Recording artist Andy Grammer says, “As a musician, you just want to be able to do what you love,” and that is exactly what The Band Perry has been doing when it comes to their new record. Neil Perry, one of three siblings that comprise the Platinum-selling recording group, recently told us here at New England Country Music that when it came to their new album, they were simply having too much fun writing it. “When we were writing this one, we kept leaving the studio with the biggest smiles on our faces. We would just keep writing; we would write from 8:30 AM to 2AM. We were just having so much fun that we didn’t want to quit.”
It has been over two and a half years since the trio released their second studio album, titled ‘Pioneer,’ which was certified-Gold by the RIAA and yielded The Band Perry two No. 1 hits (‘Better Dig Two’ and ‘Done’). Fast-forward to the present day and the trio says they are ‘absolutely’ ready to release new music to their fans. Neil tells us, “We’re writing the best music we have ever written. We’re in a great place in life; things are going so well. The new music is going to be really exciting. There are going to be big beats, which will make for a big show. The three of us love playing live, and we always think of the live content. The new album will definitely lend itself to big sing-alongs.” And that is something that the band strives for when it comes to their music as they love getting their crowds to sing along to their songs and incorporating the crowd into their live show.
On the new album, The Band Perry has written every song except for one, which was written by some of their friends from Nashville. The siblings loved the song so much, they felt like it was a song they would have written; so they needed to put it on the album. The album was written and recorded primarily in Los Angeles and the band found some creative cohorts and ‘unsuspecting country fans’ in the City of Angels. For instance, they wrote a song with Diplo, who is well known in the pop and hip-hop worlds after working with artists like Justin Bieber, Usher, Shakira, Britney Spears, Madonna, Snoop Dogg, and Beyoncé, among many others. Neil says, “We never could have imagined that he was a country fan in any way. But he ended up loving what we do. We ended up having a cool, creative banter back and forth.”
The Band Perry has already announced and released their first single off the album, as they released ‘Live Forever,’ in mid-August. They believed that the song represents the overall spirit of the album and wanted the first impression of the new music to be accurate. Neil continued on to say, “And the subject of the song really impacted us as well. The moments in life that made you feel like you’re going to live forever. It has a really great emotion to it.” The single was co-written with RedOne, who just happens to also be Lady Gaga’s producer. And while the band was in the studio writing the song and recording it, the pop star was in the next studio writing her next album. Gaga ended up coming to see The Band Perry, hang out and listen to ‘Live Forever,’ which ended up with her saying, “I love it. I just want to hear more mandolin.” We assume the band obliged and gave the song some more mandolin. While Neil loves the first single, he hinted that the song may not be his personal favorite on the album, which is exciting to say the least after ‘Live Forever’ has gotten great reviews and response from The Band Perry’s fans. Neil explains, “I do (have a personal favorite). I probably would be killed by my siblings if I told you the title. I will tell you that some of my favorite songs are yet to come on the album. I love ‘Live,’ but even the songs behind it I’m so excited about. These are definitely our favorite songs that we have ever gotten to write. We love ‘If I Die Young,’ ‘Better Dig Two,’ ‘Done,’ but we’re in a really cool, creative space. And I think everyone is going to dig the energy when they listen to the new music. “
While many fans may be tuning into the opening nights of the hit television show The Voice, they will see another artist that The Band Perry worked with during the creation of the album… Pharrell! Neil admits that while the band wrote with the ten-time GRAMMY winning artist and producer but also says that they ended up talking a bit more than they ended up writing. “He’s been in bands of his own, he’s produced. So we ended up just talking his ear off. He’s like the Yoda of the music business. He knows so much. We’ll see if the song we ended up writing with him ends up on the album but it was just cool to make a new friend who knows so much. We definitely respect what he does.”
While working with the ‘Yoda of the music business’ is pretty dang cool, that is not the only incredible experience that The Band Perry has been given. Just last week, the siblings’ plane landed in Indianapolis for a photo shoot for the new album after a charity event in Italy, and as they were rolling through town they recognized a familiar face… Taylor Swift on the side of multiple trucks, which led them to realizing that Taylor was playing a show in town that night. As labelmates and friends, the trio sent Taylor some flowers to wish her a good show and later that day Taylor’s mother called their dad to ask if they wanted to come be Taylor’s surprise guest, as she has been doing nationwide, and play ‘If I Die Young’ with her and her band. Of course, The Band Perry agreed and joined the global superstar on stage later that night to the delight of thousands of screaming fans. The sold-out crowd would end up singing along to every word of ‘If I Die Young,’ making it a very special night for The Band Perry.
Later this week, The Band Perry will play at Connecticut’s Mohegan Sun Arena. For fans heading down to the great venue, be prepared for some loud sing-alongs and Neil says to “bring your dancing shoes.” As far as music, they will be playing songs from their first two albums as well as their new single, ‘Live Forever.’ And while Neil loves playing in outdoor venues because of the energy that comes with playing under the sky, he enjoys playing the indoor shows to use all they toys and effects that they have at their disposal.
With two albums under their belts and a third album on the way, The Band Perry has already cemented themselves as one of country music’s best acts. But even with years of tour experience playing for hundreds of thousands of fans, that feeling that overwhelms them when they hear their fans singing their songs, never gets old. “I don’t think any of us could have imagined writing songs in the basement and later hearing 14,000 screaming kids singing it at the top of their lungs. It’s probably one of the coolest experiences we can have as artists because you get to see how much these songs mean to people. And that is why we do what we do. We write songs to impact people and their lives. We may not know what they are going through. But hopefully what we’re going through is probably something that they are. It’s a really cool experience,“ Neil describes. Over their careers, Neil, Reid, and Kimberly have had unforgettable moments like these sing-alongs with sold-out crowds- moments that made them feel like they thought they would ‘Live Forever.’ And with the numerous hits from their first two albums and this new album to come, their music will truly ‘Live Forever’ with their fans and the country music community alike with the great impact they have had on the genre. With the excitement that the band has for these songs, it’s hard not to be excited for the new album as well.
Want to see The Band Perry when they come to Mohegan Sun this Friday, September 25th? Tickets are still available here.
Make sure to follow The Band Perry on Twitter, Facebook, and their official website.
Main photo credit: Benny Krown