ArcatiCrisisPeter's Band
Asking Philadelphia singer-songwriter Peter Marinari to divulge his influences plays out like a pop music version of the sort of license-plate game you might play on a long drive, which is to say he seems intent to name an artist from every time period and genre. The Alaskas and Hawaiis of pop music will not elude him.
"Madonna. Ani DiFranco. David Bowie. Anything Motown, really, especially Marvin Gaye with Tammy Tyrrell. Joni Mitchell. Slightly obscure 50s songs, like "Come Go With Me" by the Del Vikings. Radiohead. Folk artists like Erin McKeown who update Tin Pan Alley classics. Off the Wall. Oh my god, Heart. And the Pretenders."
A central theme quickly emerges - Peter loves pop hooks and the predominately female vocalists who deliver them.
You might wonder how he reconciles major influences like Madonna when he's just one man with an acoustic guitar, but you need only to hear a few of his original songs to understand. Peter treats each tune as a possible hit single, pushing at every angle of his melodies to find the most insistent, irresistible iteration of a song before moving on to the next.
Peter got his start in 1998, playing songs in the halls of his high school between every class. High schools halls transformed into city streets and open mic nights at Drexel University, where he recorded his first studio disc - Relief - and honed his songwriting chops.
"As I began to play open mics and meet other local artists I started seeing the danger of having a certain formula to my sound. So, I forced myself to stay limber.
"If I wrote a funky little folk song, the next song had to be chunky power chords. A ballad had to be followed by an unadulterated pop song. For a few years it was a little maddening, because my live sets had a very uneven, stitched-together quality to them. But, now that I'm on the other side with a few hundred songs to show for my efforts I have a certain coherency to me."
Peter's innovation wasn't limited to his songwriting. In 2000 he launched Crushing Krisis, now the longest running blog in Philadelphia.
"I have more opinions than I have songs," he chuckles," so having my own blog seemed like the most obvious thing to do, at the time."
Another seemingly obvious move was the creation of "Trio," a weekly streaming concert of original and cover songs. Started years before podcasts became an internet buzz-word, Trio is now in it's sixth season. It's archive offers hundreds of hours of audio spanning almost eight years, sketching Peter's evolution song by song.
After a string of solo sets and a stint in a professional acappella group, In 2007 Peter put his solo music on hold to play as Arcati Crisis with his best friend, Gina Martinelli. As a duo they blazed across the Philly music scene, bringing their kitschy, harmony-tinged boy/girl acoustic pop to venues like Doc Watsons, Tin Angel, and the Tritone, as well as revues at the Shubin Theatre and a featured set at Lyndzapalooza's Evolve festival.
In the present day Peter is back to his musical license plates, rebuilding an eclectic solo repertoire to contrast with the tunes he plays regularly as Arcati Crisis.
"It takes time to build an Arcati Crisis song, so as a solo artist now I'm much more willing to put a fresh song out there for the first time to see how it fills a room. But, I'm also reaching back for older songs - things that seemed to be formulaic at the time play very differently against my newer stuff."
Does Peter have a favorite musical state amongst all of his styles and influences?
"Not really. My most enduring influences are artists like David Bowie who can effortlessly cross genres. If I had a favorite sort of song to write or play I'd immediately be crossing those Bowie-aspirations off of my list.
"Ultimately my favorite state is usually the one I've visited the least often."
hey peter... leah and i enjoyed your set last night, as well as our conversation before and after the show. stay in touch, we'd love to split a show with you again!
Hello to my favorite groom-to-be. Can't wait to play w/ AC tonight!
I know you might be kind of beat and in need of a day off by tomorrow, but I've gotta keep trying:
If you're around tomorrow night (7/28), come play a few tunes at the open mic I'm guest hosting in East Falls. Signup starts at 9, music kicks off around 9:30. Buckets is located at 3749 Midvale Ave. (a 3 minute walk down Midvale from the R6 East Falls station).
Good food, good drink, and most importantly, great music. Hope to see you there!
Hey Peter, I was wondering if you and Gina have plans for this Saturday. We Blueberries are playing Fergie's Pub with Bevin Caulfield and Papertrees. Show starts at 10 pm. No cover. From hearing your stuff, I think you'd enjoy both Bevin and Papertrees, and judging from your compliments from before, I'm pretty sure you like us (It's so good to be appreciated). Maybe I'll see you there? Be well.
Don't forget to reserve your tickets for There's a Stage on My Lawn!, presented by Lyndzapalooza. You'll enjoy over seven hours of music from a dozen local Philadelphia musicians, including: Arcati Crisis, Dante Bucci, Bevin Caulfield, Da1, Geoff Ednie, Brian Flanagan, John Glaubitz, Ben Guez, Irene Molloy, Jesse Schurr, Just Like Me, and Lindsay Wilhelmi. Visit Lyndzapalooza on Ticketleap for more details, and to purchase tickets!
Bummed to have missed such a great night of music. Hopefully it'll be replicated on Wednesday. You rocked socks off, I'm assuming? :) ... I have to make some more fliers for Dawson... xoxo
Well, I'm glad he did and thanks for being a friend. I really liked the guitar intro on Bridge. Hope you enjoyed the music on my page. If you're in the area May 14th, I'll be at the Tin Angel. Take care, Liz :)
yo dude, wassup? so good to meet you last night! If you're not doing anything next Sunday (5/4) I just got booked last minute to play the Blarney on South St, 9-10. It would be awesome if you could make it out! Be great to chill! We definitely should jam sometime, give me a call! anyway, ttyl! <3 V
Peter! I'm so so so glad my brother in singer-songwriting (and elsewhere, too!) finally made it out to one of my new favorite spots to play. I'm really happy you had a good time, and hope you'll come w/ me again. Hopefully you didn't get home TOO ridiculously late.
Can't wait to rock Buckets with you on Saturday! Peace, Lindsay
