Exclusive Interview:  Pete Molinari

By Sean Lynch
Interview with Pete Molinari
English Folk, Blues & Country Singer / Songwriter

The name Dylan is synonymous with folk music. However, mention the name Pete Molinari and you are likely to get a very different response. This young, laid back English born folk & country singer (with an accent that would happily suit a 70's British sitcom) is fast making a name for himself across the globe with his simplistic melodies, heart felt lyrics and a new album "Walking Off The Map". Sean Lynch caught up with Pete as he prepares for his first ever Australian Tour.

I suppose the question on everyone's lips is: Are you the father of Anna Nicole Smith's baby?
[Laughs] I am...I actually am not. I've got to hold my hands up on that one...

Your relatively new to Australian audiences. I understand that you're a bit of a one-man multicultural society...
Long story really...My parents are Maltese, my dad's from Egypt and Molinari's an Italian name, so there's some of that in there. I was born and brought up in England...so I guess I got into music that way - and now I live in the U.S.

A lot of musicians say that they got their early musical influences from their dad. What made you opt for this angle as opposed to trying to be another Noel Gallagher?
I guess when I was at school and arts college, it was all Noel Gallagher and Oasis and all that Indie-Brit stuff which was kind of influencing the whole country.

I think I was just drawn to this kind of music (Folk), it just sort of soaked into my system I guess. I don't think it was something off my dad's record collection though [laughs]. I've a got a few brothers and sisters who were always into records, and going to record fairs and getting a lot of old vinyl.

Even as a young kid, I just never seemed to be sporty or anything and I would just sit there playing records all the time [laughs]. Even my mother will always tell me that I just used to play records, and watching them spin around - the actual physical part of it. And the same with the guitar, I didn't have lessons or anything, I tended to pick up the guitar and try and play along...I just couldn't get it out of my system, even if I wanted to, I think.

One of the things I love about this style of music are the stories within the lyrics. You've only featured one song's lyrics on the new album. Was it a personal choice or due to budgetary reasons - what was the theory behind that?
Yeah, well the album is done in a real low budget way, and mainly because I wanted it that way. I wanted it done kind of..sitting in a room, you know, like the old folk-way records. In a way, I thought it was perfect for a first record. I think that had a lot to do with it - obviously I'm on an independent label over here at the moment.

As far as I remember, I could probably have had all the lyrics on there, I just kind of...chose one and I like that one [The Ballad of Bob Montgomery] because it tended to have a lot of Woody Guthrie influences on it and other people, and kind of showed a little bit of a different side rather than just 'The Heartbreak' and all those kinds of songs. 

What is your process with writing lyrics? Are you the sort of person that just draws on personal experience, or were you the sort of kid that used to write short stories and it stems from there?
Yeah, I used to write a lot of short stories [laughs] and constantly writing and drawing pictures...

Like an English Napoleon Dynamite...
Yeah completely. I remember my spelling being completely terrible and it still leaves a lot to be desired now [laughs]. But I was always pretty creative when it came to writing stories and that, I suppose, is a major element in folk and blues music. And that's appealing to me, that it's a conversational kind of music. Obviously theres a lot of personal experiences in songs, it can be from watching a film or you might be inspired reading a book.

Are you the sort of person that concentrates more on lyrics, or do you like to get the tune down first?
I certainly like to concentrate on the lyrics, but I like the whole organic thing and what sort of just comes out. I don't really like to go back and re-work things because I kind of think that it never ends up being as good as what it was when I said it the first time...

Is there any song that you've hear that you'd wish you'd written, or gone "Fuck, that's a great bit of writing"?
Oh yeah. A lot of the time. I mean, you mention a few names like Woody Guthrie, Robert Johnson and Billie Holiday and people like that - more so just their interpretation of the song. Sometimes people can be great writers, but it all comes down to phrasing and interpretation, that really sort of grab holds of me. You throw on a Dylan record sometimes, it's not just what he's sayin' - it's down to the way he's sayin' it.

There are certain songs. Like if I listen to Sweet Dreams by Patsy Kline, Strange Fruit by Billie Holiday. I never fail to be in awe of them, no matter how many times I listen to something like that. From when I was five years old to now, I'm still completley blown away.

When you chuck on your album, the most obvious reference point to make is that you sound like Bob Dylan. What is it about your music that seperates you from the rest?
It's easy for people to liken you to the most famous reference. A lot of the time, all you have to do is chuck on a harmonica and a guitar and people will call you Bob Dylan. The same way people used to call him Woody Guthrie for the first few years.

...Or if you shave your head, people will call you Britney Spears...
Exactly [laughs]. I get it at a lot at gigs. I'll get Hank Williams, or Dylan or Woody Guthrie, Jimmy Rogers - I'll get any of these things, or sometimes I'll get something a bit unusual and I'll be "Well that's a bit cooler, at least they know something else". They don't just know the most famous person.

I mean there's only so much you can do with a guitar and 5 chords, so theres not going to be a great deal of difference  - it's just the way a song is being interpreted that makes it stand alone. It tells of who you are, and how many times you've walked the earth...

Your album was recorded in a kitchen. We have a guy down here called Gotye who is making some waves at the moment. And he recorded all of his stuff in bedrooms across Melbourne. What is it about getting out of the studio that musicians seem to thrive on?

It's not always the case. It just happened that I had the right kinds of songs for that environment. If I was doing something else, it might not have fitted. I'm actually in the process of recording another album and I'm in a studio. It's more about the performance, and wherever you're recording, it's what you can get out of that moment.

But I guess the upside of recording in a kitchen is if you're hungry, you can just go to the fridge...

[laughs] Yeah. You can do the dishes while you're playing [laughs]. But I think a lot of the time environment plays a strong part, but it's your frame of mind and getting into that moment. If you look back at those classic records it's not what the producers have done to stich up the song, but what's been done in that moment that makes a timeless record.

You're heading down to Australia...
Yeah, it's my first time and I'm looking forward to it to. I don't know exactly what to expect but I'm hoping to expect some sunshine, right? [laughs].

It depends what day you're here, especially Melbourne. One day it will be 40 degrees, then it'll be raining. We have weather with terrets syndrome here...
[laughs] I'm on an independent label over here, and we were lucky enough to be picked up by a label over there. I've actually got some family down there in Sydney and in Adelaide - it's always been a place I've wanted to come - but it's always seemed a bit far away. 

When Shock Records said the album was getting a lot of interest down there, I just sort of jumped at the chance. Part of what I love about music, and more so life, is I just love to travel - and luckily music has allowed me to do that.

Pete Molinari's WALKING OFF THE MAP is in stores now.
He will also be touring Australia nationally.