--------------------Perdide by Quimper (Interview)--------------------

Quimper’s odd sounds and visual art have been on my radar since I first heard their 2017 EP : Little Legs for Little Eggs. Jodie and Johnny’s catalog however, goes back further, as does their collection of DIY surreal videos. One of the aspects I like about their prolific, if under-promoted body of work is the visual component. In addition to the videos, the album covers, usually by Jodie Lowther, are also quite handsome. Even the music itself feels like it has a naturally filmic quality to it. Each song feels like a strange little sonic vignette. There is a certain minimal eeriness that sounds like it belongs in a fantastical sci-fi film of some kind. Which, as you’ll read in this little exchange with Johnny (one half of the band), is kind of the idea for their newest output: Perdide.

Jodie Lowther

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Caliper (C): So, how did you guys meet and start collaborating?

Johnny (J): Alcohol and a mutual loathing of the local music scene.

C: What are your backgrounds in art/music?

J: We’re both from small towns in the UK so art/music was the usual escapism before we could get out for good. Neither of us really has any formal background, Jodie still works as an illustrator and I ran a small record label for a few years.

C: How does this latest album differ if at all with your previous work together?

J: It’s a bit less overtly manic than last year’s EPs and a lot more coherent. Probably because we tried to write an album rather than just throw four tracks together we had lying around and hoping for the best. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.



C: Does this album have any connection to the book: The Orphan of Perdide?

J: It does. Though probably more with the animated film Les Maîtres Du Temps that was adapted from it. It was one of those films I think was shown twice when I was a child, and I somehow stumbled upon it both times. It stuck in my head ever since, and kept coming to mind when we were finishing up the album.

C: You’ve done a handful of videos/animations in the past for different projects. Any videos planned for this album?

J: We’re working on a video for Perdide now, should have that finished hopefully before the year is out. Might do one for Lovely Bees if we get the chance, but we’ll probably be working on something new by then.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You can download Perdide and/or buy the CD they have for sale on their Bandcamp.


Matt Ackerman, John Vertigen