HOME      EXCLUSIVES    FEATURES    MOVIES    REVIEWS    CONTESTS    TALK TO US    SUBSCRIBE  With band in hand, ex-Jane’s Addiction frontman Perry Farrell is in the midst of a comeback, as The Satellite Party. The Record catches up with the manic vocalist in an exclusive interview. The Satellite Party, otherwise known as Perry Farrell’s Satellite Party, was formed in 2005. The band consists of Farrell on lead vocals, Etty Lau Farrell (his wife) on vocals, Nuno Bettencourt (ex-Extreme) on guitar, Carl Restivo on bass and Kevin Figueiredo on drums. Ultra Payloaded, the band’s debut album, released on 29 May, and its first single is Wish Upon A Dogstar. The Record caught up with Perry Farrell for an exclusive interview on the making of the band, its raison d’etre, and the people behind the music. The Record: What sort of journey has it been like from Jane’s Addiction to the Satellite Party, from when Jane’s Addiction disbanded in 2004 to you playing with the Satellite Party in 2005? Perry Farrell: Jane’s Addiction is an amazing group and we had so much fun and excitement in our lives. But when we broke up, it was as if I fell off a tower, a tall tower, hit the ground and crashed. But now I’ve picked myself up and I lived, experienced. Satellite Party is maybe even a better situation for me because I’m surrounded by people that are conscious people, who all want to do fantastic things for the world, and we have humility and we have energy and at this point in time Satellite Party is right about to start its ascent to the top of that building because our record will be coming out soon and we start our first tour and everybody’s very excited about that. TR: So how did Satellite Party come about? PF: Well, I started to write the music in my garage. Using programmes, and using drum machines and things like that. But very organically, I began to add live players. Flea was the first live player. My wife Etty was the first vocalist. And soon enough, people started to contact me and ask me, invite me to sing, and I would share tracks with people like Hybrid and Thievery Corporation, and use drums and tracks that were donated by people like Peter Hook from New Order. Then we began to create a bigger sound, and a happier sound, and a stronger sound, and that’s how it all happened. It was all a long, natural process over the course of three years. Just adding musicians along the way, and now we start to take it to the stage. TR: So the album’s been a long time coming… PF: Yea, it’s been three years. When I began I had no record label, so I could take my time. TR: Which are your favourite tracks off the album? PF: Well, all of the tracks I love, but I like to listen to Wish Upon A Dog Star. I like to listen to The Solutionists, Only Love, Let’s Celebrate, Awesome is a beautiful track, and Hard Life Easy. TR: You mentioned Wish Upon A Dogstar. I had a chance to hear that track, and it sounds amazing. It has a great groove to it. Is that going to be a Satellite Party trademark? Great grooves? PF: I know that this song is going to be important to us, because it’s our first song with a video, with regards to, that right now is our calling card. It’s like our business card in a way, you’ll always remember Wish Upon A Dog Star as our lead track. TR: The album features quite a few guests: Flea, John Frusciante, Fergie. How did those collaborations come about? PF: Well, Flea is an old friend of mine. We are not only music partners, but we’re surfing partners. So Flea and I would surf in the morning, here in California, and we would come home and write songs and that’s how I worked with Flea. John, heard that we were working together, and he wanted to jump in on it. Fergie came to us through a mutual friend. This woman was listening to our song, and she worked with Fergie’s charity. And she said, ‘I can bring Fergie over to your house, if you would like and she maybe could sing.’ I said, ‘Of course, we love Fergie.’ And so she came over. So everything happened, as I said, very organically; this is not a business deal, not a record company getting people together. This is just friends, comrades and admirers, mutual admirers, of each other’s work. You can read the rest of our exclusive with Perry Farrell in the June 2007 issue of The Record Music Magazine available at your local newsagent. ALSO IN THIS ISSUE: The Record has been around since 1998. Do you have every issue of your favourite magazine? to order back issues Would you like to have your favourite music magazine delivered directly to your doorstep? Website: Thrillpill Design © THE RECORD MUSIC MAGAZINE. All Rights Reserved.