Please list all of your band members and their roles in the band.
Peter McDermott - Vocals and Guitar
Matt McDermott - Drums, Bass and Backing Vocals
Tom Bauer - Guitar, Bass and Backing Vocals
For starters, what bands were you guys a part of prior to working solo with Peter McDermott? How long has the have you been around with Peter working on music?
Our first two singles came out last May, but Matt and I are brothers and we started playing out together in our rooms as kids. Tom was always friends with us when we were growing up and was one of the best musicians that we knew. So when I was doing this solo project, I naturally wanted to work with two guys who I was incredibly comfortable with and could just have fun creating a great group of songs.
Why Peter McDermott and not a band name?
I grew up playing in bands, but I always felt that there was an identity crisis with everyone of them. If we were this type of band, we couldn’t do this type of song cause it doesn’t fit or something like that. Now, I don’t really feel like we have that restriction cause it’s not a band’s name, but it’s my name and my image. So whatever band is playing with me can kinda have this liberty to play what we want, when we want, with who we want and it’s incredibly freeing. At the end of the day, “Peter McDermott” are the songs that I write with my friends and if we all wanna play or do something that a band couldn’t; why can’t we? That’s how we keep it fun!
What are the main themes or topics for most of your songs and do you think these topics will change over time?
A lot of One Big Picture Show is about love and how it can help or hurt. Whether it’s love for someone, love for the people around you, or love of even a good time and just how it makes you feel. Those come about very naturally because typically what happens is I’ll come in with an idea for a song. The majority of the time the idea is pretty bare bones so it’s basically just a couple chords and lyrics. Typically each one of us will create our own little part that will grow the song and add our own signature on the track. For example, the kinda drunken-choir in “Life of the Party” was Matt’s idea and it really makes the entire song, cause it just gives you that visual of that army of drunken wedding crashers.
What bands are currently inspiring the music that you’re making?
We all listen to a lot of different stuff, but I would say the music I have been getting into a lot lately has been the album Gone Now by Bleachers, as well as, After the Party by The Menzingers. I just feel those two releases have these deep recurring themes that narrate the same feelings, but in two very different ways. Also, they just both have such a great energy to them. I also have been working through the Eagles catalog cause I love their harmonies.
Was there a particular band/artist or concert that inspired you to start a band?
I would say that I have always drawn inspiration from guys like Glen Hansard and Ryan Adams. Both of them had successful bands outside of their solo careers and kept that band element alive when they went solo. However, they had this separate identity from their bands. That’s what I wanted to accomplish with One Big Picture Show. To have that same attack of the music and full sound a band would have, but have my own identity to show people who I was.
What do you do to prepare for a show? Any flexing, exercises, ect …
Doing lots of vocal exercises, drinking plenty of water, and just getting ready to give the best show we can for our audience that night
What has been the biggest highlight of the band’s career so far?
In a weird way, our most intimate shows have been the biggest highlights. We did a slew of coffee house, apartment, and house shows just Matt and I which was really cool. After playing all the songs as band and recording with all these additional sounds, it was really nice to get the songs back to their origin of just playing them acoustically for our friends and having that very natural connection with the audience. Those haven’t been our biggest shows, but they have definitely been the most rewarding.
If you could tour with any bands, past or present, who would they be and why?
I would love to tour with the Zac Brown Band, O.A.R, or even Springsteen because they just have such a great audience and they really give it their all every night that they go out to perform. I think that would just force us to get even more into our live shows and perform at a level that really makes people happy. Their also a lot of venues we wanna play like Red Rocks or Terminal 5in New York, because those places are just such staples.
Is there anything else you would like to add?
One Big Picture Show is out now and is on all major music platforms!
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