Photo Credit: Cameron Wittig

Happy Friday to you all! The weekend’s here; let’s party. MFR caught up with Brian Moen of Peter Wolf Crier in support of the duo’s show tonight at 7th Street Entry. You can check out our chat below, and remember to get to the entry early enough to catch Al Church and J.E. Sunde. Doors open at 8 p.m. Cheers, you animals!

Being that it’s been a few years since PWC has introduced us to a new album, what’s the most nerve-wracking thing about releasing a new album? Do you ever get nervous about how people will react to new material?
To me, making the music always seems like the easy part of putting out a record. We’ve got a great manager who takes care of us, but we’re pretty hands-on about a lot of the business side of things. So it’s organization and deadlines that are nerve-wracking. Then figuring out how we want to present the record live — sometimes that’s a bit of a doozy in a two-piece.

How did the making of Plum Slump go down? I.e. writing, recording, etc.
This was our most collaborative album to date. Much of the songs were still Pete’s that he brought to the table, but it was the first time there was any material that started as jamming. After a few years of touring together, we decided that we loved playing in the same room and wanted to capture some that spontaneity and energy on the record. Pete and I also lived in Toronto and Oakland respectively so it was made in random short bursts at my parents’ cabin an hour north of Minneapolis, whenever Pete had a work break.

What type of writing atmosphere do you prefer?
For me, feeling comfortable is really the most important thing when we’re writing. That’s been the draw to recording ourselves — we have a great freedom when we’re by ourselves.

What’s your favorite part of coming back and playing the Twin Cities?
Seeing our friends, no question.

Do you have any pre-show rituals?
Um, none that we can mention…

When you and Pete started collaborating as PWC, is this where you envisioned you’d be?
Being that the project started as Pete’s solo record, I think it’s probably pretty different than what he originally envisioned. But I think we’ve always come at our music from such different places that we routinely end up in places I wasn’t expecting. This band is constantly changing because we’re each drawing on new inspirations all the time.

What is your philosophy about taking risks as an artist, or in life in general?
We’re not going to make our best music if we’re trying to be popular or successful. In my mind, the second you start trying to make decisions based on selling more albums, you’ve missed the point. So we’re just putting out our best effort each time, captured at that particular point in our musical discussion.

Interview by Sam Fischer

Peter Wolf Crier
w/ AL CHURCH(Full Band) and J. E. Sunde
Friday, November 13 2015
7th Street Entry
18+ // 8p // $10 adv $12 door