Peter Katz – Paper Thin

By starrymag | May 29, 2020

By: Jennifer Vintzileos

 

 

Q) What inspired you to write the song “Paper Thin?”

 

A) “Paper Thin emerged out of a moment where I found myself in the same location (this Motel 6 on the side of the highway) sixteen years apart and both times that I was in that Motel, I was in a “life restart” moment.  The time between the two moments felt “Paper Thin,” time had just compressed and I felt paper thin too emotionally. I ended up writing down that idea and then a couple of weeks later was writing with a great songwriter in LA named Kyler England who was going through her own moment of recalibration and we just kind of met in the middle. It was a beautiful moment bringing that song to life.

 

Q) You filmed a music video for the song “Paper Thin.” How does the video play into the message behind the song?

 

A) One of the most cathartic/healing/empowering things for me over the last few years has been movement and dance.  I go to this thing called “Ecstatic Dance” where you just dance for ninety minutes with a group of people, kind of doing your own thing, but there’s a collective energy and beauty to that many people moving and connecting with their bodies all at the same time.  I also had a serious injury where I fell off a cliff and couldn’t walk for the better part of a year, so my connection to movement just intensified all the more when I was able to do it again.  Given that the song is about the resilience we discover in ourselves by going through our hardest moments and that I found some of my resilience through that movement, Justin (the director) wanted to capture that feeling in the video.  So, we went to multiple locations and had me dance (all just improvised) and he put it together. I love how it turned out.

 

Q) You had the chance to work with producer Derek Hoffman (Story Untold) and director Justin Broadbent (Metric, Emily Haines & The Soft Skeleton) on the video. How did their contribution influence the direction of the video itself?

 

A) Derek’s major influence was on the music itself.  He managed to take a very folky acoustic song and bring it into the realm of dance/pop, which is what I really wanted.  I wanted to make music where you felt it in your body first (through the beat/rhythm section/vibe) and Derek almost miraculously brought it into that world.  That sound allowed us to make the dance video that Justin was envisioning, so one really led into the other.

 

Q) On May 7 you did a live Facebook premiere of your latest single “Like We Used to Be.” What made you decide to use this platform to drop your new music?

 

A) Direct connection with people is a huge part of how I’ve built my career and how I want to be as an artist and human out in the world.  Obviously, I can’t be out playing shows right now, and I also didn’t want to just do endless online concerts that didn’t feel “special.” So, I thought that sharing that “night before release” moment, almost like a TV special —giving people some background around the songs, meeting some of my collaborators, hearing stripped down versions, etc. would be a cool way to connect with people and introduce the songs out into the world.  I keep trying to up my game with each one.

 

Q) On that Facebook premiere you treated your fans and supporters to an acoustic version of “Like We Used to Be,” which was amazing. Any thoughts to potentially releasing an acoustic version of this song for download at a later date?

 

A) I hope this album will have a nice long life. For the first wave I’d love for people to be able to connect with the fully produced version, as that’s really how I want the song to live first and foremost. But my rule for making a pop album was that the songs had to hold up without any production on them. So, I would love to be able to showcase the essence of the songs as well.  All that to say, I’m sure alternate versions will be on the horizon at some point. (I’m glad you liked it.) [smiles]

 

Q) With the release of these two singles, is there a full-length album or EP be on the way?

 

A) Actually, three singles now!  And, yep, we JUST announced that a full album called “City of Our Lives” will be out on September 18, 2020. Can’t WAIT to share the whole thing…

 

Q) Why do you think music has provided such a comfort during this time of uncertainty?

 

A) I think music has always been there for us through all of our highs and lows.  It’s such a special thing.  It literally causes our bodies to resonate, to physiologically change, to feel, to heal, to mourn, to just MOVE our feelings.  It’s such an essential part of life; it makes all the sense in the world to me that it is front and center during these times.

 

Q) With COVID-19 postponing live shows, have you given thought to potentially doing more live stream concerts?

 

A) I’ve given a lot of thought to all of it and how I’m going to make this whole time work.  I’m being careful though to not rush anything or to over-saturate the internet with my livestreams.  I want it to be a special thing, something to mark your calendar for, and something that has a lot of intentionality and value behind it.  The “night-before-release” livestreams have been great so far, and I’ve been doing a ton of private Zoom concerts to still connect with my core fans.  The private ones are great because you get a smaller but all interconnected group of people. I can be quite interactive, take requests, they connect with each other, etc.  I like that it can be two-way, unlike most live-streaming.  At some point, of course, (depending on how long this goes on) we’ll do some full length more public facing concerts. But I want to make them special so that requires planning and a lot of thoughtfulness (which I’m working on). I’ve also done a total tech overhaul so that I’m not able to offer incredible sound/video which will create more opportunity to do it right, I think.

 

Q) Who would you most like to collaborate with on a song in the future?

 

A) There’s a long list, but top of the list would be Julia Michaels, Maggie Rogers, Justin Vernon, MØ and Mark Ronson. I’d love to work with Derek more, too! He’s a superstar (which I’m sure I will).

 

Q) If I were to take a peek at your playlist, what would I find you currently listening to?

 

A) All the artists I just listed, plus a lot of discovery playlists. I love finding a song or artist I love and then hitting that “create a station” feature and just seeing what comes up. I discovered this song called “Dizzy” by Azure Ryder just the other day that I fell in love with and then that opened up a whole treasure trove of new songs that I had never heard.  There’s so much to listen to, it’s almost overwhelming.

 

Q) What would you like to say to everyone who are fans and supporters?

 

A) Mostly that I hope you’re all doing okay.  But if I allow myself to go beyond the realm of the current world crisis, I’d also just say thank you for taking a chance on the new music.  It’s a big evolution for me and I’m so happy to see the way that people are connecting with it and sharing it.  It feels like something really exciting is happening around this music and that’s mostly driven by the people out there who have been supporting what I’ve been doing for a long time. So, thank you. [smiles]