THE MONTGOMERYS
by Shaun McNamara 
Peter
Montgomery’s self-effacing attitude, sometimes teetering on the edge
of self-loathing, is juxtaposed with heartfelt optimism and a zest
for finding and unraveling those nuggets in life that make a typical
existence that much richer. That statement shows through in The
Montgomerys’ music just as much as it did when I interviewed Peter.
Brilliantly simple lines in songs such as "Catch Her in the Rye,"
("I’m out making toys for tots, I’m out drinking lots of shots /1
pray to you my soul to keep, but it is punctured and it leaks.")
show Montgomery as ever hopeful but knowing with introspective
knowledge the limitations of the self, molded and set in time, yet
still trying to reach beyond its bounds. Much like The Cure’s
danceable upbeat music mixed with darkly introspective lyrics, The
Montgomerys create a similitude of parallel opposites, evident even
in song titles such as "Delicate Delinquent" and "Whole Lotta Nuthin."
As the inside of The Montgomerys new CD, Unnatural
Selection, states on a Polaroid set in collage in the inner sleeve,
Peter Montgomery is "The Bad Boy of Boston Bubblegum." Montgomery
readily admitted during our interview that he isn’t doing anything
new with music; he is just making the best possible Peter Montgomery
music that he can. He made it clear that it’s not the ground
breaking beginnings of bands like U2 or the widespread influence of
the Beatles. I understood his meaning, but as I listen to Unnatural
Selection and mull over his interview statements, I have to disagree
in-some sense.
Montgomery’s desire to create a distinct set of songs
under the direction of a specific group of musicians, having a
passion for the project and an intensity for their craft, does
indeed launch Peter’s lyrical concepts into the realm of innovation.
It’s not new, but it doesn’t fit in a nice little box. Even though I
saw pieces of The Cure in the way the music is created, pieces of
the Kinks in the melodies and riffs, and the early social
sensibilities that once rigorously infused Elvis Costello’s music, I
still can’t say that The Montgomerys definitely have this sound or
that sound, or are a lot like a particular band on which potential
fans can mark a compass point. If there is one thing that Peter
Montgomery offers to the world of music, it is his totally honest
and completely revealing lyrics. Montgomery offers his inner
feelings of happiness, hopefulness, torment, and anguish as an
enormous open window for his audience to peer through.
That kind of total honesty really engages a crowd.
Fans can feel that the performer is trying to make a connection even
though no personal contact or conversation is made. I often listen
to the Who and think, how can Pete Townshend be so completely honest
in his lyrics; he’s not hiding the truth deep enough in metaphor;
it’s shocking and must be completely draining for the writer. but it
is what good art, be it music, painting, sculpture, writing, etc. is
all about. Truly innovative art doesn’t always have to be new, it
just has to reveal the inner self to the point of painfulness or
utter bliss, depending on the tone and setting. Pretentiousness and
formulaic creation are nasty traits that make art unoriginal and
uninteresting.
The Montgomerys’ music has staying power through true
expression and a multitude of forthright emotions, both happy and
sad, that can draw the listener back again and again at various
points, feeling that there is someone else out there going through
the same worries and doubt mixed with hopeful bouts of confidence.
Peter Montgomery has had quite a musical career,
growing from his previous band, The Irresponsibles, under the
production tutelage of Adrian Belew (even embarking on a major U.S.
tour in support of Adrian Belew in 1999) to his latest musical
creation, The Montgomerys. While the members of The Montgomerys are
not truly related, they collectively embody a sense of
brotherhood in the love of this project, and it shows through in
their music.
All are seasoned musicians in one respect or another,
and bios read like a who’s who of working artists. Mike Levesque,
drummer for the Montgomerys, has played with David Bowie, Susan
Tedeschi, and Dave Navarro, among others. Tony Savarino is a well
defined Boston guitarist with credits such as Missing Persons, The
Rudds, and Kid Crash, as well as tribute projects ranging from work
with the Boston Rock Opera to Berklee College of Music. Bob
Melanson, soon to be ex-bass player for the Montgomerys, (amicable
departure—best of luck to you and your growing family, Bob) has
played with and done extensive touring with Wheat, Elcodrive and
Janet LaValley. Touring with Janet LaValley brought him in contact
with Aerosmith’s Tom Hamilton, from whom he received great
compliments. "Bob’s shoes are going to be hard to fill because he
had. an incredible voice and is one of the best bass players I’ve
ever heard," stated Peter Montgomery.
