Touching lyrics, sweet and strained melodies, and powerful sonic textures: this is the basic chemical make-up of Peter Wolf Crier, a two-piece band made up of singer and guitarist Peter Pisano and percussionist and sound engineer Brian Moen.
Their debut album, Inter-be, came out in May of 2010. It is what Pisano describes as a “song-based album,” containing no underlying tones or messages for the audience.
“All we’re doing is making records that are based around sound,” Pisano said. Inter-be follows a two-year break for Peter, after his earlier band, The Wars of 1812, went on hiatus. He turned to education for a year or two, working as a science teacher at a private middle school.
“Teaching has been the only other thing that I’ve done that’s gotten me to the same place,” he said. “I feel creative and inspired and connected to another human being.”
When he got back to making music, he decided it was time to write material on his own. The music that would become Inter-be started off as a solo venture.
“I didn’t really think about bringing anyone else in on this record,” Pisano said. He wanted to make an album all about him, a largely different process from what he had experienced with his time in The Wars of 1812.
“I’ve always retreated inside myself and closed the door when writing a song,” Pisano said.
He explained that the major difference was being forced to trust his instincts more. He was careful to make a distinction though.
“To call those instincts your own is to not acknowledge the people that helped with those things,” he said.
Eventually Pisano realized he could collaborate with whoever he wanted on the project, and he immediately thought of Moen, whom he had met in Minnesota while playing a show with his previous band. Pisano explained that Moen was the person that came to mind.
For Pisano, the songwriting process involves a lot of feeling and flow. His lyrics are created in a similar way.
“I’ll sit down and press record and scratch out some melodies,” he said. “At the very last moment of that sound coming out I’ll shape it into a word.”
Pisano said he considers it a very “free-association” type of process. In the editing phase he adds cohesion to his words, though he finds it important to be somewhat mysterious and metaphorical in his words and arrangements, so listeners can find something new each time they come back.
Since the album’s release, Peter Wolf Crier has been touring consistently. The thought of touring originally gave Pisano anxiety since he is a man that prefers a good amount of alone time to deal with the road.
“I’m no longer fearful of it,” he said. “Every night you can just tell that we are doing exactly what we want to be doing.”
However, he describes the live show as being exhausting.
“That’s really exhausting to do that for 45 minutes straight. It’s also very sweaty,” Pisano said.
Peter Wolf Crier is due to get sweaty and exhausted at the Billiken Club on March 31. Admission is free.
