Formula Indie Sessions _ Interview with Purusa
What is your earliest memory connected to music?
My earliest music memory is sitting in my kitchen as a small child, maybe 4 years old and listening to music on the radio of a silver boombox my parents had. The interior of the speaker cones were reflective, and I thought what I was seeing in the reflection was a tiny band playing music for each song that came on. I used to sit and stare into the speakers and listen to music for hours.
How did your passion for creating music begin?
In a sense, I have always been creating music. I used to come home from school in kindergarten and sit at the piano and make stuff up. I had zero idea what I was doing, but I loved it. I later learned to play violin and played that through middle and high school and even in a band in college. I didn’t start playing guitar until my soccer career was cut short by an inujury. In college, I started writing songs and that was when I really developed my interest in creating orignal music. I used to sit and write, locked in the basement kitchen of my dorm. Sometimes I would open the door to find a bunch of people had been listening to my process, sometimes in tears, enjoying it. Most of the time it was people just pissed off that I was using the kitchen for something other than cooking! I realized that what I was creating had the power to make people feel something, and that is special.
What’s the story behind your current music project?
Purusa has been a band, in some form or another since 1998. I formed the band with my friend Zach, who still plays guitar in Purusa. Zach and I were in a college band together in which I sang, played guitar and violin, and he played bass. When that band disolved, Zach and I started Purusa as a duo. Purusa developed into a full rock band which has had many other members over the years. Zach and I were drawn together by a similar musical instinct, and a respect and admiration for each other’s talent, which endures today. We’ve been through countelss hardships as a band and as friends, and are still kicking today. The current version of Purusa, is by far our favorite. The band has never sounded better, been more professional, or easier. Dave Boyle on Bass and Andy King on Drums has been basically a revelation for this band. We are writing our best material and more proud of our live performances than ever. Better late than never I guess.
How would you describe your sound to someone who has never heard your music before?
We are a guitar driven rock band, with deep roots in soul music and 70s Rock. We are heavy at times, but we never lose our melodic sensibility. We have been compared to Canada’s Tragically Hip and Big Wreck, as well as the Black Crowes and the Counting Crows. Somewhere in there, is Purusa. The vocals and guitar performances are always emotional and soulfull, particularly live. Zach and I are both musicians who would rather see someone battling their demons on stage, than performing effortlessly, and we take that approach to our performance.
What is one thing you’ve learned that completely changed the way you make music?
Be yourself. I started out, naturally, being myself as as musician, both on stage and in the writing process. Somewhere along the way in youth and with the pressures of trying to make it in music, i morphed into thinking that I needed to be somebody else. That was a mistake. I have learned how much I appreciate an honest performance and how easy it is to distinguish someone who is writing and performing honestly as themself, and someone who is not. Audiances are naturaly drawn to artists who are unapologetically themselves through their art. Obviously, creating an alter ego, like David Bowie so brilliantly did over and over, works beautifully….but that’s not me.
What tools, instruments, or software are essential in your creative process?
Any stringed instrument. I write almost exclusively on guitar, but love to pick up a mandolin, or uke every now and then to see where that sound takes me. I also love playing lots of different guitars. I build and repair guitars and find that each one pulls me in a different direction sonically or creatively.
Which indie artist or song are you loving right now?
As far as currrent music, I have been really impressed with Hurray for the Riff Raff, Lizzy McAlpine, Dreadlight, Suzzallo and Local H.
How have your personal experiences influenced your music and artistic vision?
In every way. All of my songs are personal, even if they are not about my own story, which only accounst for a handful of songs I’ve written. I not only write from my heart and personal experience, but those experiences definitely inform my vision and performance. My life is beautiful and amazing now, but it was not always like that. I have been through some horrifying things as a child and young adult and I carry that with me as a tool, because it is me. When I sing, I’m singing as someone who has experienced both heaven and hell and that creates an emotional approach and a genuine feeling behind every note.
What emotions or messages do you hope listeners take from your work?
I only hope that a listeners have no doubt that they are hearing something real. I think what they themselves take from experiencing Purusa, is different for everyone, but I hope it makes them think or feel something that is impactful in whatever way they need it to be at that moment.
What’s the most important lesson music has taught you so far?
That people all do things and find success in the same vein, in very different ways. Music is full of people creating beautiful things, some of which have no clue what they are doing, and some of which have masters and MD degrees in Music – but all acheiving the same result. There is no one way or preferred way to go about it. Everyone does it differently in a way that works best for them. I think this can be applied to so many other things in life.
What is a dream venue or festival you would love to perform at?
The Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, Portland, OR.
If you could collaborate with any artist, past or present, who would it be and why?
Gord Downie. His lyrics and melody are such an inspiration to me, and we are so similar…and yet so different. I would have loved to sit down with him and trade ideas and see what happens. I have covered his music over the years and moreso than any other band, they feel like my songs when I sing them.
Where can our listeners follow and support your music? (Website,Spotify, IG, links)
Purusaband.com – You can link from there to everywhere else. Our music is available as Purusa, wherever you stream or buy.
Spotify – https://open.spotify.com/artist/6g7JHzjsjH4bBYiGItMX9O
IG – https://www.instagram.com/purusa_band/
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/purusapdx
Looking toward the future, what’s your dream for the next chapter of your musical journey?
Completing our current album. We are getting old! And…I think the album were are putting together right now is the best work we’ve ever done. I don’t know how long Purusa will keep going, so I try to focus on small wins. Finishing and releasing this album is going to be a touchstone for us. I’m crazy proud of it and I really want this version of the band, where we are writing collectively, to be stamped on a record.
What do you hope listeners will discover about you along the way?
Personally, that I’m a goofball. Despite the serious tone of much of my music. For the band, I just hope that listeners enjoy the music and it helps them in some way, either to be inspired, to think differently about some aspect of their life, to have a good time, or a good cry.
