When we last checked in with Angela Perley & The Howlin’ Moons, the Columbus, Ohio rockers were just about to drop their new album, Homemade Vision. The romantic, rootsy, rocking, and rollicking record remains one of my most-played and beloved albums of 2016 as we head into this home stretch.
If you’ve yet to experience the beauty of this band, here’s your shot; Popdose proudly presents the world premiere of their new video, ‘White Doves’, which doubles as the unofficial title track of the album — you’ll hear it in the lyrics. In the clip, Angela gets baptized, rolls Straight Outta Gilligan’s Island, goes on a Nevermind-worthy swim and comes out of the closet (quite literally, her colorful, vintage wardrobe is to die for).
POPDOSE: So, that was Gilligan’s Island right? I recently heard rumors the lagoon was man-made on the CBS parking lot, but somehow you found it!
ANGELA PERLEY: Well, yes but we have to keep it a secret. We found a wormhole and took it straight back to Columbus, Ohio. Truthfully, all the inside and outside quarry shots were filmed where I live. If you look closely you will see a lot of my personal items scattered throughout… bedside cat decanter included.
POPDOSE: How was the water? I grew up in Northeast Ohio, I remember the lakes to be quite lovely.
PERLEY: The water was bathwater, it was delightful. We filmed at the quarry lake outside my condo community which made things easy to arrange and capture. I got some curious looks and questions from fellow floaters/swimmers but most of the people where I live know I’m a musician so they weren’t too phased about me swimming around in my dress with the film crew. The underwater shots may look effortless and only linger for only a few moments at a time, but I spent hours in water for this video and… a lot of water went up my nose.. haha. We also filmed in the heat of summer so it was super humid and in the upper 90’s… I have a newfound respect for anyone that does underwater videos.
POPDOSE: And if that wasn’t enough, you hit the hot tub, well, sort of.
PERLEY: Felt like a hot tub with all the heat and humidity that day. We shot the bathtub scene outside of Vital Companies in the back of their building. We originally wanted to put it in the woods, somewhere scenic, but realized that we would need to be hauling a ton of water with it to keep filling it up (and it was heavy to lug around) so we switched the scene to where we would have easy access to a hose. We got the bathtub last minute on craigslist; it had a hole in it so we kept filling it up every 5-10 minutes.
POPDOSE: And mermaids fill out your aquatic trifecta…
PERLEY: Everything is better with whimsical mermaids, right? That was our inside shoutout to the record cover for Homemade Vision. The song ‘White Doves’ was for a long time called ‘Homemade Vision’ before we recorded it, so the mermaids were our little muses and reflections of the original title.
POPDOSE: How was your year taking the music to the people?
PERLEY: This year has been wonderful! We’ve had some great experiences together as a band and have met so many incredible people. We’ve done 94 shows so far, hitting clubs and festivals in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, Michigan, North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Delaware, New Jersey and New York; we still have quite a few shows left before the year’s over.
POPDOSE: What were some of your favorite gigs?
PERLEY: Too many favorites to mention, but Nelsonville Music Festival was definitely special.
PERLEY: Chris and I did a super stripped down set in front of a log cabin during the fest for WOUB’s Gladden House Sessions (see it here). The cicadas were coming out of their 17 year sleep in hoards so it was magical to hear and see them flying around the fest and landing on people, they were the charming mascots of the festival.
Some other nice moments we had this year were at Burning River Festival in Cleveland and Kickin’ it On the Creek Festival in Irvine, Kentucky. The energy at both of those festivals was unbelievable.
We also had a great Daytrotter Session this summer at their new studio in Iowa, where we recorded some live versions of tunes off Homemade Vision and got to record our cover of Black Sabbath’s ‘N.I.B.’ which was pretty sweet to record analog and unedited (stream it here).
POPDOSE: How have the fans responded to the new tunes?
PERLEY: The crowds have been our best yet — we’ve been blown away by people coming to check us out live and singing along to songs. Homemade Vision got some love on NPR stations across the country this year and some UK radio play as well which was a very nice surprise to us.
POPDOSE: What’s on tap for 2017?
PERLEY: More music and margaritas of course (my fave). Right now we are in the midst of planning a two week southwest tour that will take us to Austin, Texas and back to Ohio this March and we hope to play some more towns and fests next year where we haven’t yet been.
POPDOSE: Go west, young band! Would love to see you in Seattle.
PERLEY: The West Coast — eventually right?! Would love to make that happen. We’re still itching to get over to the UK too so hope we can line that up in the future.
POPDOSE: Is it too early to talk new music?
PERLEY: It’s never too early! We’ve been writing a lot of new songs so we’re going to get together with the band this winter to start working things out for a new album –not sure when we will be ready to go back into the studio but we will see how it goes!
Rounding out the Howlin’ Moons are Chris Connor (lead guitar), Billy Zehnal (bass) and a rotating cast of drummers. Pick up Homemade Vision on Amazon or direct from the band. Follow em on facebook and twitter to keep on new music and tour dates.
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