 |
>>pete
vocalist David Terrana and bassist
Lars Alverson in the Winnebago>> |
VOX: So, how did you guys get started?
David Terrana: Well, you know, Rich and I…Rich, the guitarist, we were introduced
years ago when we were younger, and we started writing songs together. Very garage-esque,
you know, just from the ground up. The band just kind of formed from there. Lars, the bass
player, he came in from a drummer we had brought into the band who ended up leaving. After
Lars joined, we got into a little darker, moodier space than we had been. The Scott,
who’s from Minnesota, joined the band, ‘cos our manager managed his old band in
Minnesota, and he [Scott] drove out from Minnesota to join the band.
VOX: Where were you guys at the time?
DT: In New Jersey. We’re based in New Jersey. And what happened is that when
Scott drove out we all moved in together in Newark, New Jersey, and we all lived there for
about four or five years. Fixed up an old house, and just, you know, we were renting, but
it was in bad shape when we got it. It was pretty much a…shooting den at one point.
We found a bunch of hypodermic needles in it. It was disgusting.
Anyway, we rehearsed there, wrote songs and lived together, you know, 24-7. And after
Scott joined the band, he drove us to start touring the mid-west. So that’s what we
did…we started gearing up, getting the van, the four of us, and tour the mid-west.
The early tours were a little tough, ‘cos we were trying to get gigs and stuff, but
sleeping in the van or sleeping on people’s floors, we did that for a couple of
years. Just kept going through the mid-west, and um, built up a fan base outside of New
Jersey. Jersey, they’re not the most…um…they’re not the most kind to
the original bands. It’s more of a cover scene, so it’s tough to break in New
Jersey.
 |
>>David shows us his
tattoo>> |
VOX: Unless you’re Jon Bon Jovi, right?
DT: Unless you’re him, but we’re not as cute as him, so…but anyway, we
just started working hard in the mid-west and it helped us a lot. By chance Rich and I
went to a Live show, the band Live, and 95.9, the Rat, which is a big station in South
Jersey, they were hosting the show, and Rich and I brought our CD that the band had did on
it’s own, and we gave it the people at the radio station who were sponsoring the
show, and they checked it out that night on the way home, and they started spinning it and
it just became, like, one of the most requested songs like, with in like a month.
[The person] who runs the station, who’s the director there, he called up some
label people and said listen, there’s a band here that’s really doing well, and
they’re not signed, and we’re spinning them constantly, and you should take some
notice, and he helped bring the labels to us, and the rest is history, you know. Warner
Brothers stepped up with a record deal, and we took it.
VOX: So, where does the band name come from? Who is pete, why is there a period at
the end, and why isn’t it capitalized?
DT: pete. was…we were changing the name of the band, and um, trying to think of a
name for the band, and very desperate, I don’t know if you’ve ever been in a
band, searching for band names is the worst thing ever. So we’re in a bar in South
Jersey, and we were struggling for a name, and we’re with our manager’s
assistant, his name’s Kevin, we’re in this bar called Frankie and Jonnie’s,
where all the carnies go after hours on the boardwalk…really trippy place…great
place. And this guy comes walking in to the bar, his name is Pete, and everyone knows him.
He’s like Norm from "Cheers." He just came in right at the moment we were
thinking about what we’re going to call this band, and everyone just went
"PETE!, PETE!" Kevin turned to us and just went, "Why don’t you guys
just name it Pete?" We were all kind of stunned, but then it’s like,
"Yeah." It doesn’t really say anything, it’s not trying to be
grandiose, everyone knows a Pete. Pete is a very familiar person. And putting the period
at the end…I don’t know…it just made it a statement. Lower case letters
because...I don’t know…I guess it’s just another way of kinda taking it
down a notch. Very unassuming. pete. hits home with everyone. People remember it. So, it
stuck.
 |
>>A close-up of David's
tattoo>> |
VOX: Tell me about your tattoo. It’s amazing.
DT: The tattoo is something I got done in LA during the course making of the record. A
German woman named Nina did it for me. I put the artwork together with her, and um,
it’s based on an alchemy tree. An ancient tree, and they’re symbols on top of
the tree, and two vines that run up the tree, and each vine represents my life line and my
wife’s life line. And basically, the tree came before our lives, and we crawl up the
life that was planned for us, like destiny. We had two children that passed away on us, so
the two puncture marks are the children we lost. Basically the vines crawl up the tree to
the symbol that represents…the lion, I picked for my wife, that represents strength,
and back here is a three-legged woman, which is a Sicilian symbol, I’m a Sicilian. So
basically, the tattoo is just crawling up the tree of life, the life that was planned for
you. And this [the sun with the eye over the tree] is…I’m a spiritual person and
I believe in a higher being, and he watches us. The eye watches us. I do believe in God.
I’m not afraid to say that. I’m not religious…
VOX: Well, there’s a difference between being religious and being spiritual…
DT: Right. I don’t practice or go to church, but I’m very strong in what I
believe.
I wanted to put this on my arm so that I remember the things that are important to me.
VOX: What are the other two symbols at the top of the tree?
DT: The other symbols mean…I picked the sun face to symbolize a life after this
life and this is for knowledge…of self. Like really basically the purpose of life is
to climb up this tree to get to the things we want in life, which is knowledge and an
after-life and to completely be who you are. That vine lands on your symbol. Hopefully,
someday, I hope to put a flower on here…if we, my wife and I, if we ever have a
child…which I hope we will…
VOX: Is it the only tattoo you have?
