" Growing up on game consoles like the Nintendo 64 and Sony PlayStation, R.I.Peter takes inspiration from the fantastical musical worlds created by composers like Nintendo's Koji Kondo. Peter's music takes the listener to mountain tops, dark and desolate tundras, and meadows at sunrise, painting soundscapes that sound as if they could fit in a film score. Recording and producing his own music, he blends lo-fi synths with fuzzy guitar solos with a DIY bravado -- resulting in poppy hooks sprinkled atop ambient and often eerie rhythms. .
R.I.Peter released his debut self-titled EP via Manor Records in the fall of 2019 and hasn’t slowed down since. After spending the rest of 2019 and early 2020 touring the midwest, Peter released a cassingle-cassette of two singles in April of 2020 with tracks “Cruis’n” & “Rising Sun”. Manor Records later co-released a music video featuring both of the new singles with Lawrence, KS analog wizard Fuzzy Optics that was released on limited edition VHS tape.
“In Your Eyes” is the title track & third single off of upcoming album Soft Serve is an album that brings together R.I.Peter’s influences from Yellow Magic Orchestra to Sheer Mag together in 12 tracks. On this new album, Peter has found his niche as a songwriter and producer, blending heavenly synth pads, house dance beats, and glam-rock guitar solos. He’s come down from the mountain tops, and walked into a dance club in Miami Beach. The album is a true look into Peter’s musical mind -- the culmination of a lifelong love of music spanning many genres. (photos by Quinn Hernandez / @qhernandez ) "
photo by Quinn Hernandez / @qhernandez
We're obsessed with the psychedelic sound of Peters music. (Green Room had me dancing around my room) You can find our interview with Peter below!
What were some of your favorite games growing up and what are some of the games that you enjoy now? Some of the most impactful games of my childhood were some good ol' N64 classics like Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (and the whole series in general), the Elder Scrolls series, and, tbh, the Halo series. The music in Ocarina of Time still hits me like a ton of bricks. Koji Kondo (Nintendo's lead composer) is incredible and the soundtrack to that game is so so beautiful and memorable when paired with the game's big and fantastical environment. I was about 12-14 when Halo 2 & 3 were released, so you can imagine how sucked in I was lol. They were my favorite games at the time and I was in my early days of playing guitar so I LOVED the shredding of Steve Vai in the Halo 2 theme song. These days I've been drawing inspiration from Breath of the Wild, the Dark Souls series, and enjoy playing League of Legends (less inspirational LOL). BotW is so huge in scale, but the music is so beautiful and sparse. My EP track "Lord of the Mountain" was directly influenced by a character from the game! The Dark Souls series has some of the most interesting level and character design I've ever seen. The music and environments are SO intimidating and spooky, I've really never seen anything else like it. I don't think my tastes have changed TOO much over the years. I love a big open-world RPG, but also can get sucked into mind-numbing and more competitive games, too.
How does it make you feel when you hear a song in a game that really interests you?
Songs in video games, when paired well with the environment, can be so powerful. It's part of the mood, tied to your senses, connected directly to your emotions. When it hits just right, I don't even want to progress in the game... Just sit in this one place and soak in the moment! Contrary to that I think moving past it and progressing is part of the beauty as well - there's beauty in the finite.
photo by Quinn Hernandez / @qhernandez
How do you feel like the pandemic has influenced your music?
Prior to the pandemic (and still), I made most of my income as a restaurant server. I was out of work for 6+ months and, like many folks, had a lot of free time on my hands. I, very luckily, was in a comfortable place where I had the time to buckle down and focus on building my home studio and actually recording the album. In a similar vein, I had a ton of free time to ride my bike to the park, read and listen to music. Both of these kinda pushed me along the path to write and record everything!
If you had to describe the way your music sounds in one word, what would you pick?
Idyllic.
If you were going to be stuck in a room for a year and could only bring 3 items, what would you pick?
In typical guitar-guy fashion, I'd have to say my classical guitar, my Yamaha DX7 synth (could spend eternity learning to program that thing and still wouldn't know it all), and (srry to be this guy) my unread copy of David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest, just so I could say I finished it (probably wouldn't finish, even in a year).
What would you want to tell someone who's about to listen to your new album if they've never heard any of your music before? I'd tell them to have fun and there's no right way to listen so just do your thing. I had a lot of fun making the record, there's a lot of wacky and fun additions in there that, even tho a tad self-serving, I think folks will dig. Even tho it touches on big subjects, It's a pretty fun and laid back record. Enjoy! What can we look out for in the future from you?
There are a few songs that didn't make the cut for the record that I still really love and want to put out! One is a 80s piano ballad called "The Marathon". I'd love to release that one day with an acoustic B-side played on the 1800s-era piano in my living room
You can stream the new single at https://open.spotify.com/track/4oONhKvyRzesHR770MGfnc?si=hgwTnWX9RKudUbtC5xRYXA
& be sure to keep up with Peter on instagram @R_I_Peter_ and his bandcamp https://ripeter.bandcamp.com