Peter Perrett Discusses Love, Personal Challenges and Music

Transmission 126: Interview with Peter Perrett

Peter Perrett discusses his musical influences, The Only Ones history, recent collaborations, and creative process behind his new album The Cleansing.

Title: The Cleansing
Artist: Peter Perrett
Release Date: 2024-11-04
Genres: Alternative Rock, Art Rock, Post-punk, Punk Rock
Label: Domino
Description: Peter Perrett discusses his musical evolution, latest album 'The Cleansing', collaborations with Johnny Marr and more, and working with his sons.

Peter Perrett is an English singer and songwriter best known as the frontman of The Only Ones, a London rock band that operated from 1976 to 1981. The band released three albums during this period and built a reputation in the new wave scene, though drug use led to their eventual breakup. After The Only Ones disbanded, Perrett largely withdrew from music due to ongoing substance abuse issues.

In the mid-1990s, Perrett briefly returned with a new group called The One. The Only Ones reformed in 2007 for live performances but did not record new material. Following a long period of inactivity, Perrett launched his solo career in 2017 with the album “How the West Was Won.” He followed this with “Humanworld” in 2019 and “The Cleansing” in 2024 through Domino Records. His latest work features contributions from several notable musicians including Johnny Marr of The Smiths, Bobby Gillespie of Primal Scream, and members of Fontaines D.C. Throughout his career, Perrett has written lyrics focusing on themes of love, addiction, and personal struggles, delivered in his characteristic South London accent.

How did you get started in the world of rock music? What were some of the influences that ignited your passion for music?

There’s two main influences: Bob Dylan, who I first heard in 1960. I heard his acoustic stuff, but it was when he turned electric in ’65 when I was 13, particularly “Like a Rolling Stone.” The sound of his voice felt like he was speaking to me rather than just singing notes. His clever wordplay and lyrics set him apart from anybody else. Before that, I’d been into The Kinks, The Yardbirds, Small Faces, but there was something about Dylan’s voice. I’ve always been attracted by unique individual voices that sound like they’re telling the truth. That was my first influence.

Then when I was 15, September ’67, I heard the first Velvet Underground album. That was someone with a voice as unique as Bob Dylan, with amazing lyrics, but also a musical tapestry that took you both to heaven and hell. There were beautiful songs, and then really dissonant songs. The second Velvet Underground album – “I Heard Her Call My Name,” “Sister Ray” – felt groundbreaking in every way. It felt special because no one else outside New York City liked the Velvet Underground.

Everybody hated them. All my friends hated it. You had to be indoctrinated into the sound of Velvet Underground in order to remain my friend.

That was the beginning. That was when I felt that music could take me to a completely different world.

What were some of your challenges during that time?

The first challenge was learning how to play two chords and write a song. I got my first guitar in 1969.

I was 17. I wrote a song called “Flowers Die.” That was the first song I wrote, which I later did with The Only Ones.

I got a band together in 1971-72. At that time, the revolution of the punk years hadn’t happened yet. I was like a struggling artist, like 99% of musicians.

In 1973-74, I met Malcolm and Vivian. I didn’t think they were starting a revolution at all. I just thought they were two eccentric, crazy characters.

I knew Malcolm McLaren wanted to get a band together. But to see it all up close was exciting. Before, I just thought he was a comedian who made me laugh.

The first Sex Pistols gig I saw in 1975, they were really exciting because they were so funny, because the audience hated them. I saw it as rebelliousness, anti-establishment – not just the establishment of society, but the musical establishment. They didn’t care that they were very limited musicians.

They didn’t care that the audience hated them. I thought that was really refreshing at the time. I was getting The Only Ones together.

It coincided with a revolution in the music scene in London. It opened every door. People say it was ground zero in music – it was.

I was never a conformist. I would never have limited myself in the scope of my music. I always wanted to be different from what was current.

As soon as punk became a uniform, as soon as it became a fashion, it helped The Only Ones stand out from it. We were one of the new bands, but we didn’t conform to the rigid structure of lots of punk bands. It was an exciting time.