DT: It’s the only tattoo I have. I’m not really into this whole tattoo thing
where you have to be completely covered with color.
VOX: Wow. The tattoo is so deep.
DT: Sorry if that a downer…
VOX: No, no! It’s amazing and insightful. I appreciate your honesty. I’ll
move us along…what do you guys think of the music scene right now?
DT: I think it’s a good time for rock and roll. I think it’s a great time
for rock. I’m not the type of guy who is going to bash on Brittany Spears and the
Back Street Boys. They do what they do, and it’s, it’s fine. There is a place
for that. There’s a place in this world for all music. It’s just not the place I
come from. It’s not where I live at all. I live in a place where Radiohead and Tool
and a lot of other great bands right now are doing great things…I mean Staind, you
know…it’s a great time for rock! We timed in perfectly, I think. I don’t
know how it happened, I mean things got so screwed up and now we’re working in a time
when rock is really making a comeback. Don’t you think so?
VOX: Yeah, rock with real singing!
DT: I know, it’s almost a dirty word right now. I mean, I know our music has that
anger there, and our live show has a ton of angst and raw emotion. I don’t think
that’s a bad thing, but I think the angst has got to be tempered, you know what I
mean? It’s got to be tempered with redemption, it’s got to be tempered with
hope, it’s got to be tempered with other things. Just to be pissed off all the
time…I mean, there are things to be happy about. I know that in my life I have a ton
of things to be angry about and bitter about, but I can’t live there all the time.
But the music helps me get it out, so…
 |
>>David
explaining the details of
his very personal tattoo>> |
VOX: That’s why you’re a musician.
DT: It’s a good time. Yeah, and you know, that Tool record is kicking my ass.
That record just humbles us. The emotion…and the depth of the lyrical content, which
is what we’re very much into as well. Rich and I have always been very serious about
really making the lyrics count. We really feel like we have so much to talk about.
VOX: "Sweet Daze" has that powerful lyrical side we’re talking about and
it’s your first single. What’s the song about?
DT: "Sweet Daze" just came out of the band jamming together, which a lot of
great songs come out of a band just…you know, it could be Scott just hitting his
drums, then out of now where Lars plays a riff on it and then Rich lays a great part over
that…then I’ll just start scatting ideas over it, and we tape it. Then we went
back and went over some of the ideas that are on there, the stream of consciousness
that’s come out and what’s been said or played, and we started forming this idea
called "Sweet Daze" where, like, it’s this…haze that were in in life,
and there are these moments of clarity where you come out of the haze, and I’ve used
this example before, and I think it works, where you would suddenly wake up and find
yourself in the middle of a Jerry Springer audience, and you’re part of the audience
that’s like, ranting and raving…about some absurd thing, and you’re like,
"Oh my God. I’m fucking part of the problem. I’m part of this." And
time that’s wasted and getting back on track and realizing…
[LARS ALVERSON WALKS IN; INTRODUCTIONS ARE MADE]
DT: So, yeah, "Sweet Daze" is about that place, that daze you’re in and
snapping out of it. Getting momentum and moving in that direction you need to be moving
in. And it’s like it says, "Down here/In daze sweet daze/Where all that I
need/Is not what I need/Down here/You’re not my enemy." I hope it become our
sensible anthem.
VOX: How about "Burn"? That’s my favorite song.
DT: "Burn" is like a super, super personal song for me. It came out of like,
just a need to like kinda pour out some of the problems I’ve has in my life with my
father…the relationship we’ve had. That’s been very, very fucked up in a
very underneath way. I relate it back to anyone who can relate to the song about being in
situations where there’s too much that has gone that can’t even be talked about
anymore. "Burn" is about that incendiary anger that you feel, that you end up
seeing the potential kind of like that valve, that pressure valve, with all the pressure
that’s been tightened up so it won’t let go, and you won’t even come close
to that valve anymore because of the tons of explosive…and very damaging things are
going to happen. So, "Burn" is about that, um…that…relationship, that
has become…very quiet. You don’t come near a lot of topics. It’s just
helped me…it’s very cathartic for me to get that out every night.
VOX: Are you guys in to the Internet?
LARS: Sure! The Internet, it’s kind of a clumsy thing, though, I think.
VOX: In what way?
LA: I think, just, the proof is like the fact that most businesses fail on the
Internet. It seems like the only thing that makes money on the Internet is porno. I think
that once the kinks are worked out…but it’s a great thing, I think, to be able
to check out, at the drop of a hat, something on the other side of globe in an instant.
It’s amazing.
VOX: Do you communicate with fans via e-mail or on your web site?
LA: Oh, yeah. Our old web site had a message board, and I answered them all the
time.
VOX: So, what’s the next step for pete.?
DT: Constant touring.
LA: Take it to the people, man.
DT: We’ve done the studio thing. We had been ensconced in that fucking studio…
LA: We’ve been cooped up in the studio for so long that we just want to get out and
play for people.
VOX: Well, what should fans expect from pete. live?
LA: Well…hopefully, it’s a…we’re just a really dynamic and
passionate rock and roll experience, and hopefully the audience sees it coming from a real
honest place. We’re up there just pouring our guts out. That’s what it is. |
