure you let us know!

 
[wpaudio url=”http://thesightsandsounds.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/01-Starlit-Moon.mp3″ text=”Mike Peralta – Starlit Moon” dl=”0″]

 

[wpaudio url=”http://thesightsandsounds.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/I-Want-to-Be-Sad.mp3″ text=”Mike Peralta – I Want To Be Sad” dl=”0″]
 
If you want more of Mike Peralta, make sure you check out his website, www.MikePeralta.com, where you can find his music, subscribe to his mailing list, and learn more than you’ll probably ever need to know about Mike. Also, be sure to follow Mike via Twitter @mikeperalta.

 

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Kris Hi there! Founder and Editor-in-Chief of The Sights and Sounds. Been doing this music writing thing for most my life in one way or another and loving every opportunity it's brought along. Shoot me an email if you have any suggestions for the website, comments, or if you just want to chat. Cheers!