Andrew Malone, keyboard player for The Montgomerys,
fits into the mix as the proverbial hermit, full of esoteric
knowledge he crafted in secret. Upon emergence from his cave, Andrew
has shown outstanding talent. Peter Montgomery has sought out and
surrounded himself with these very talented musicians to create The
Montgomerys.
Although Peter hasn’t been in contact with Adrian
Belew since the demise of The Irresponsibles and the launch of The
Montgomerys about two years ago, he still fondly remembers the
relationship and learning experience he gained with Belew. Peter
stated, "At one time, it seemed like he and I were best friends, but
I think in that type of relationship, where there’s a little bird
and a big bird, that if the little bird doesn’t produce a lot for
the big bird, the big bird forgets about the little bird (that’s
what happened, I think)."
Peter originally got together with Adrian Belew when
The Irresponsibles entered a competition through the now defunct
Musician magazine, a subsidiary of Billboard magazine. Belew was a
judge and The Irresponsibles won the competition in 1996. "The guy
at the magazine contacted me and said that Adrian Belew is really in
love with your music and don’t be surprised if your phone rings one
day and it’s him, and that’s exactly what happened. As soon as that
happened, I started pelting him (Adrian) with everything I could,
like artwork, videos, and demos. I bombarded him with all things
Peter Montgomery for about a year until finally he gave in, cried
uncle, and we went down to Nashville and did a record with him.
Within a year after that, we toured the entire United States opening
up for him. We had the CD he produced for us, When Pigs Fly, and we
sold a ton of them. His fans are pretty ravenous. That was a good
taste of what it’s like to be a successful musician. I guess my goal
is to do that consistently."
"But Adrian had nothing to do with marketing us, he
just produced us. Then, once we had the product, it was up to us or
whoever we got to represent us, to land a bigger fish. Unless you
have 10 elements that all fall exactly into place, it’s a really
difficult thing to do. We were like giddy little school kids
recording at his studio in Nashville. I remember finishing a track
and he said, "You know what fellas? That’s a hit song." I took that
as gospel. Adrian Belew said we had hit song. We’re basically all
set, my stock has risen. I mean, he had just finished producing Jars
of Clay right before us, and we thought we were all set. We got a
lot of bites and nibbles, and people wanted to hear the CD, but
frankly, the end result of that CD was that the songs were really
good, but the record sounds kind of small, especially in comparison
to the CD I made after that and especially in comparison to
Unnatural Selection," said Montgomery.
Pete’s day job is just as interesting as his musical
exploits and allows him to pursue his creativity in earnest. Living
in Scituate, Massachusetts, he is the caretaker of a mile long piece
of property called The Glades, which is owned by the descendants of
John Quincy Adams. Peter lives on the bottom floor of an old
turn-of-the-century hotel at The Glades. He landed the job about 15
years ago when he had a small roofing company. The woman in charge
at the time, Patty Adams, called for an estimate on some roof work.
The two got along very well, with similar artistic interests, and
the caretaker job came up while Pete was in the processes of
roofing. "That property is one of the most beautiful spots in
America. I’ve been fortunate enough to live out there and write
songs out there for the past 15 years."
As for moving forward with The Montgomerys and
marketing the current album, Unnatural Selection, Peter states that,
"My whole approach lies in a series of networking. I read Billboard
Magazine religiously and I’m a subscriber to a few online industry
Web books that show industry news and give every little lead. If I
read an article in Billboard where somebody is starting a label or
somebody on an established label says something that aligns with my
thinking, or has bands that sound like what I love or sound like
what I’m doing, I’ll just target that and barrage the guy with my
stuff, just like I did with Adrian Belew. That’s what you have to
do. You have to keep throwing it against the wall until it sticks,
or give up, and a tot of people just give up because it is hard and
it is discouraging. With me though, it’s not like I can even give it
up. It’s still a blast to do what I’m doing, and trying to attain
this seemingly unreachable goal. It’s fun trying to get there. It’s
fun to make music. It’s like a painter that has to paint... he’s
going to continue to paint whether he makes money or becomes famous.
He still does it. Songwriting is the same thing. All of that media
transcends to be the same thing, whether it’s movie making, or
painting, or music. It’s all art, and if you love your art, you keep
on doing it no matter what."
You can purchase The Montgomerys’ Unnatural Selection
by contacting Peter through
www.petemonty.com or from the Not Lame
record label, whose Web site is also accessible through the petemonty.com Web site or directly at
www.notlame.com , and also at
www.cdfreedom.com . Not Lame and CD Freedom provide the opportunity
to purchase with a credit card, but be sure to check out
www.petemonty.com for
music samples, reviews, Pete’s Bio- and, of
course, upcoming shows.
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