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Victor
DeLorenzo Interview
(Solo Artist)
He's an actor, a songwriter, a producer, a percussionist and now solo artist
with his debut album "Peter Corey Sent Me" (Chameleon Records). He's Victor
DeLorenzo.
Q: Victor, I don't know if there is ever a good time to release
a record, but with the recession and trouble overseas, do you feel your record
isn't going to get the attention it deserves?
A: Well, to be quite honest I have been part of this band Violent Femmes, and
also I've made records with a number of different people, and I wonder myself
if there's ever a great time in which to release a record. Certainly if you're
in a band that has a lot of prominence, somewhere above the Femmes say, then
I guess you can look forward to getting a lot of critical response, be it good
or bad, and also general attention. But, when you're working kind of in the
field that I've worked in most of my recording career, if anybody says anything
about it, it's fine by me and I look at it as some kind of victory in some
small way. First of all, this record, 'Peter Corey Sent Me' wasn't designed
to capitalize on any going trends, or any particular sounds, or making use
of any technology that was 'hot' and happening at the moment. The record is
kind of like a little diary. I guess it's more like a fictionalized autobiography.
I kind of liken the record more to a motion picture than an actual record.
I imagine people will review it as a record, because that's the way it's released,
but in my mind it serves other purposes.
Q: You say, "I always wanted a record out with my name on
it." Why?
A: Probably because I would like to see how I would fare in the marketplace
and also to talk to people who have listened to the record and see if they
have learned any information on what I'm about, or whether or not my friends
who know me think the record is honest in any particular way. So, I guess it's
kind of like a glorified lab experiment in many ways.
Q: You go on to say, in your record cover bio, "I though it
would be nice if people knew a little bit about me." How can anybody know
anything about you from just a record?
A: Right, well, I guess it's whatever kind of impression you might have from
the collected sounds and the different texts, and also the packaging. Certainly
you can form some kind of opinion about something, even if it's as simplistic
as 'I don't like it,' or 'I like it.' But, at the same time. I agree with what
you're saying. You can't really get a full representation of what a human being
is like simply listening to something that they've recorded or watching a film
that they've made or television show.,
Q: And do you know why that is?
A: Because there's no intimate contact. There's nothing personal about it.
Q: Tell me a little about your acting career.
A: Well, I've done some regional things here in the mid-west. Nothing that
you would probably know about. I have auditioned for a few films in the last
couple of years. I came very close to getting a role as a reporter in the
film "The Untouchables."
Q: That would've been great.
A: Yeah, especially since I would've had a couple of scenes with Robert DeNiro,
which I would've been very excited about. I actually got in and read for
Brian DePalma, and he liked enough of what I did to call me back. Unfortuntely
at the last second, it was between a fella from Chicago and myself, and I
guess nepotism reigned, becaue the part was given to some producer's son,
or nephew, or some relation from Los Angeles. So, that's how I lost out on
that. And then I also did a video-taped audition for John Sayles for a film
he did called 'Eight Men Out' which was all about the Chicago Sox scandal,
baseball club. I've done lots of theatre. I've not only acted in plays, but
helped create plays, literally from the standpoint of like building sets
to building costumes, to writing sections of plays, to directing. I actually
started out onstage as an actor long before I ever had anything to do with
music.
Q: Wouldn't you be better off if you lived in a bigger city?
A: I don't think so. I feel I'm in a very good climate here (Milwaukee) in
that I can work on anything I want to and I don't have to feel the competition
that is felt so greatly when you're out in New York, Los Angeles, or Chicago
for that matter. I feel that if you have enough confidence in yourself and
what you do as a person, you should be able to take it to other places and
have people see the validity of it. It shouldn't be looked upon as any kind
of detriment just because you're from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, or anywhere from
the mid-west. I really look at this as the third coast. I'm not in a great
hurry to try and move any other place, 'cause I quite like it here. I'm a
little bit dismayed because people from New York and Los Angeles are starting
to migrate here, and I wish they would stay away. (Laughs)
Q: As a percussionist, how do you write songs? Do you play
another instrument? You can't compose on the drums can you?
A: Well, actually you can compose with just your voice. I write on guitar,
or sometimes I'll just have a voical line and I flush it out with other people
in my band or else something will start from a percussion motif, or other times
maybe I'll just plunk out something on the piano.
Q: What's the significance of the title "Peter Corey Sent
Me."
A: Well, it's directly lifted off the little sign that I'm holding on the front
cover. That's a picture of me when I was three years old.
Q: Creatively speaking, what do you get out of producing somebody
else's record?
A: Well, sometimes a little bit of heaven, and sometimes a little bit of hell.
It depends on who you're working with. I'd say, from my experience, I've had
a lot of heaven. It's taught me more, not only about music, but also taught
me how to deal with people in general, which is something I don't think you
can ever learn too much about, especially in this business. But, I like working
with people and setting out on this idea of making something out of nothing.
That's very exciting to me.
Q: Victor, how would you describe your music?
A: It sounds like something you can remember Monday morning about something
great that happened Saturday night.
Official Website: victordelorenzo.weebly.com
© Gary James All Rights Reserved
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