Q&A: HOMESHAKE Shares Twice The Fun in Back to Back Album Releases 'CD Wallet' and 'Horsie'
EXPLORING DIFFERENT TEXTURAL DIMENSIONS – Toronto based solo project Peter Sagar’s HOMESHAKE, takes no breaks nor does he shy away from creating whatever comes to his mind. Loyal listeners are familiar with the “floating” off the ground feeling its sound has given fans over the years. From recording riffs on voice memos to producing everything in the comfort of his bedroom, HOMESHAKE has reigned a staple for indie bedroom pop.
Just earlier this year in March, Sagar released his heavier, post punk inspired album CD Wallet which he describes as a “slow-core” sound. He finds the record to be more nostalgic, recounting tales from his childhood in his old hometown surrounded by distorted guitars throughout tracks. But HOMESHAKE’s creativity didn’t stop just there.
When talking about its’ creation, Sagar jokes about how CD Wallet was made unserious & swiftly on boredom while waiting in the meantime for his more lyrically meticulous upcoming album Horsie’s release, which was actually finished first prior to CD Wallet.
Horsie, releasing June 28, continues to broaden Sagar’s discography this year alone with different textural styles and jazz elements. Intimate guitar riffs drag listeners through the album’s entirety as it explores deeper feelings of anxiety and loneliness, specifically that come along with returning to performing live music, a fear that Sagar continues to face on a daily basis.
Paired with a mini-series of ominous, retro-style music videos with special appearances from fan favorite indie artists Mac DeMarco & Eyedress, Sagar goes into visual detail about how these videos portray these anxious and overwhelming feelings that he dives into on the album. Nonetheless, HOMESHAKE is eager for his newest release and teases fans that they’ll have to figure out what “Horsie” truly means on their own.
Read below to hear Luna’s chat with Peter about the creation behind his two latest albums and how he’s looking forward to HOMESHAKE bringing these albums to life on stage on his upcoming tour.
LUNA: Hi Peter! It’s nice to finally chat & meet with you. First off, I just wanna say I’ve been a big follower and fan of your music for a while now. I remember listening to your albums Fresh Air and In the Shower since like high school back in 2017.
SAGAR: Hi I’m happy to be here as well! Yeah, wow thank you that means a lot.
LUNA: OK so two albums in one year is crazy! What inspired you to create two different albums back to back?
SAGAR: It was more just sort of the way things played out with release timelines. I was done with an old record deal and it took a really long time to find the right fit for how to release the new stuff in that time. I had finished “Horsie” for a while and at that time, I don't know, I was bored waiting around [laughs] so I just made CD Wallet too.
LUNA: So where exactly does ‘HOMESHAKE’ come from? How did that name come to be?
SAGAR: When I was a teenager, me and my friends had a secret handshake. And then I left Edmonton and that's when I made the band. It’s like a pseudonym & I guess just an act of missing my friends at home.
LUNA: Aww nice nice. I read that you were very influenced by jazz music growing up. Who were some of those artists and how do they kind of reflect in your musical style today?
SAGAR: Yeah, I grew up playing jazz piano when I was a kid. I used to fall asleep listening to Miles Davis a lot and I always really loved Thelonious Monk, Herbie Hancock, Alice Coltrane, & Bill Evans. I don't really know actively with the influences other than it's just such a deep important part of my journey as a musician, so it's all just sort of in there always.
LUNA: That’s really cool. I’ve been wanting to get into jazz more recently so I’ll definitely have to give those a listen. Alright, so diving deeper into the new albums, how was the whole process for both of them from writing to recording to production?
SAGAR: Okay, so “Horsie” was done first & it took me a lot longer to make that one. I was a little more precise with it & I had like a lot of throwaway tracks that didn't really fit. I guess I was trying to be less minimalist than I usually am. I usually do as little as possible in a track like I don't like to overdo it. It took me a while to write everything and then the production and mixing took me some time to get it all standing how I wanted it to. And then with CD Wallet, while me and my manager were kind of waiting around trying to figure out how we were going to release Horsie, I was literally just bored and had been collecting little indie rock riffs that I'd been recording on my voice memos on my phone when I was just playing guitar. Then I realized that I had a whole bunch of them so I just one day decided to start recording it and it took like two weeks to do it. I did not pay very much attention to any details. That one was a lot more casual and fast, but I was happy with how it turned out.
LUNA: Yeah, I listened to it & I feel like a few of the songs on CD Wallet sounded a little more grungy, kind of fuzzy and distorted. I know the lines between genres have been sort of fading and blending into each other now, so how would you define this sound on CD Wallet?
