“You’ve probably read my bio, there’s some sad shit in
there,” says Elvis Perkins in a noticeably indifferent timbre.
Indeed, the 33-year-old musician has suffered tragic loss in his
young life. His father Anthony (yes, the man who played Norman Bates in
Psycho) died in 1992 of complications from AIDS. And on
September 11, 2001, one day before the ninth anniversary of his
father’s death, Perkins’ mother Berry Berenson was killed on American
Airlines Flight 11 when it collided into the north tower of the World
Trade Center.
It would seem natural for Elvis Perkins’ music to reflect that
sadness. And at times it does. Take “Chains Chains Chains” from his
second album, Elvis Perkins in Dearland: “What am I if bound to
walk in chains ’til I die/Reaching wildly out to the sky with no
particular aim.” The song begins with only a murky guitar strum before
horns finally come forward to lift the mood. Perkins describes his
music as more an expression of joy and vitality than simply wallowing.
“Comforting” would be a good description, as Perkins croons over songs
that gently tear from the fabric of American folk and ragtime.
In junior high Perkins chose music over following in his father’s
footsteps (he says the closest he’s come to acting is playing the part
of “Man with Guitar” in a school production of The Grapes of
Wrath), learning the ways of the guitar from the Knack’s Prescott
Niles. (“I’m pretty sure there was no propagation of ‘My
Sharona.'”)
Perkins released his first solo record, Ash Wednesday, in
2007 before bringing in a full band under the name Elvis Perkins in
Dearland. In October the quartet will release the cheery-titled
Doomsday EP, recorded over three days in Providence, Rhode
Island. The EP features two versions of the song “Doomsday,” which
first appeared on EPiD. “Slow Doomsday” is just that, and it
takes on a new life as a gospel number. Not surprisingly, it starts off
sad and spare before building into a stunningly joyous chorus. It might
be one of Perkins’ most definitive songs.
“I don’t consider myself a happy or sad person, just a person first
and foremost,” Perkins says. “We’re so concerned with declaring
ourselves while we’re on this orb; I’ve decided that I don’t want to
live that way.”