Dance artist Peyton is heading to Perth this month to headline Digital Arcade the Official Pride After Party at Connections. Best known for his popular club tune ‘A Higher Place’ the UK based singer will be showcasing that song and a host of other uplifting tunes when he hits the stage. OUTinPerth caught up with Peyton to find out more about the forces that drive him to make positive dance music.
How did you first get into making music?
I grew up singing in my dad’s church in Virginia. He’s a Pentecostal preacher. I went on to study music at a small Christian college in Tennessee and travel the US as a gospel singer, until I gave it all up for a life of sin! When I eventually moved to London I got involved with a band, one thing led to another and eventually I had a stroke of luck when a song I wrote called A Higher Place which was signed to Hed Kandi Records in 2003 and became a worldwide hit. The rest is history as they say..
How would you describe your music?
Uplifting, soulful, thoughtful, meaningful, powerful, beautiful, and music that sounds like music. Well, at least that’s what I’m aiming for!! It’s getting harder and harder to make ‘real’ music in the world of dance, as trends have changed drastically and for some strange reason that I can’t quite get my head around, a lot of people these days are happy to dance to a kick drum, one chord, and shit lyrics. But I still insist on trying to make the kind of music that I myself would actually want to dance to.
You take a lot of inspiration from literature, could dance music be the literature of our generation?
OMG, I hope not! When Rihanna replaces Shakespeare, we’re all seriously fucked!
You’ve been spending a lot of time in Ibiza over the North summer, what’s that been like?
Ibiza is one of my spiritual homes in the world. It’s a very special place, and for the last few summers I’ve been basing myself there for part of the summer and sharing a flat with Australia’s very own superstar DJ Alex Taylor. Alex is one of my favourite people (and DJs) in the world, so this time together in Ibiza is just amazing. He’s one of the funniest people I know, so there’s a lot of laugher to go along with the sangria, sunsets, and late night shenanigans.
You’ve lived in many different places, how is gay life different in these different parts of the world?
I was actually watching a documentary yesterday about the struggle of lesbians in South Africa, and what many of them go through everyday just because they’re gay. It really got me thinking about the global gay community, and how our challenges are different, and also how they are the same. I work a lot in Russia, and see how closeted the gay community is there, even though it’s not illegal but there’s still such a stigma attached to being gay. I lived in Colombia for a few years, and this is what it was like there too. It’s easy to take for granted the freedoms that we enjoy in open-minded cities like New York, London and Sydney, but it is definitely not the same for everyone around the world. And yet, the struggle to accept ourselves and be accepted is something that defines and connects all of us around the world.
Have you been to Australia before? What do you think of when you think of Australia?
I have been coming to Australia regularly for many years now. Every Aussie summer I escape the dreariness of Britain and head down under to base myself in Sydney for a month or two for my annual Australasian tour. This yearly trip has become a kind of pilgrimage for me that I simply cannot live without. My love affair with Australia and its people only gets steamier by the year. To me, the Aussie sensibility is a combination of new world openness and positivity, with the dry wit and humour of Great Britain. As an American who has lived in London for fourteen years, this is a winning combination that has me falling in love over and over again with Australia. What do I think of when I think of Australia? I think HOME!!
What can we expect at your upcoming PRIDE show in Perth?
You can expect to go away feeling like you’ve just made up for all those Sunday mornings you didn’t go to church! For me, the club is a congregation that needs to be transported somewhere else! I come from a long line of preachers, my dad and my granddad and my great granddad were all preachers. Some people may not agree, but for me what I do isn’t so different from what they did. It’s all ministry. It’s all about lifting people up out of the daily grey and directing their hearts and minds somewhere higher. We all need hope and crave to be loved. And what better way to spread hope and love than through the power of music!
Peyton will be performing at Digital Arcade. the Official Pride After-Party at Connections Nightclub on Saturday November 19.
Graeme Watson
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