Canadian cowboy and trailblazer Orville Peck joins Fancy Hagood for an interview on Trailblazers Radio. They discuss his new album ‘Bronco,’ visuals when songwriting and his iconic mask. They also talk about his musical influences, lyrics and their mutual love for Shania Twain. Tune in and listen to the conversation in-full on-demand here.
Orville Peck on where he got his interest in music:
“When I was a kid, I loved country music, obviously, but I first fell in love with, well, I was obsessed with the imagery of the cowboy and cowboy characters like Lone Ranger. And I used to watch a lot of westerns and that kind of thing. I only in retrospect, as I got older, I kind of saw, I think, a lot of myself in those characters, because I was kind of a, always just felt like a lonely kid and this lone soul and still carried that through my entire life, really. And so I think I kind of… Yeah, I think I saw this almost representation of myself in these cowboy tropey cowboy figures. So there was that when I was a kid and then I also fell in love with country music. I discovered Dolly Parton when I was really little. And Johnny Cash. And that moved on to Merle Haggard and Willie and The Outlaws. And I don’t know, I just, I fell in love with those type of country figures where it was kind of like the cross section of really sincere music, lyrics, authenticity, but paired with this larger than life storytelling and theatricality. And I just thought that was kind of missing in country music when I decided to start doing solo music. And so I kind of combined that whole long spiel.”
Orville Peck on his iconic mask:
Fancy Hagood: “Of course, you wear the mask, and I’m the Barbara Walters of Nashville, I ask the hard-hitting questions. And I know in the past you’ve avoided this question, and I get that, but the mask is so iconic. Where did that idea come from? Was it just something you’ve always wanted to do or was it a last minute thing? How did the origin of that come about?”
Orville Peck: “I think I just wanted to do something creative and, I guess, not like a gimmick, but I just, like I said, I was obsessed with the Lone Ranger. And there’s all these photos of me as a kid, when I was a little kid, running around with a cowboy hat on and a handkerchief over my face, because that’s kind of what I thought the classic cowboy look was supposed to be. I wanted to see a more, I don’t know, a Bowie-esque or something with a bit more just visual artistry in the videos and the performance and stuff. I wanted to kind of see that in country music because I just felt like it had been missing for a long time.”
Fancy: “Well, I single-handedly always think of you now out when I see anything fringe. Fringe and Orville Peck go hand in hand in my brain now, so it’s brilliant.”
Orville Peck on visuals when writing songs:
Fancy Hagood: “I talked about your visuals earlier. I just, I’m obsessed. The first time you and I ever corresponded was me hitting you up on Instagram, talking about your first music video. I was just so into it. Do you see all of that as you’re writing your music? Because it kind of feels like that to me. I feel like the visuals almost come first.”
Orville Peck: “Yeah, 100%. I always say I’m kind of… I mean, obviously now I’ve finally conceded that I’m good at music, but I feel like I just never grew up really thinking of it like that. I always felt like I just kind of made it up as I went along. I kind of pretty much taught myself guitar. I never had lessons and that kind of stuff or anything. So yeah, I think I was always more of a visual person and just in general, really. And so I’ve always kind of written with the vision in mind. I mean, it’s funny, when I’m in the studio, I always give these abstract notes that people kind of laugh about where I’ll be like, I’ll be listening to the song and I’m like, “Can we make it sound more like Malibu in 1972? But really specifically like…” Or, “It smells like this,” or… I feel like I’m always trying to paint the picture with the music more and kind of exactly. And it’s lovely that it translates because that’s the aim I suppose, is I want people to really see what I’m seeing through the music. And so it’s lovely when that seems to work out, because I write, yeah, so I do write from that place.”
Orville Peck on his upcoming new album, ‘Bronco’
“Honestly, I don’t think I’ve ever been so excited or so proud of anything I’ve ever done. I think it’s the first thing I’ve ever really been proud of, actually. But yeah, I started writing during COVID when it first hit in 2020. I had a whole, basically, world tour planned which got all canceled of course. And I went into one of the kind of darkest, most unhappy times in my life, to be honest. And I was kind of ready to stop making music. I was… I don’t know. I was in the lowest place in my life that I’ve ever been. I think it’s because I had focused so much on touring and working and for… We used to tour like crazy up until then and then everything stopped, of course, for everybody. And I think it just put a lot of a magnifying glass on just kind of that my personal life was kind of falling apart and I had no stability in my life. I was just always on tour. And it just changed a lot of things for me. So anyway, I got out of that rut and then started just writing in a way where I would wake up and force myself to just go into the studio at my house for seven hours a day like I was going to work. Have coffee, eat something and then just go sit down and write demos. And so I would. And with no intention of knowing when I would tour again, whether I was even going to really release any of this or whatever. So I was kind of, in the nicest way, just really writing for myself, which I hadn’t really done in a really long time, in a way. So this kind of amazingly beautiful cathartic album started to develop. And I mean, there’s songs on this album that, I don’t know, I just feel so, so proud of. And I don’t usually feel like talking about my music in that way, or I haven’t in the past, and maybe that’s just because I’ve changed or something.”
Orville Peck on his lyrics:
Fancy Hagood: “I want to talk about your lyrics. I’ve noticed through a lot of your early stuff, some of the stuff I’ve heard now, you’re not shy about talking about specific pronouns, singing about guys, telling your love story, telling your unrequited love, all these different subjects. Has that been a journey for you?”
Orville Peck: “It’s been interesting. The funny thing to me is I’ve been openly gay basically my whole life. I’ve never felt I had to pretend or skirt around it or apologize for it, or really even make it into a big deal. I’ve just always just been myself really and comfortable with it. So country is three chords and the truth, as we know. Well, my truth is when I write a love song, just like everybody else on the planet has done, it’s going to be about a man most of the time. So to me, I felt I wasn’t doing anything … I didn’t think I was doing anything new, really. I’m doing the oldest thing in the book. I’m just writing about relationships and problems and whatever, loneliness. I started to figure out that not only was this seen as something new and a new perspective, but I actually started to learn that I had this responsibility, that I had no idea that I’d even signed up for really, to represent a lot of people who now so beautifully see themselves in me or feel like I represent them, I’m a representative for them in this space. And I’m so proud and happy to be who I am, and I’m so proud and happy that might help other people.
Orville Peck and Fancy Hagood on Shania Twain:
Orville Peck: “I just saw her recently, actually. We went to go to Vegas to see her, to her residency and we were hanging out after and stuff and I still just stare at her and think, I can’t believe we’re friends. I already worshiped Shania and I already thought she was cool my whole life. I had no idea just how cool Shania was until I really got to know her. She’s such a trailblazer. And she did it all really very kind of DIY. She was always doing final edits on her video. She was sitting up at night, making her own outfits. She was so involved in all of her career. She’s an icon. I mean really, truly. I’m obsessed with Shania.”
Fancy Hagood: “Orville, when she played Bridgestone in Nashville, I think it was 2018, I went with some friends and I got so lost in the Holy Spirit at the Shania Twain show that I literally was running out of, I’m not even kidding, I was running out of the venue and I ran into a parked car and broke my rib. That’s literally a real story. That’s what happened to me when I was just in the presence of Shania Twain. I didn’t even meet her.”