Without that explosion of punk in London, I maybe never would have got to make a record.

What led to the recent return of The Only Ones to the stage after several years?

In 2007, Warren Ellis from the Bad Seeds was curating a festival called ATP (All Tomorrow’s Parties) Festival in April 2007. He asked if there was any chance of The Only Ones getting back together. The three other members of The Only Ones – Alan, John and Kelly – came around to my place and talked me into reforming.

I wasn’t in a good place. I wasn’t very healthy. I hadn’t relinquished my previous lifestyle yet.

The band played well, but my voice wasn’t in good shape. I was too unhealthy to sing properly.

It was enjoyable because the fans that attended – there were grown men in the front row crying. It was emotional for them because after 27 years, they never thought they’d see The Only Ones again. From that point of view, it felt good to give them what they wanted.

When I look back on the TV appearances we made, I’m ambivalent about whether it was a good idea. It was great pleasing to the fans, but I wish I’d gotten well before doing it. So we didn’t do it for quite a few years.

Last year, we did four gigs with The Only Ones because our drummer Kelly died in 2017. For me, The Only Ones were the four original members. I know there’s lots of bands that go out under the brand name with one original member – the singer or the songwriter isn’t part of it.

That’s cool for them. But for me, The Only Ones – I’m proud of what we did in the late ’70s. I wouldn’t want to tarnish it by just trailing on that name.

It was alright doing four gigs last year. Maybe in another 10 years’ time, if we’re all still alive, maybe I’ll do some more. But I’m more concerned with the songs I’m writing now and making records now that I’m really proud of.

The Cleansing touches on themes like art, aging, and social media. How do you weave these concepts into your music?

Art – I’m a struggling artist. So art as a disease is pretty personal to the way I feel.

I identify with the struggling artist who’s an outsider, rather than the establishment. Music in particular has become a microcosm of society. There’s the 0.01 percent who have got all the market, who stream billions and trillions of streams and play to stadiums.

Then there’s the struggling artists – if you break even and don’t lose money, you are a successful artist these days. For art, the other themes – aging, depression, suicide, euthanasia – they’re all things you have to think about when you’re 72 years old. I’m not going to think I’m a young kid having fun.

Tomorrow may come, it may not come – you write about reality. Social media, “Survival Mode” is the song you’re talking about. That’s about the vagaries of social media, how it just seems full of anger.

You’ve got to negotiate these things, because they’re addictions, like everything else. Everyone’s got a smartphone. That’s a dangerous thing.

Your new album, The Cleansing, features collaborations with artists like Johnny Marr and Bobby Gillespie. How did these partnerships come about?

My last two albums were just family – my son Jamie playing lead guitar, producing, and my son Peter Jr. playing bass. It came about because of Carlos O’Connell from Fontaines D.C.

I was rehabilitating myself because I caught COVID. I was in the hospital for 13 days.

First day in hospital, I fell off the chair, broke my hip. I had to learn to walk again. I was out practicing walking without crutches.

I heard Carlos’s voice behind me – he’d just moved three rows up from me. I invited him around. He wanted to hear what I was doing.

I’d recorded my vocals first, my rhythm guitar first, then the vocals. He started getting interested, showing great enthusiasm for what I was doing. He was the first person that got involved.

Bobby Gillespie literally lives around the corner. I became a friend just because we kept bumping into each other all the time. He dropped round.

All the vocals were done at my house. Johnny Marr lives in Manchester, so he’s not a neighbor, but he was a fan when he was a kid.

I remember him standing outside venues waiting for us to arrive to soundcheck. He’s been really supportive of me. Because he wasn’t a neighbor – Bobby and Carlos were neighbors – it happened very organically because they literally were around the corner.

Jamie said we ought to ask Johnny, because I’d spoken to him about collaborating before. I invited him, but we’d more or less completed the album by then.

