Austinist Interviews Perry Farrell of Satellite Party

Do you think Austin lives up to its ‘live music capital of the world’ moniker?

Well, it’s definitely one of them. But I’ll tell you, there’s a lot of interest in rock music around the world. I think that today the modern musician understands that to be a musician you have to be great on stage, and that’s really where you’re going to make your legend and where you’re going to make your career. So, there have been a lot of new music hot spots that have come up around the world. The touring industry went through a bad phase around 2004. It reached its worst point in history, and now it’s turned itself around and gotten very, very healthy. Austin has got to be amongst the top of the list of cities and destinations where they’ve always had a keen eye for and desire to have live music. So, they definitely have a heritage.

Why the space theme with the new group, Satellite Party?

Why the space theme? It was just a notion. It was just an idea. Initially, I had thought to put together a room where people could hang out for a weekend that was like a space pajama party. I imagined that happening in the future where people would take commercial weekend flights into space. And, who knows, maybe they would do moon shots or something like that and hole up in a moon hotel. On the way to and from, they’d be floating in a satellite. So, I started writing the music to kind of go with that theme. When I wrote the music originally, it was going to be more house music and beats and things like that. Then, when I started laying lyrics to it, the lyrics began to tell a story, and I had the desire to add a rock band to it. We ended up actually laying over that a 30-piece orchestra. So, it was really a lot of fun to make the record, and it really did launch the project. I see this group touring for the next ten years. I want it to coincide with the changing of the world. I believe that there is going to be a massive overhaul, world change, in the next ten years. You almost won’t recognize the world. I want to be there at the end of that ten years to celebrate all the good work that we’ve done.

Hopefully, it will change for the better.

Exactly. Well, I think it will.

What do you think has changed the most about your music between the days of Jane’s Addiction and Satellite Party?

Well, you know the World Wide Web began around 1991. That was the same year that Lollapalooza began. Since that time, the music industry has changed 100 percent. People would make money selling records, and some groups only made records and didn’t really want to tour. They had record companies promoting their product. Today, it’s a very different world. Today, it’s a do-it-yourself world. It’s a level playing field where you don’t need big record companies. You can self-market using the Internet and the World Wide Web. And, you don’t sell as many records. But, as I say, the strength of a musician is his ability and his virtuosity, his tenacity to travel, tour and play for people. It’s a completely different world for the modern musician, but he uses the methods of the ancient musician, of the troubadour, of the traveling minstrel. He goes from town to town, and that’s how he survives and makes his living. That was always my forte; the festival, the celebration, the gathering of the masses to celebrate life and also consider things and maybe make a communal change.

My next adventure with all of this is I want to bring music into the streets because I feel that people are automatons. They leave their home. They go to work. They come home. On their way, they behave themselves. They don’t sing or dance, and I question that. I question why it is that you can have so many rules and regulations on the street. There are so many signs, postings and so much direction, but there’s no celebration. There’s no happiness. There’s no joy. I want to create a new paradigm for people when they leave their home. Hey, you never know, you could run into a group of musicians and they’d be playing for you. There could be a gathering off in the corner. I think that with these kinds of flash mobs, instant parties, if we do them right, you’ll see more musicians coming into town with their guitars on their backs looking to set up their music. People will go over there, and you’ll have an instant celebration.

What initially made you want to co-create Lollapalooza?

I just saw again that there was a void. There was a void with the kind of music that my friends and I were making. And I said, "If we all get together, if we create a community, I know there has to be at least ten to twenty thousand kids in every city that are just waiting for us. We can go out there together, and bring those communities together as we pass through." We tried it, and it was successful. I think the Internet is another place where we can do this kind of thing, and I think it’s important now that we create these social networks and musical networks using the Internet and using the idea of festivals and concerts. Music can serve as a catalyst for change.

Sometimes I get asked, "Do you really believe in the power of music?" Yes, I do. I absolutely do. Back in the day when President Clinton was elected, he went to MTV, he went to Lollapalooza, he became visible in the musical circles. I think it had a lot to do with him getting elected. Today, I don’t know about elections. I don’t know if elections are even real. So, it’s even more important that we as a community, we as a global village get together because the vote may not make a difference. Those voting polls may be rigged, but if we get together and make our minds up collectively with the strength of our pocketbook and the strength of our dollar we can organize these kinds of boycotts and raising stock and plummeting stock. I think that’s the true vote of today, and to be able to do that you’ve got to be organized and focused. Music can serve to bring people together to discuss and organize these kinds of things. Because first and foremost, people want to come out to hear and see live music, and once they’re there, we can all discuss. The people at those voting polls, I don’t trust them. But, I do trust the man I’m standing next to if he comes out and he’s got good taste in music.

What presidential candidate, if any, do you like for the upcoming election?

I’m still open-minded. It’s a wacky world when it comes to politics. I absolutely would consider a Democrat first, but I feel that Democrats are very unorganized. Republicans beat them because they are more organized within their own team. At the same time, I don’t really think that voting matters one way or the other, so. I’ve got people who I would consider. I’m not going to say who because I’d kind of like to stay apolitical when it comes to those kinds of things. I have more faith and hope in us, in you and me, than I do in any politician. I feel that politicians basically follow popular opinion. They do their marketing research. They find out who’s for abortion and who’s not, and then they try to wedge their way in there and say that’s what they believe. And, they’re backed by big business. It used to be that the world was run by kings and queens, and then it became that the world was run by governments, and then it became that the world was run by big business. Now, it’s going to return, at long last, to the power of the people. We have the Internet, and we have the ability to be organized. Politicians are supposed to serve us. As much as I’d like to tell you who I’d want to vote for, I don’t trust that they would entirely serve me. I’m going to depend on you and me to get together. We’ll all pool our money together, invest in things and watch the government, big business and kings and queens follow us.

I noticed on the covers of many of the Jane’s Addiction CDs there are pictures of naked women. Was that a conscious theme or just coincidence?

I just like naked women.

Good answer. You’ve been called a godfather of alternative rock, and I was wondering what you thought about that?

Well, I was definitely there when it all went down. Before Jane’s, there was no alternative rock. I’d like to think that today my aspirations are bringing alternative energy and making it a reality. I’m very proud of the years when Jane’s was first coming up and alternative rock was created. Still today, it’s healthy, even though record companies wouldn’t think so. It’s just those kinds of groups that have fallen prey to downloading. So, the record industry has turned their backs on alternative rock. But, the festivals and the clubs have not, and that’s where the alternative people thrive. I’m very proud to be associated with alternative rock and just the word ‘alternative’ in general because I think we need alternatives. We need solutions, otherwise we’re going to be desperate.