Music

Three questions with Satellite Party’s Perry Farrell

Spencer Patterson

You’ve been playing Las Vegas since your Jane’s Addiction days in the ’80s. Anything you enjoy doing while you’re in town?

I’ve got some strange reasons why I like to go to Las Vegas. To start off with, I like going to the buffets and getting roast beef. It’s practically my favorite thing to eat. I like to go thrift-store shopping there, ’cause of all the people that donate their wares and goods. There’s some wild stuff. Also, in my group I’ve got a guy who’s a super-good poker player. He’s been winning on the road, picking up cash as we travel, so I like to follow his progress and see what he’s up to. And we also love taking in shows. Last time I was in Vegas I took in The Beatles [Love] show, and that was incredible. So I love Vegas. You know me, I’m a night owl.

Considering that much of the marketing and press for Satellite Party album Ultra Payloaded centered on its guests—Flea, John Frusciante, Peter Hook, Fergie—and that you obviously can’t haul those guys city to city with you, has it been difficult generating a similar buzz for the band’s live incarnation?

I don’t know ... Recording with those guys was amazing, but Satellite Party is very much a live situation. It gives you the feeling of a live party. We exude the idea of fun and celebration and partying. We’re perfectly suited for Vegas, Sin City—it’s got that element of adult entertainment-slash-hedonism-slash-sense of freedom that we all come to Vegas for. I’ve actually been talking to some people about bringing it to Vegas more often. And I plan on touring the world and making music with this project for 10 years and making a name for myself with it.

Do you take pride at being called the “godfather of alternative rock,” or do you just shrug the label off?

Well, it’s not like getting the boxing title of world’s heavyweight champion—that’s something that you strive for. For someone to call me the godfather of alternative, it’s something that you’re just given and you deal with it. Do I like it? I like it in the sense that I personally think the music industry is ailing because of greed and because they’re not adapting and thinking quick enough. So as the quote-unquote godfather of alternative, I like the idea of being able to present new ways for the young groups to make music and be lifetime musicians without having to be worrying about the sugar daddy of the past—the major labels. And also I feel that the music that we make as alternative rock is very fertile music. To me it’s the music of the people. It’s not corporate bullshit. It’s not commercial. It’s the real deal. So I like the idea of being a guide in that community.

With Mink. October 10, 7:30 p.m., $25-$30. House of Blues, 632-7600.

  • Get More Stories from Thu, Oct 4, 2007
Top of Story