introducing: Andy Petr

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I got an email in my inbox imploring I listen to the young and prolific, 19-year old Milwaukean, Andy Petr, who has recently signed to Brooklyn-based Mixpak records. Naturally the snob in me asked my self, “who? how has this slipped past me? This isn’t the Chester Cheetohs French dude is it?”.  hahaha. no. The answer to this could involve the current segregation of music scenes, et all, in our fair town but really, that’s for a different time/post.

Anywho, I got caught up with Andy and asked him a bunch of questions about his music making process, signing to MixPak, and the club scene in Milwaukee.

His debut release Rapper Turned Singer EP will be released on May 10th. Andy also plans to deliver an onslaught of free EPs that include original material as well as the heavy reworkings of some of his favorite rap songs. The first free EP is entitled APD004.

mp3 – Andy Petr – Rapper Turned Singer
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Karl Malone: Your releasing your EP, Rapper Turned Singer, on Mixpak May 10th. Can you tell us a little bit about how this came about? What have your past couple months been like?

Andy Petr: I’ve been in touch with Dre Skull for about a year now.  Basically I was sending songs to him all last summer, and in the Fall he offered me the contract.  All the trax on Rapper Turned Singer are from this time-frame and reflect that period of my life.  The past couple months I’ve been making tons of music as usual.  Just finished a piece for piano and tape!

KM: Being from Milwaukee, what are your thoughts on the local electronic music scene? Do you play club shows?

AP: The local scene is basically non-existent.  I’ve played two solo shows so far at clubs, one with DJ Dog Dick and Sewn Leather.  If anything interesting does happen in MKE it’s almost always affiliated with Juiceboxxx, Vicious Pop Records, or Catacombz.  I don’t want to come off as a Milwaukee hater but honestly I’ve been playing shows in various projects around the city all the time I was in high school through now and I’ve just never seen anyone more than a small minority of heads catch on to anything very interesting.  People here mostly seem to be content with sterile-ass garage rock Black Lips soundalikes they can get drunk to.  There also seems to be a growing audience for god-awful shit wobble dubstep and ultra-corny electro-house.  Not going to name any names but I don’t fuk with that, u know….  It really bums me out to be honest….  It’s really discouraging.  I’m trying to move away.

Wisconsin had a considerable electronic scene in the 1990s with a number of warehouse parties/raves going on (Daft Punk played their first North American show at a rave in the woods in the middle of WI) but it seems like that all dissipated quite a while before my time.

KM: How has your reception from Milwaukee been?

AP: I know a small number of friends that have always been into what I’ve been doing.  It’s cool and I definitely have infinite gratefulness for the people here who are into my music.What is your creative process like? Who/what would you say influences your music?My creative process is complex and ever-evolving but has always been framed by my personal aesthetic vision.  The most vital/note-worthy part of my process is that I channel all my feeling, inspiration, technique, etc. through this vision for the final outcome that you hear.  A track is a three-dimensional sculpture in my mind, and I sequence and arrange layers for its overall sonic curvature to express maximum sublimity and emotional impact.  I intend for my music to be observed as part of a larger canon of artistic achievement throughout the past couple centuries rather than any current scene/movement.

KM: Who are some of your favorite artists? (past/present)
AP: J Dilla, Stanley Kubrick, Andrei Tarkovsky, Daft Punk, Derrick May, Steve Reich, Kraftwerk, Nas, Arthur Russell, Talking Heads, Aphex Twin, Black Flag, John Cage, Stravinsky, Pharrell, Mussorgsky, Kanye, Philip Glass, so many more…What are your plans for the future? (i.e. releasing more albums, playing live shows)I intend to move to NYC sometime this year, hopefully this summer.  Still waiting to hear back from a school….  I’d like to start playing as many shows as possible in clubs w/ good sound-systems, promoters get at me!

I’ve got tons of new music coming out through Mixpak, two more official EPs and tons of free stuff too.  APD004 just came out but I’m already 8 songs deep into APD009 if that puts it into perspective.  If anyone would like to hear exclusive songs/put them on their blog or whatever, they should get in touch because I’m finishing new ones daily.I’ve also done beats for Juiceboxxx’s forthcoming full-length and also Houston rapperFat Tony.  Just finished a remix for Death Grips.  Collaborations with Sydney’s Dro Carey.  I’m also talking about collaborating with harpist Rebekah Raff!  Keep paying attention, y’all.

KM: What are your thoughts on the Bronze Fonz?
AP: NO COMMENT