A few years back I interviewed Pete Kosanovich and a lot has changed in the four years since then and he wanted to do a follow up interview to talk about his new album and things he’s done since then. In case you’re not familiar with Pete and his music, he’s a Belgrade-born folk rock/psychedelic folk musician based just outside of London. His sound is inspired by folk music of the 60s as well as rock and roll from the same time period and blues music. He’s also inspired by more modern waves of psychedelic and garage rock. Later this month, he’s releasing a live album with seven tracks called Live in Hackney, recorded at Live at Paper Dress Vintage (I love that shop by the way!). Some of these songs are from his last studio album Shadows of the Night. The album comes out on 21/12 (had to write it that way since I’m a big Rush fan), but in the meantime you can listen to the single “Children of War”, which has an accompanying music video that you can watch below:
In this chaotic time, there’s not much to be optimistic about, but art and great music makes things a bit better and we can find a little relief through that. This album is a spontaneous treat for the holiday season, great for fans of 60s folk and psych. We’re very lucky to have Pete back on the blog for an interview, so without further ado, here’s the interview:
Angie: What has changed since the last interview in 2020?
Pete: Since our last interview I have released 2 albums. Shadows Of The Night and Look Towards The Sun. I have been very busy.
Angie: What was writing and recording “Children of War” like?
Pete: Writing was very straight forward. I just picked up my guitar one evening and the song came out of no where. There’s a certain magic to songwriting. Songs come out of the blue and they demand to be written. Recording was done live at Paper Dress Vintage in Hackney.
Angie: What was recording the live album like?
Pete: The funny thing is that I didn’t even know I was being recorded until after the gig. I was sent the recording and was impressed by the sound quality so I thought this is good enough to be released as a live album.
Angie: Did you run into any challenges or have any interesting stories about recording the live album?
Pete: There was no real challenges. I just showed up and did my thing. When I got off the stage I remember a lot of people told me that it’s the best time they’ve ever seen me play.
Angie: What are your favourite live albums?
Pete: Velvet Underground Live At Max’s Kansas City and MC5 Kick Out The Jams.
Angie: How was your last studio album Shadows of the Night received?
Pete: The response was great. Had some great reviews in the press and the fans loved it.
Angie: How do you think we can encourage people to support more local music?
Pete: By telling them the fact that a lot of local artists are just as good as well known artists.
Angie: Who are your favourite musicians from Serbia?
Pete: Two bands I would recommend are S Vremena Na Vreme and Lutajuca Srca. They were both from the 70’s and both psychedelic.
Angie: What have you been listening to lately?
Pete: Tim Hollier. Underrated folk singer from Brighton that had some great records in the late 60’s and early 70’s. Listen to the song ‘Llanstephan Hill’ by him. Fantastic. He had a great voice.
Angie: What music do you like listening to cheer yourself up?
Pete: Soul music mainly. Anything by James Carr or P.P. Arnold for example.
Angie: What are your favourite albums in your vinyl collection?
Pete: I have too many to mention but Forever Changes by Love is definitely one of them.
Angie: What are your goals for next year?
Pete: To record another album and to go on tour.
You can follow Pete on his website, Bandcamp, Facebook, and Instagram.
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