pete ingo responds ..
2003 has been quite a year for pete from ingo star cruiser (aka pi, pingo)
here's a brief rundown.
- went to new york and stunned the masses.
- appeared on king of woolworths album/single - evelsong being the highlight of the album. chart positions beckoned.
- appeared on bbc radio 6 on the lauren lavern show, and played a new track that showed a whole new full on pop sound.
- appeared at the london ica as part of the king of woolworths live band.
- won the playlouder unsigned competition to get a slot at glastonbury.
- played as part of the j xaverre band.
- played a wonderful gig in bristol.
and then he disappeared. until now ...
1. the world has not heard much from pi recently. people have noticed. people are concerned. people miss you. how are things for pi ?
i'm sorry i haven't been around. largely because i have been trying to find some new stuff to get busy with. the urge to get a record of my own out, an urge that has been there since before box was released finally became too much. coming to a head probably in new york this year after playing too many gigs with stuff off the first record. i have been demoing all the time but really didn't want to put out roughly recorded stuff despite requests, so i had to find the time and the cash to try and get it done properly. in short at the moment i am very well, happy and in love but each day seems to be a different bag of spanners.
2. 2003. quite a year for pi. what has been your highlight so far ?
busy busy year! i think in 2002 i played one full gig and so with new york looming in february i had to find a way to play a gig without going down the acoustic route, largely because my live guitar playing leaves a lot to be desired. then the kow stuff which was a lot of fun, and nice to be a participator rather than a dictator, then all the jx stuff which again i enjoyed..especially the radio sessions and then glastonbury which was always a dream but seem to pass me by a little...so much build up and a bit short on personal delivery. kow ica was definately a high spot, the lauren lavern show on radio 6 was also a lot of fun, and the further i get away from new york the better that looks, i watch the film that was made of our trip and that brings back good memories however at the time and for about two months after i think i was having some kind of breakdown.
3. officially unsigned as per playlouder competition. will this be resolved with lp 2 ?
theres never actually been a contract with moshi, the first album was licenced to them so i have always been unsigned as such. i would love for the next record to come out thru moshi but unfortunately sheer fiscal commonsense says that the only possible way is if moshi can find a licencee to help back it. i think the next record has the potential to cross over to unite the lovers of indie or whatever you call it and the people who just love a good tune. i f this is to be acheived then a certain amount of backing is need just to be able to go out on the road for a year to sell the bugger. its the only conceivable was these days to get the music heard and i'm well prepared to work my ass off doing it. in the short term i think there is gonna be a single out in february hands up!whos happy at the airport?/do it like dad, both sure fire radio smashes, that will come out via moshi and we'll take it from there i suppose. i dont wanna be greedy i just wanna get a fair deal for the hard work i put in, and to prevent the next album from sinking like the first it the new hard nosed way forward. being a cult classic aint gonna pay no rent.
3.1 lp2 - got a title yet ?
a few ideas: 10 points; disabled rape; hands up who is happy a the airport.....waking up in all the wrong places.......the title doesn't usually come till it has to
3.2 how is lp2 coming along ?
well its all recorded i spend two months at the old ice house studios with my great friend and engineer ben e turner. we got 14 tracks down including a re record of fooze.too which of course be re titled fooze.three. it was mostly recorded on the atkins diet which was a little strange. its all sounding lovely. some songs turned out better than expected and if they werent really working we deleted them and started again. we were at the mixing stage when unexpectedly the studio shut down. so i have now retreated to london and thankfully i think i have found the right chap to mix and arrange it. so in the next few weeks im going in with glen nicholls who is an old school friend of mine to finish off hands up and do it like dad for the single. glen aka future funk squad helped out with the beatz and things for the original fooze and is up for doing it, he's recently been remixing lil kim and bloody tlc so i think hes got the flava for it.
4. you have become 'man about town with a cheeky smile', you have assisted and appeared on several releases recently. can we expect any special guests on forthcoming second lp ?
its pretty much me on everything with ben helping on drums and bass, it would be nice to get cimacima to sing on "what a fucking mess"(its like warped maddonna), but nobody can find her, i'm sure as the mixing goes on a few people might pop by. theres a cub scout choir on do it like dad.
5. how are you approaching the creation of lp number 2 differently in comparison to lp 1 (still one of my all time faves as i'm sure you know)
well the first record was really a collection of demos over a four year period, it took some persuading to allow some of the tracks on there, so the main difference is that all these new tracks have been recorded together, and were using no eq on any of it..we were just getting the sounds straight on the tape perfect so sonically it should sound spruce. i just wanted it to be all in time, more extraordinary, with better performances, which is what has happened so a pat on my back from me!!yay!
6. you are the one true "pop star in waiting" that i know. as per recent revelation - "where you want to be in 5 years time ?" question at your previous place of employment. where did this urge/passion stem from ? who instigated this drive. did you have a bowie/ronson moment in your childhood ?
did bowie ronson get it on! in which case there was something like that. i was a child that was shifted about from pillar to post, two adopted black brothers that were a lot older than me but essentially an only child it felt, so yes maybe there is a need for acceptance and a bit of love but really music that i make both acts as a vessel to clean my head out of any confusing thoughts and an outlet to perform, also it is the one thing, besides the love of a beautiful woman that can make be happy and feel like i can stop wanting for a few moments. im not a fame junky, i certainly wouldnt do anything to get my mug in a paper or on tv, but doing this is perhaps the only thing that i seem to be good at, and also its true i am a bit of a show boat and i do love performing but for fuck sake justin t should be marched off the face of this planet for that mcdonalds abortion. in short i have a good quality control system and i wouldnt try and push my shit on everyone i i didnt think it was worth it.
7. nice guy makes good music in london. has london hardened you at all ?
i seem to be a bit more able to say if something's bothering me. my london life has definitely been an adventure but i have never really felt at home or comfortable any where, its what your doing not where you are. its like the old me wouldn't have done half the things i have this year because of all the time being away from home and from my beautiful girlfriend. but i realised that in doing all this stuff it will hopefully make me stronger and more capable of providing a better future for everyone i care about. so london has taught me to jump at every opportunity so that one day these things will help me get out of this place and find home.
8. will there ever be a proper band setup or will the trusted md always be your righthand man ?
at in the city i did a md band hybrid which seemed to work, that was with sean and maxi from the kow band. i would love to have a proper band all the time but people cant be in bands with me for some reason which is why really you need to be paying them, because at the end off the day i cant be relied upon to not wake up in two months time and want to play with other people. i am getting a bunch together for the hoxton hall 5th birthday bash, which will be fun i'm sure...but i also like the freedom of the minidiscs. i can just turn up anywhere with everything i need in my guitar case and bash it out...so i expect the two will still run concurrently even when the records out. the md doesn't need the cash see!
9. our extension is nearly complete. if you have a spare evening we would love you to be the official opening night guest. are you interested ?
is it done now? i would be honoured. you should get everyone down for a sedate party maybe!!
all sounds good. now we wait till 2004 ..