New York artist Laura Pergolizzi — best known by their stage name LP — visited The Current studio to play songs from their latest album, Love Lines.

Following the session, LP sat down for a conversation with Mac Wilson, where they chatted about what it was like to work with songwriter Dan Wilson, and how they and their bandmates set up a studio in the Cayman Islands where Love Lines was recorded.

Listen to and watch the full session above and read a transcript below.

Interview Transcript

Mac Wilson: Hello, friends, my name is Mac Wilson from Minnesota Public Radio, The Current, and I'm welcoming LP to The Current studio. Hello,

LP: How's it going?

Mac Wilson: How are you today? You're in town playing at the Palace Theatre tonight?

LP: Yeah.

Mac Wilson: So the new record is out now called Love Lines. It's been a couple of years in the making, but like, it feels like, as we've welcomed artists back into The Current studio over the last couple of years, we say, "Oh, well, this is the one that you were working on during the COVID 19 pandemic," but you've put out a couple of records in that interim.

LP: That was the one before that.

Mac Wilson: Right! So you've already got another one in there, so we're kind of past that talking point with it. So where was your headspace? If the one before this was more tied in with the COVID era, where was your headspace compared to this new one?

LP: Well, I mean, that one was, I would say that was, I thought it was almost done or done, you know, when we went into COVID. And then I, I had nothing else to do. So I started to, like, try to beat some songs and add some songs. And I think that's why it's probably my longest record. Or not. I just don't put that many songs on record, usually. But, um, but yeah, it was like, kind of, like, I got more, very intricate with that one, I think, but this one felt, this was kind of a product of the pandemic in a way that, because it was like, my, my pod, you know? Like, I had like this, I broke up with my girlfriend, fiancee at the time, and we, and then I started, like, kind of hanging out with all these people, these different people. And I'm getting close to them. Some of them were her friends that I just realized that I was more compatible with. And I because I'm always on tour, so I don't really get to, like, you know, hang that much. So when I was home, I just started hanging out with this group of musicians, and it was one of those like, it was like, kind of hang— we would, like, mess around, like, musically, but we didn't like go in the studio. And then we went in the studio, we wrote a song. And it was an awesome experience, and another one, then another one. And, and then all of a sudden, boom! We were like, I was whisking us away to like a house in the islands that's like, like we made a studio. And yeah, and this record came out of that, out of a couple of different destinations.

Mac Wilson: Which islands was this?

LP: Cayman. Cayman Islands. I call it "Cay Man" because Andrew — so it's Andrew Martin, Matt Pauling, producer, and Ashton Irwin, and it was like the four of us doing this — and Andrew Martin is from Cayman Islands, and the people in Cayman call it "Cay Man." And so I do too, now. And so we all went down there, and we just had this beautiful like time and it was like our friendship like was just like getting so big and so beautiful, and all this came out of that, so that was cool.

Mac Wilson: OK, so this studio in Cayman...

LP: Well, we made the studio. We made a studio.

Mac Wilson: So you made the studio, so this was not an incident like. I think of like when Dire Straits made Brothers in Arms in they went to Montserrat, where there's like diagrams of how they set up the studio like to get the absolute exact sound they wanted. This was more about, like, vibes in general rather than...

LP: Well, no. I mean, I did most of these vocals like you know in this makeshift vocal booth that was mattresses from one of the rooms. Yeah, no, we got a lot of dope sounds. We had a whole live room with drums. Andrew's pals from the island, like kind of hooked us up with gear and mics and drums for Ashton. And it was awesome.

Mac Wilson: I'm thinking about listening to your voice on record and the efforts that you went through to capture that in the scenario like that. And like, during the first days of the pandemic, when we would record stuff from our own homes, and like, like, literally throwing a blanket over my head, like going down in my basement, like, "I don't know — is the sound good enough on this?", and then comparing that to the way that you're describing. It's kind of kind of ballparks away from that, but and yet sort of the same idea.

LP: That's the way to go. I mean, I think, I think there's, you know, there's a lot to be said, for the vibe, you know? And also the excitement of like singing a new song that you capture, that you can't capture as well, when you're like, very calculated later in the studio. You know?

Mac Wilson: We are in The Current studio with LP. And when you read through your biography, and your catalogue, there's a lot of big names that are in there. One of them that we've always got to ask here is about Dan Wilson.

LP: Oh, yeah! 

Mac Wilson: He's from Minnesota, originally, and a longtime friend, he's a very good friend of The Current. So how did it go with Dan Wilson?

LP: It went great. I wrote the title track of "Churches" with him. And, yeah, I had two days with him. And I think the first day, I was just in awe of him and him as a musician, him as a man, you know, he's just like, a lovely guy, and just so deep. And, you know, I was, I was like, sitting at the foot of, you know, this giant, awesome guy. And, and then I was like, I started to panic toward the end of session: "Am I gonna come up with something with this guy?" So you don't just want to talk to him the whole time. And so then, you know, I had some stuff with "Churches," and we started that. And yeah, I think we finished it next day. I think we started something else, but we didn't finish it. But yeah, he's an amazing musician and producer.

