Elvis Perkins of Elvis Perkins in Dearland. Look it up on your GPS.
For most of his life, folksy rocker Elvis Perkins has lived in his parents' shadows. That'll happen when your father is Academy Award-nominated actor Anthony Perkins, the man who brought Norman Bates to life in Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho, and your mother is photographer, actress and model Berry Berenson. In 2007, the son emerged with Ash Wednesday, a haunting, lyrical solo debut that played like a dirge for his parents, who had both passed away tragically by the time the album was completed (his father died in 1992 due to complications from AIDS; his mother died aboard American Airlines Flight 11 in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks).
Perkins is back, fronting Elvis Perkins in Dearland, a band he formed with the musicians who toured with him in support of his first album. The group's self-titled debut, which movies easily between American roots, blues rock, folk and New Orleans funeral march, continues to deal with themes of death and loss, but time and the collaborative process have clearly opened Perkins up to celebrating them as a part of life. It's fitting, as his follow-up is a fine cause for celebration. read on to listen to some songs from Elvis Perkins in Dearland's eponymous new album, and then check out Perkins's answers to the always-entertaining Complex 7...
"Shampoo"
"I Heard Your Voice in Dresden"
"I'll Be Arriving"
#1. WHAT'S YOUR NUMBER ONE DEAL BREAKER FOR A POTENTIAL GIRLFRIEND?
Elvis Says: "Dyed hair? I wouldn't say that. Gosh, I like to think of myself as more open minded than to have a stock deal breaker. But I guess if she were closed minded that would put me off."
#2. WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE SNEAKER OF ALL TIME?
Elvis Says: "The Adidas hemp shoes. I liked that they were made from hemp, which is a miraculous plant that we're fools to be turning a blind eye to in these dire times, both ecologically and environmentally."
#3. WHEN'S THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED?
Elvis Says: "I cried when Heath Ledger's family accepted his Oscar on his behalf. I thought he was an amazing actor and in the couple of interviews I saw with him, he seemed like a class-A human. I think his family did him a great honor and did him justice in their handling of it. It was sad, sad stuff."
#4. IF YOU HAD A WEEK-LONG HOLIDAY, WHAT WOULD YOU DO?
Elvis Says: "I'd probably go down to Jamaica and check in on my friends down there. My mom lived there for a considerable amount of time later on in life and we spent a lot of time down there and met some good people. I don't get to get down there too often, so I think that would be a good thing to do with my time."
#5. WHAT HAS TO BE IN YOUR FRIDGE AT ALL TIMES?
Elvis Says: "Lately I'm drinking a lot of Kombucha, I must say. It's a fermented green tea beverage. It's a living substance and quite delicious and apparently quite good for the system as well. I think it came from China but these days you'll find it in pretty much any corner store in Manhattan. I recommend it, but it does cost upwards of three or four bucks. It's an acquired taste, so tread lightly. I do my best to eat and drink healthy things but I keep that stuff around to balance out any dietary transgressions."
#6. WHAT'S THE WORST WAY YOU'VE BROKEN UP WITH SOMEONE?
Elvis Says: "I suppose over the phone. Nobody seems to like that very much, but sometimes it seems to be the only way to do it. Being away for a long time [on tour], either you pretend on the phone for the next month that things are great and then wait to show up and go into it or you have to do the unpleasant task of taking care of it on the phone."
#7. WHAT'S THE MOST EMBARRASSING PIECE OF CLOTHING YOU'VE EVER WORN?
Elvis Says: "When I was in high school, I had several band T-shirts from this 80s glam hair rock band Cinderella. I went through a phase in early high school where I would pretty much wear one of those every day. It was the early 90s, so it kind of made sense at the time, it was right in line. It's embarrassing in retrospect but, oh yeah, it was cool at the time. I totally felt it."
