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Dec. 1997 No. 1
Pepper Music News: So, Richard, how are you?
Richard Pepper: Fine, thanks and you?
PMN: Oh, about the same. So, how's the tour going?
RP: Huh? What tour?
PMN: Oh, sorry. It just seemed like a good way to start. Anyway, what've you been up to musically the last while?
RP: Well, as you know, back in the Spring I released my tape "Working Title".
PMN: And how has it been received?
RP: Robin Harbron and "Shroom" Foulds like it.
PMN: Didn't they play on it?
RP: Well, yeah, on a few tracks--bass and drums respectively.
PMN: So, what's on this tape--more funny songs?
RP: Yeah, some people might describe some of the songs that way--maybe not the same ones I would--but there's also some that are dark, almost depressing. I seem to write funny satirical songs and gloomy songs and nothing in the middle.
PMN: "The Other Side" seems kind of "dark".
RP: I tend to get a good response to that song from a variety of people when I sing it live, even though it touches on some rather scary aspects of God. Recently a friend told me he was upset by talk of God's "dark side" and I suspect I would be, too. I cling--by faith--to the belief that God is good....
PMN: "...all the time"?
RP: Uh, yeah, though it doesn't always seem that way. I wouldn't want to describe God as part evil in some Yin Yang kind of way, but I certainly don't describe God as "nice" and our understanding of what it means for God to be kind or good is probably inadequate. So, in the sense of obscure or inscrutable, I would say God has a dark side. Or perhaps it's the "unapproachable light" that makes Him hard to see. Maybe we don't even recognize light when we see it.
PMN: Speaking of the dark side, "Another Song of Myself"...
RP: That's "(Another) Song of Myself", please.
PMN: Sorry. It makes you look pretty nasty.
RP: I think most of my motives are quite selfish.
PMN: Hey, I resent that!
...
PMN: Do you consider your music evangelistic?
RP: I understand evangelism to mean "announcing good news".
This can be to non-believers AND to those who already believe.
There are always layers of bad news that need stripping away.
So, in addition to affirming belief statements about Christ in my music,
I hope people hear the good news that we can laugh and cry and that God
understands both.
...
PMN: What have you been up to in terms of live performance?
RP: Maybe it doesn't count, but during the summer I play every day at Camp, campfires, after meals, chapel etc.. I, in fact, think it does count. I also give the occasional mini-concert to campers while lazing about with them on the grass.
PMN: What songs do they like best?
RP: Most often they request "Weird Al's" "One More Minute". It's very annoying. I've also played at church coffeehouses etc. solo and with friends and every couple of months at a gathering of poets at an art gallery. "The Inkwell", a writing group to which I belong, has also put on a couple of coffeehouses.
PMN: Anything else?
RP: My most frequent gig is every two weeks singing with Malcolm McMillan to the residents at Pinewood Court Senior home.
PMN: Do you sing "Love Makes Me Barf" to them?
RP: As often as they request it.
...
PMN: Are you working on a new album?
RP: Well, I'm thinking about recording a one act operetta I've had kicking around for a while as well as a setting of the Liturgy.
PMN: So, no, you're not working on new album?
RP: I'm thinking about it. That's work.
PMN: Okay, but not real work.
RP: !!
...
PMN: Do you have one song of yours that you think is your best?
RP: Yes, I like "'69-'74".
PMN: And why's that?
RP: I like the way it changes between two key signatures.
PMN: That's it?
RP: Well, it may also be the truest song I've ever written.
PMN: You mean you really...
RP: No, no.
PMN: Oh, so you were just kidding.
RP: No.
PMN: ??
...
PMN: One last thing: don't you think you're being a bit pretentious publishing this fake interview?
RP: No, I think you are.
I recorded my setting of The Liturgy, but I am not very happy with it. Only Steve Bell and I have copies of it.
I probably won't get around to recording my operetta until I get some Cakewalk or Cakewalk-like software.
"Don't Be Afraid" on "Cookie Jar..." now rivals "'69-'74" as my favourite of my songs.
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