Portland music’s quiet giant

I do not know where Peter Broderick is e-mailing me from, and this seems to be a simple hazard of working with the man. 

For a young man of 21 (let us pause a moment and let that tender age sink in) claiming musical credits with what seems to be almost every band in town, Peter Broderick is somewhat of a quiet giant in the Portland music scene.

That is, until he released two solo albums to glowing reviews and then up and moved to Copenhagen, Denmark to be a part of the uber-popular band Efterklang.   

One would have to strain very hard through his or her horn rims to find Peter Broderick’s name on albums from local greats like Horse Feathers, Loch Lomond, M. Ward, She and Him, Laura Gibson, Dolorean and Norfolk and Western, but it’s there.

“It’s been wonderful to play with so many different musicians,” says Broderick. “Each of them has their own style, and I think my approach changes with each different act I play with. I think it’s nice to have a wide variety of projects going on. Maybe that’s because I’m just impatient and can’t stick with one thing, but I really like all variations.”

It would seem that Broderick’s idea of not sticking with one thing differs strongly from the general population’s definition of that phrase. With over 15 collaborations, two full-length solo albums and a number of other projects in the works both here and in Denmark, Broderick has more balls in the air than most people have toes and fingers to count with, and all this before sweet alcohol ever touched his lips.

Classically trained on the violin, starting when Broderick was 7, he slowly moved onto other instruments like the guitar.

“Then in high school,” Broderick reflects, “I started just collecting instruments and trying to learn to play them all, raiding my friends’ attics and garages, finding old funny instruments.”

After high school, Broderick moved to Portland to attend school for music and film and played in various touring bands.

“One day,” Broderick says, “I finally got busy enough with music to quit my job making pizzas and put school on hold. And now there’s no turning back!”

At some point in his life it has been every boy’s fantasy to play alongside his rock-star idols. Broderick has seen this fantasy fulfilled with his membership in Efterklang, a Danish band whose music resembles a synthesis of Beirut and Sigur Ros.

When asked to comment on his move to Denmark, Broderick simply said: “One of my favorite bands [Efterklang] invited me to move there and join the band! Yahooooo!”

While it is often hard to state outright what exactly a move like that means, there are quite a few beautiful clues in Broderick’s sophomore solo release Home, which came out about a year ago, after Broderick was already living and playing music in Denmark. 

The track, “With Notes in My Ears” has Broderick singing, “Oh the ones I often dreamt of/ with the notes in my ears/ and the ones I often mimic/ with the notes on my fingers.”  It would seem he is talking of his new friends in Efterklang. 

Broderick, in the same song, goes on: “And my bed is on the floor/ yes my bed is on the floor/ of one of the ones I often dreamt of/ with the notes in my ears. And that’s why I know that I can say/ I’m lucky today. And that how I know that it’s time to be brave.”

This is the most telling song on the album, if taken with his new home in mind, and it illuminates very poignantly how he feels about this new place.  It is hard to say where the artist’s life will lead him next, but this duality in his hometowns (Denmark and Portland) makes his notions of Home and what that is very compelling and genuinely deep.

“I’ve definitely been influenced by all my experiences in the last couple years. I feel like each place seeps into me somehow and inspires something. It’s hard to say exactly what, but something ….”

The anonymity inherent in his proximity to this reporter lends itself well to Broderick and to the themes and questions he deals with in his albums. Whatever life finds Broderick doing, whether it be writing musical scores for dance pieces (which he’s done) or directing film (which he claims to be seriously interested in) or making music in any of the various manifestations that it may take, this 21 year old has proven his capacity to do it all.