Mac Wilson: In the the songwriting and the songwriting work that you've done with other folks, then, do you feel ... it sounds like when you were working with Dan, you were like, on the other side, you're looking up to him, having other musicians look up to you, like working with you in the studio. Do you feel that?

LP: I felt that with him, I felt like, wow, this guy, because, you know, I knew he had, like, had a big hit as a band. And then he was doing the production and writing thing. And I felt a little bit like that, because I write for other people, and I was just, like, kind of just taking, you know, notes from him. And just, like, kind of feeling like we both, we both had some, some, you know, common stuff in our like you're saying. And, yeah, it was really cool, because I liked the idea of having different places in, in the musical scope of things. You know, I mean, there's been times when I, I don't contribute, like lyrics to something; I'm just doing melodies, or, you know, and then, and, or just all lyrics, or it does, you know, when I write for others. I do both for myself. But I, but it's just like, it's interesting to, like, go into these places where you're like, in a different title, in a way. And I think he knows all about that.

Mac Wilson: In the songwriting work that you've been doing as far back as it goes, in this era of streaming, is there any instances of songs that have like unexpectedly taken off in your back catalogue? You're like, where you get a like a check, you're like, "Wow, this song took off." Are there any instances of those that have really surprised you?

LP: Yeah, that's, that's what kept me going as a songwriter anyway, you know? Like, I, I couldn't believe like, like, the songs that were like, around the world, like, like, making income for me, that I was like, you know, that I don't even remember writing, you know? Like, I mean, someone sent me a song the other day that I guess, I ... and I wrote it with some big producer, and, like, Danger Mouse or something like that. And it was like, very, like, Rihanna, Sia vibes, I totally didn't remember writing it. And I think I'm going to like, reproduce it and and pitch it again. But um, but yeah, or pitch it finally; sometimes things don't even get pitched. But I was, I'm always surprised. Yeah, I have a song, I have a song online that I did, I might do a couple more times this tour. I do it stripped down with just my guitar player and my piano player. And it's a song, it's got, like, 25 million views on YouTube. It's like one's just like 12 million, one's like 11 million, and there's a bunch of ones that are a hundreds of thousands or whatever, and I never released it. I don't even know who released it. I told my manager, I said, "I'm gonna start doing it on tour. Do we know who's monetizing that?" Like I don't think it's on my, it's not on my page. I'm not sure, but but yeah, I think it's like an old manager guy before my managers now, which has been a minute. It's been like over 10 years that I've had these managers, so it's like someone in my past, because I wrote that song in 2007 with like, some huge songwriter, producer, Matthew Wilder who did the first No Doubt record, also was an artist himself with [sings] "ain't nothing gonna break-a my stride..."

Mac Wilson: Was that who I'm thinking of, that he did Disney's Hercules? [Editor’s Note: Wilder composed, produced and performed on the score for Disney’s Mulan.]

LP: Maybe. I wouldn't put it past him. He's an incredible guy. But um, but yeah, he ... So yeah, that song's just out, getting that many hits, like kinda just doing its thing, and I found that remarkable like, and cool, and it makes me want to release a whole couple, I can put out like three records of like songs no one's ever heard. More than that, but ones that are worth hearing, maybe I think.

Mac Wilson: Well, that's what Dan Wilson did when he went back into everything that he wrote with other people, and then he did the solo version of those.

LP: That's cool.

Mac Wilson: That was really cool, that came out a couple years back. Well, for all we know, the performances that we recorded in the studio today, maybe that'll be one with 25 million hits on at The Current someday from LP.

LP: Yeah, man. We'll see.

Mac Wilson: Thank you again for stopping by today.

LP: Thank you! Thank you for having me.

Mac Wilson: Thank you and best of luck with where the road leads you next, and we'll see you again soon. 

LP: All right. Very cool. Thank you.

Mac Wilson: Thank you.

Gallery: LP in studio at The Current

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Video Segments

00:00:00 Golden
00:03:30 Dayglow
00:06:59 Long Goodbye
00:11:32 Interview with host Mac Wilson

All songs from LP’s 2023 album, Love Lines, available on BMG Music.

Musicians

Laura Pergolizz – vocals, ukulele
Greg Garman – percussion
Andrew Berkeley Martin – guitar
J Ryan Kern – piano, guitar

Credits

Guests – LP
Host – Mac Wilson
Producer – Derrick Stevens
Video Director – Aaron Ankrum
Video Editor – Eric Xu Romani
Audio – Eric Xu Romani
Graphics – Natalia Toledo
Digital Producer – Luke Taylor

External Link

LP – official site