I wrote a song specially to give him a blank canvas – “Solitary Confinement.” I just put down an acoustic guitar and a vocal and sent it to Johnny. He sent it back within about three or four hours with three great guitars on it, recorded perfectly.

It happened in an organic way. I never thought, “I’m going to invite some famous people to be on my album.” That’s not the way I do things.

I just want to make a great album. I don’t care who’s on it – I just want it to sound the best it could sound. But because I knew these people, it just sort of snowballed.

Once I had one guest, I thought about who else I knew that could sing background vocals or play guitar. It was an organic process. I don’t think any of it is gratuitous.

Every contribution from every guest is vital to the sound of each song.

Working closely with your sons Jamie and Peter Jr., how does the family dynamic influence the music you create together?

We’re very open with each other. Peter just plays perfect bass. I don’t really have to say anything.

Jamie plays great guitar, but because he’s producing, he has a say in the final presentation, the mixing and stuff like that.

There’s a lot of back and forth. We’re honest with each other. I’ll suggest something and he’ll look at me skeptically. Nine times out of ten, we’ll try it and I’ll agree with him that it was a waste of time.

He was right in the first place. But one time out of ten, my crazy idea might actually work and vice versa. Because it became a double album, 20 songs, there was more scope for Jamie to experiment as a producer.

There’s songs like “Back in the Hole” – he put the drums through a guitar pedal and through an amp. “Eyes of Disease” sounds quite different to the way we normally used to do things, which was like guitar, banjo, two guitars, bass drums, just jamming in the studio, live music. This album, he’s had much more scope to experiment as a producer.

I think it’s made the album more interesting for that reason.

You’ve mentioned a shift from cynicism to themes of love and human experience in your songwriting. What sparked this evolution?

I’ve always written about love and the human condition. From a personal point of view, all my songs are personal. I very rarely write anything political.

On the last album, “All Planned Red” was political. Writing about politics – you’re not going to change anybody’s mind. You either get half your fans saying, “Great, I agree with you.”

The other half of the fans will get annoyed because they don’t agree with you. In the early ’60s, when Bob Dylan sang protest songs, these were things that people weren’t seeing on their television. He was singing about the civil rights movement, things like that.

He had a position of being able to educate people that weren’t close to what was happening. Nowadays, everybody is inundated with information, misinformation and disinformation. People are so confused that they just don’t know what to believe anymore.

It’s just a maelstrom of anger. Who would have thought that America, meant to be a democratic country, has got half the population hating the other half of the population.

I shouldn’t get into politics because I just start ranting because it’s so crazy. The world is so crazy. Love – there are lots of different aspects of love.

On “How the West Was Won,” there’s four love songs all about my wife – I’ve been married to her for 55 years. But you can only rephrase that so many times without repeating yourself. It’s different aspects of feelings and emotions.

There’s not that many things to write about. Love is probably one of the most important things that we feel in our lives.

We either feel deprived because we can’t find it or we feel fulfilled when we do find it.

Are there any future projects or collaborations on the horizon that you are looking forward to?

I don’t think too far ahead, because like I said before, I’m 72. At the moment, if I’m still alive, I’m touring in February and March. My new drummer is John Castle.

I met him in the Arctic – I did the Snow Station Vadsø festival in March. There’s me and Jamie on guitar, Peter Buck from R.E.M. on guitar, and Lenny Kaye from Patti Smith Group on guitar. John Castle was one of the drummers.

The people that guested on the album – they’re all busy, they’ve got their own careers, much more busy than me. They’re not going to be appearing at any gigs at all. So I’m just thinking about the upcoming tour.

This is work for me. The fun was writing the songs and recording the songs.

That’s fun. Afterwards, doing interviews – it is work. Earlier I spoke on the phone to someone for two hours, 50 minutes, the longest interview I’ve ever done.

My brain isn’t that clever anymore so I can’t invent new ways of saying things. So I try my best.

Photos courtesy of Peter Perrett

Matteo Damiani

Matteo Damiani is an Italian photographer and author. Curator of the sites Retrofuturista.com; weirditaly.com; china-underground.com and others