Defying expectations with Paces
Gold Coast producer and all round nice guy Paces sat down with us recently at Splendour In The Grass ahead of his mammoth set.
Gold Coast producer and all round nice guy Paces (aka Mikey Perry) fights the good fight of putting pop sensibility into the dance music climate, and that's why we love him. Not afraid to get down with infectious hooks and effervescent, upbeat tunes, his music is sonic sunshine, and he's acquired a loyal fanbase nationwide because of it.
Having recently toured the country but doing it a little differently, Paces set his sights on boats rather than clubs, which was actually the perfect setting for his bright and fun catalogue. However, back on land and at Splendour In The Grass, we met up with him as he was readying himself to take to the stage - his first performance at the festival in two years. With even bigger and better things set to come from his soon, Paces still gives us the feeling that, despite his huge success already, he's still only just getting started.
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Let's start off with your last tour, why boat tours?
I just wanted to something way different to what anyone would expect, just to throw parties, and I guess let people know I had an album out. But yeah just something different. I've done club shows a lot and I felt like it really worked well that way because they just felt like house parties you know? You're locked in a room with a group of mates and there's no escaping it.
So what do you do when you're not making music?
I surf, I go for run, hang out with my dog -
Your dog is SO cute!
Yeah she's such a little legend.
What's her name?
Chilli, but yeah outside of music that's my entire life basically.
What did you want to be when you were little?
I always thought I'd be a graphic artist, and I was too until I wasn't haha...
...Until you were a musician! Who would your dream collaboration be with?
Dream collab would be Grimes or La Roux, yeah something about those two special voices.
What does home mean to you?
Wherever your place is where there's no anxiety and nothing to worry about I think.
What's the best live act you've ever seen?
Well definitely one of the best is Hermitude. I feel like I must've seen them what feels like a hundred times now, and every time I leave with my mind blown, they're so inspirational. I love what they do.
Do you have a pre-show ritual?
Yeah I do, I always watch youtube clips of Major Lazer live shows to get me excited.
Yes how good, that would pump you up more than anything! When was your first kiss?
I reckon I was like 13 and I was just fully pressured into it by my friend, double date kind of situation and the other couple were all about it already and then I just got pressured into it, it was so scary.
Who's your favourite up and coming artist?
One of my very best friends, up until really recently he was called Atticus Beats, but he's just about to re-launch as a new name called Health Club. We've been writing a bunch of stuff together and him and his girlfriend taught me what chords mean and a lot of the music theory. He's been really inspirational to me for a few years now, so I'd have to say him.
Awesome, how did you first get into music?
I used to play guitar in primary school, being in punk bands and stuff growing up. I was always kind of into it but then eventually I got passed that and I was just into hip-hop and got into DJing, and then a natural progression from there was, “I'd like to figure out how to make the music now”.
Yeah of course. Where is your favourite place in the world?
There's an island near where I live that you can take your 4WD car there that you can just drive on the beach and camp in the sand dunes, it's just a couple of hours away from the Gold Coast, and that's my favourite place. In between every tour I try and just block out a week, go there and go camping and sit in the sand dunes and eat a burrito. It's so nice. You get very little reception there so you're forced to not check your emails all the time.
Do you have your phone on you?
Yep.
Can you put your music on shuffle and play the first 3 songs?
Recently played... The XX, Daughter, and Chet Faker. So this cat just appeared in our house that we've rented and we named him Chet Harambe Stardust.
...Why?
Who knows, so then we were singing him Chet Faker songs.
That's very sweet. What's the best show you've ever played?
Actually the one other time I played Splendour two years ago, and at the time that was definitely the best thing ever, so hopefully if you ask me again in a couple of hours I'll be able to say this show.
What inspires you?
Two different avenues of music inspire me. One is the real technical stuff like what Flume makes. You know, intricate sound design and real music nerd stuff, and the other is just like big pop music. I just find some of those big tracks that are so annoying to listen to, they just have the most incredible production, so catchy. There's a lot to be learnt from listening to that sort of stuff and just picking the bits that you like out of it.
What's your favourite pizza?
I just go a margherita, keep it simple.
Do you have any unreleased music we should be looking out for?
I do actually. I'm working on a few things at the moment, I'm working on a song with Gladiator from L.A, and another track with Branchez from New York.
Words by Julia Insolia and Emma Jones.
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