Interview: "One of the girls had a snake in her room. I'm not even sure if it was poisonous!" Pem talks to us from the wilds of Colombia.

If you're a relic like I am, then you'll remember the days before you could talk to someone on the other side of the world at the touch of a button - it's mad really, isn't it?  I wonder how music journalists coped when they actually got to travel all expenses paid - jammy sods.

 Emily Perry - no, not that one - has been looking to travel to South America for years, and she would have got away with it a lot earlier too if it wasn't for that pesky Pandemic.

The travelling plans seemingly over for another year, it was almost a moment of madness that led her there, she tells me on Zoom call from the wilds of Colombia. I enquire about some of the horrendously-sized insects I'd seen her post on her Instagram that day, "The first day I arrived there was a Tarantula and one of the girls had a snake in her room. I'm not even sure if it was poisonous!" Rather you than me Emily. 

My mind is changed later on though as I'm blown away by the scenery, "Do you want to see the view?" she says before we end the call. I do, and as she shows me the mountain ranges that soar behind her out the window, it doesn't quite seem like such a mad idea after all. It's no Snowdonia, but hey..

Perry - who goes by the name of Pem for her musical releases - has been in South America since the beginning of the year, spending two months in Mexico before moving on to Colombia in early May. "I'm at a residency, I've been here for two weeks, with two to go. There's a music studio here." She's been taking time there to write new material as well take in the whole experience. 

Releasing her second E.P Songs About Hands in April, Pem is an artist who takes inspiration from the likes of Jeff Buckley, Joni Mitchell and Eartha Kitt. A big drawer to her music is the strength of her extraordinary vocals, that sit somewhere between the eccentric folk meanderings of Joanna Newsome and the neo Jazz Pop of Celeste. Pem's talent for self deprecating humour comes to the fore: "I've always had this deep, husky voice - even as a child. People used to ask my Mum if I was smoking at aged 7.."

The four songs on the E.P showcase this with a minimalism that allow the vocals to take centre stage. Pem's acoustic guitar is a natural companion, with other delicate cameos from violin and piano. The rhythm section is barely there in the mix, and it's a ecosystem that relies on it's fragile balance. 

Like Kitt, Perry's vibrato almost rings; It's a prominent vocal that works well with a low key backing and Pem is keen on the subtle contrast, but doesn't rule out a bigger, fuller sound in future material: "I quite like the space. My first E.P was just me and a guitar - it was pretty sparse. 'Songs About Hands' is more layered and has other friends playing on it. I'm still experimenting and working towards a bigger sound. I've been writing my new stuff and can hear in my head some other elements I want to add - but I do need the freedom to play with my voice."

In the process of training to be a therapist after finishing her languages degree, Perry found songwriting to be a way of processing her own life. The analytical approach of her training was a key shift in her craft, "I started writing the E.P in my first year and had some personal issues at the time; a traumatic situation with my Dad's health. It was very emotionally draining - music from that point became therapy from the therapy." I'm intrigued enough to ask what Freud would make of her music, laughing at such a ludicrous notion, she replied: "He'd say I have a bit of a father complex and with 'Lullaby London' being about dreams - he'd tear that one apart!" I don't push it any further.

 

We get to talking about other artists that inspire her and discover we have a shared love for Devendra Banhart - he's an acquired taste, so it's rare you find a fellow fan. It makes perfect sense that Pem would be enamoured with Banhart - a Spanish speaker who stretches his voice to almost ethereal extremes with a surreal sense of humour. It creates a glimpse of where Pem could go next with her own material: "Like Joni Mitchell, there's a humourous element to his songs - it hasn't come out in my work yet, but I think it will do."

With an album almost written, Pem plays several dates in Germany later in the year and is also in the process of finalising more gigs. 

You can follow Pem on Facebook, Instagram and Tik Tok.

As ever, we recommend you buy Songs About Hands from Bandcamp, preferably on the first Friday of the month to maximise royalties for the artist. 

📷 Ella Pavlides