Introducing PEEPHOLE
No one becomes famous overnight. And for a musician who would like to be known for their creative abilities, the road is even tougher. For one, every homeboy and his cousin wants to be a famous something and this dilutes the integrity of the truly talented folk who are swimming in the same public pool. The public pool belongs to everyone trying to make it on their own, and for those who want to swim in some private pool in the Hamptons, cash-money seems to be the only ticket out. But cash can only get you so far. Ultimately, the truly successful are a result of sheer hard work and determination. Take Marina and the Diamonds for instance. The Welsh born starlet decided in her late teens that she wanted to be a pop god. She learned how to play the piano, and after 5 years of 100 percent commitment, she finally got her break and is now on the super fast track to fame. Kent Odessa of Peephole is another such hardworking individual who doesn’t just have an edgy band name, but also the music to match. Like many aspiring musicians he has made Brooklyn, NY his home base, and has for the last 3 years or so self released 3 EP’s of his own. In a few months he will release his full length debut, Silverdome, and there are very good reasons to be excited about this.
It was late February, spring of 2010 when my very cool, very cute German friend Corina came to visit me in NY for a few days. It was around that time when the underbelly of Webster Hall (The Studio) in Manhattan was featuring bands such as Boy Crisis, Bear Hands, and of course the somewhat scandalously named, Peephole. I had heard some of Peephole’s music via their myspace prior to that just out of sheer curiosity. I immediately dug Kents simple but head-bouncable guitar riffs, falsetto vocals and catchy chorus lines. Cori had a damn good sense of legit music and so I had no qualms in taking her to the Studio that Tuesday night despite the fact that I’d not seen Peephole perform live up until that point. It was a good show. People dug what they heard and bobbed their heads and bounced their bums song after song. If there ever was a more down to earth guy, it’s Kent. After the show, we bought the man some blue drink and spent sometime discussing tunes. At the end of the night we swapped cards and went our own ways. It wasn’t until a few months later that my interest in the band was rekindled. It was one of the worst days I had had at work, and as routine would have it, I was on my commute home, riding the subway, headphones plugged in with my ipod on shuffle. I had downloaded all of Peepholes EP’s via the website, and today the shuffle decided to play one of Peephole’s songs from his Crime Drama EP. The song was Hysteria, which you can hear above, and it instantly changed my mood for the better. I spent the first few minutes of the song trying to guess who was the artist that was playing in my ears. I suck at playing games on my own, and so I cheated and looked before I was sufficiently challenged, and found out it was Peephole. Since then I have been closely following the band, waiting eagerly for their big break. Now unlike the previously released EP’s, Silverdome is going to be mixed by Hays Holladay of The Ephochs (now known as Bluebrain), and made all nice and shiny by Joe Lambert the mastering engineer for Animal Collective, Deerhunter and The Dirty Projectors. There is a lot to look forward to in Silverdome, with 10 new tracks from Peephole. According to Odessa, it is his best work yet and coming from me, if the winds blow in his favor we will probably read and hear a whole lot more about Peephole in this coming year. At the moment Peephole is featured on the music site Mavaru, where you can download the Crime Drama EP at whatever cost you choose.