SAGAR: Yeah, It’s definitely like a heavier slow-core, but there were moments where it got pretty crazy. I don't know how that happened. And also I was doing impressions of people, I think. It’s the heavier side of indie-rock that I grew up listening to.
LUNA: Yeah totally! It definitely sounded a lot different than your usual sounds.
SAGAR: Yeah, I wasn’t even sure if it was going to be a HOMESHAKE record, but ultimately I don’t think it really matters. It was just a thing I felt like I had to make, so I did it.
LUNA: It seemed more of a nostalgic & personal experience. Could you go a little more into the sentimental aspect of writing the album and what it means to you?
SAGAR: So I always get to lyrics, second. I usually have an entire album’s instrumental part figured out first before I start figuring out lyrics. When I got to that point, it all felt pretty clear that it was going to have to be about growing up in a weird city and issues that are tied back to my hometown. So it kind of just came together pretty quickly.
LUNA: Well, getting into Horsie, I really enjoyed it all the way through! How would you say it differs from all your previous releases?
SAGAR: Thank you! It's a little more specific. I think the context of especially the lyrics, like it was all pretty specifically about going back to touring after lockdowns and stuff. I was sort of half finished with a lot of the instrumentals when we went on tour & it was just a really strange experience going back on tour, and everything was so uncertain. It kind of spiked a lot of extra anxiety in me that I already experienced in those spaces. I was definitely listening to a lot of very different music than I had been. I guess that's kind of the case each time I make a record, but I was listening to a lot of ambient stuff, country music, & also the heavier stuff that I would use more directly as influences when I was making CD Wallet. I felt very different when I was making it & I think because usually when I start a record, it's started at home and I finish it at home and it's all sort of like I’m less out in the world when it's coming to be. So I was definitely all over the place when I was writing this one. It felt very different & I think it led me to change up my style a bit.
LUNA: Where did that name “Horsie” come from?
SAGAR: Everyone will have to see if they can figure it out…But it’s not an actual horse.
LUNA: Got it, got it. Your singles “Nothing to See” & “Simple” recently came out and I watched both music videos. I actually caught Eyedress and Mac DeMarco making a little appearance in there! So how was it like filming those? Those two videos connect with one of them as a sequel right?
SAGAR: Yeah! So there's three videos in total & they're all tied together. We went out to Palm Springs and shot them all in like, four or five days. The director, Jim Larson, has done some videos for some of my older songs as well like “Give It to Me,” so I've known him for a long time. I don't love having my picture taken or being in videos, so having somebody that I already know be behind it made it more comfortable. Not that I have any idea how to act at all, but it definitely made it easier to pretend. When I'm working with someone who's adding a visual component to something I've made, I usually like to let them be and do it in their own fashion, because I feel like if I get too nosy about it, it doesn't help. In the first video, I show up to a weird cult & then I drink a weird substance and I start changing. And then in the second one, I'm mid change and I'm super paranoid and anxious. I steal a car & think people are after me. The third one you'll see that I’ll have fully changed. It’s a bit more like a Star Trek, Wim Wenders thing.
LUNA: Okay nice, I’ll definitely have to watch that last one because I’m curious to see how the storyline ends! So what can listeners expect from this new album Horsie? Or what do you wish for them to gain from it?
SAGAR: I don't know. It's hard to gauge how anyone will receive anything I guess. I've never really made anything expecting or really having any idea of what a reception would be. I would just think it's nice that people like it. I don't want to get too nit picky on how people should feel…It's just a blessing that anybody cares at all.
LUNA: I see that you're going on tour very soon. What are you most excited for when that comes around?
SAGAR: Well with my band, we all live in different cities so it's always really nice just to see them again. I haven't seen any of them, actually, since our last tour ended so it's nice to be back with my road companions. I'm looking forward to it & with two records it’s a bit of an undertaking.
LUNA: Which album are you more excited to play?
SAGAR: I think CD Wallet will be easier to deal with. We’re all pretty excited to put a new set of songs together. We usually like to get pretty specific about it & pride ourselves in trying to make sure it’s really smooth. It’ll take a while to figure out with so much more new material, but it’ll definitely be fun to play.
LUNA: That’s exciting! Okay, well thank you once again for taking the time in joining me today Peter, we appreciate it! Alright, so I usually just like to end off on a fun note. Any songs or artists on repeat now for you these days?
SAGAR: Yeah no problem, of course. Thank you! Let’s see, I listened to that new Cindy Lee a lot. I liked that new Amen Dunes record a lot too. There’s this artist called Romance, very under the radar, ambiance stuff and I really loved their new album “Infinite Light.” It’s very beautiful, very peaceful.
