What inspired the name of the band? What are your influences?
We needed a short, memorable and cool name with multiple meanings; in that perspective the name PEEL fit the bill perfectly. It can be understood as a protective layer or it can be “to peel away” something to get into the core. At the time we took the name there were, to our knowledge, no other band active with the name PEEL. We know that in recent years other bands with OUR name have entered the stage, but WE are the real deal, WE are the real PEEL…
Our influences can be found in every decade of rock history, and in every genre..From the obvious ones like The Beatles, Nirvana, Metallica, David Bowie, Depeche Mode, Talk Talk and Queen to the more surprising ones like Bee Gees, Hall and Oates, The Clash, Bob Marley, The Cure…The list is literally endless. And it changes from day to day.
How do you approach songwriting? Are there any themes that you are keen to explore when you start off?
It starts with an idea and an idea is a very abstract thing to experience, it pops into your head and it is somewhat hard to say anything about its origin. It comes from “a place” unknown to me and sometimes I almost feel like a channel…it’s very hard to explain. Once the idea has passed the “quality control” it’s plain hard work by trial and error on different levels until the song is done. Both lyrically and musically we will usually have a plan for what we want, what we creatively want to explore and what we want to say.
How do you approach songwriting? Are there any themes that you are keen to explore when you start off?
It starts with an idea and an idea is a very abstract thing to experience, it pops into your head and it is somewhat hard to say anything about its origin. It comes from “a place” unknown to me and sometimes I almost feel like a channel…it’s very hard to explain. Once the idea has passed the “quality control” it’s plain hard work by trial and error on different levels until the song is done. Both lyrically and musically we will usually have a plan for what we want, what we creatively want to explore and what we want to say.
Why do you write the sort of music that you do?
Because it’s the music we enjoy ourselves in that particular space of time when it’s created; it is as simple as that. The same goes for the lyrics; it’s what we want to express to our fans and listeners.
How do you decide what songs to perform live and how do you transpose them into that live setting?
That is a good question, actually, and it’s often hard to put together a set list. Peel’s music is very versatile including a lot of genres from “beatlsque” pop, via indie and post grunge, some classic rock and hardrock, there are elements of symphonic music, synth/electronica…yeah, everything, our catalogue as a whole is quite eclectic. But I think we try to vary as much as possible both in style and intensity so that the show’s dynamic feels natural. And of course we try to include the songs we know people want to hear. When it comes to transposing the songs from the recorded versions to live performance that is not a one recipe for that, it depends on the song; some songs are played as the studio version, some songs extended, on some of the songs we enhance the feeling or vibe on the recordings, some songs takes a u-turn like a hard rocker been transposed into a emotional acoustic song on stage…
How do you decide what songs to perform live and how do you transpose them into that live setting?
That is a good question, actually, and it’s often hard to put together a set list. Peel’s music is very versatile including a lot of genres from “beatlsque” pop, via indie and post grunge, some classic rock and hardrock, there are elements of symphonic music, synth/electronica…yeah, everything, our catalogue as a whole is quite eclectic. But I think we try to vary as much as possible both in style and intensity so that the show’s dynamic feels natural. And of course we try to include the songs we know people want to hear. When it comes to transposing the songs from the recorded versions to live performance that is not a one recipe for that, it depends on the song; some songs are played as the studio version, some songs extended, on some of the songs we enhance the feeling or vibe on the recordings, some songs takes a u-turn like a hard rocker been transposed into a emotional acoustic song on stage…
What plans do you have for the future?
To keep writing, recording and releasing new music. Get more people to become PEELGRIMS and to join our community the PEELUNIVERSE. And of course we want to get out and play as much live as we can.