Pete Lawrie Winfield on his latest synth-pop album ‘Visitor’ : NPR

NPR’s Ayesha Rascoe speaks with musician Peter Lawrie-Winfield, also known as “Until the Ribbon Breaks,” about his latest synth-pop album, “Visitor.”

AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:

Musician Peter Lawrie Winfield goes by the artist name Until the Ribbon Breaks. It’s a reference to old-school tapes.

PETER LAWRIE WINFIELD: When I was very, very small, I found my dad’s collection of VHS and music cassettes. And I just became immediately obsessed with both. I played them and played them until the ribbon broke.

RASCOE: And so then is this meant to be kind of like, I’m going to ride this car till the wheels fall off (laughter)? Like, you go to the end?

LAWRIE WINFIELD: Trust me, it’s – there’s been a few times where the name has definitely taken on that meaning instead – more so – more than ever. That’s what I love about it, is that it did become about resilience.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “STRANGE TIMES”)

UNTIL THE RIBBON BREAKS: (Singing) Strange times.

RASCOE: Until the ribbon breaks has just released his third album called “Visitor.” It comes after some turbulence in his personal life.

LAWRIE WINFIELD: I had to get sober. You know, addiction had been a huge secret issue for me for decades at that point. And so that’s where the ribbon (laughter) – if not broke, certainly frayed.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “STRANGE TIMES”)

UNTIL THE RIBBON BREAKS: (Singing) I think I long to be hit by lightning or some other that kind of mystic force just to know there’s some love left somewhere, just to know there’s some sugar in the source.

RASCOE: That’s when Laurie Winfield hit the pause button on his music career to address his addiction. But then something happened to make him press play again.

LAWRIE WINFIELD: I was walking through a park, and they have a planetarium, and there was a exhibition. So I love space and anything like that since I was a kid, so I walked in, and it was absolutely amazing.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “STRANGE TIMES”)

UNTIL THE RIBBON BREAKS: (Singing) Well, I was always just a visitor. I only come down to earth just to visit.

LAWRIE WINFIELD: You know, whose planet is this, and what is our role and our responsibility here? And are we visitors? So that question kept coming up for me, and it found its way into the album, and then it seemed obvious that it was the title.

RASCOE: It seems like you traveled quite a bit to meet and work with other musicians. I think we have a clip of “Nature Mother.”

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “NATURE MOTHER”)

EMONI WILKINS: (Singing in non-English language).

UNTIL THE RIBBON BREAKS: (Singing) I don’t believe…

RASCOE: Can you talk about, like, what places inspired this album?

LAWRIE WINFIELD: “Nature Mother” was with an amazing, amazing singer called Emoni, who is now a great friend of mine, in Nashville. I found it really difficult to open the door to collaboration previously, out of insecurity. And this time, I just wanted the whole album to feel like an adventure. Otherwise, why was I going to do it again?

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “NATURE MOTHER”)

UNTIL THE RIBBON BREAKS: (Singing) Wild is the wind. Rage is the sea. If it’s in you, it’s in me, it’s our nature mother (ph).

LAWRIE WINFIELD: Since I first started music, it was always across all genres. I’ve never known what kind of music I made in that sense, and I’m not sure I ever want to. You know, I’ve always traveled, and I love it. So I thought, why not combine the two things. So, you know, there’s a song called “Red Skies,” where I ended up in Bogata. There’s a spoken word element by a guy who came to the studio to catch a rattlesnake while we were recording it, and he’s from Guatemala. And just him speaking in his story, I just was like, would you record something?

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “RED SKIES”)

JULIO: (Speaking Spanish).

RASCOE: Where was this rattlesnake that – was it – it was in the studio?

LAWRIE WINFIELD: Yeah. We did record it. The final sessions were in Joshua Tree, and there was – a very large, very noisy rattlesnake just appeared at the studio door. Terrifying.

RASCOE: Yeah.

LAWRIE WINFIELD: You know, I absolutely love animals. But they need to be respected.

RASCOE: Yes. Yeah.

LAWRIE WINFIELD: Someone on site – because this happens – has experience in catching rattlesnakes. So he came. He managed to get it in a bucket, essentially, and we put a microphone in there, and it’s the best shaker sound I’ve ever heard, as you can imagine, you know? I think we’ve just been trying to copy that sound since we first discovered the rattlesnake.

RASCOE: All this time (laughter).

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “RED SKIES”)

UNTIL THE RIBBON BREAKS: (Singing) You can fight, so won’t you fight in the red, in the red, in the red, in the red, in the red skies (ph)?

RASCOE: We talked earlier about, you know, taking care of the planet, you know, I guess, are we stewards, are we visitors? What is your relationship with nature?

LAWRIE WINFIELD: Steward is now – you’ve just now given me the name of the next album. Thank you.

RASCOE: OK, Oh. OK. Thank you. Thank you.

LAWRIE WINFIELD: I have been obsessed with animals since I was a very small child. I mean, I have multiple animal fact books next to my bed. I can’t get enough. I live in basically a tree house in Los Angeles, and there’s often a lot of animal drama, which I love. I currently have a swarm of bees who have decided to come and be visitors. And I’ve been meaning to call a beekeeper, but I’m kind of attached to them now. Nature and animals – it just keeps me completely grounded. They were here before us. They’ll be here after us.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “CAROUSEL”)

UNTIL THE RIBBON BREAKS: (Vocalizing).

RASCOE: A a lot of your lyrics on this album talk about finding truth. What ultimately did you discover while making “Visitor”?

LAWRIE WINFIELD: There’s a song called “Carousel.” It’s the song that sums up everything I discovered, which is that you can go to the literal ends of the earth to try and find the answers to these things, but essentially, the lesson is to stop trying to find a meaning. Be grateful for the miracle that is that we’re here.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “CAROUSEL”)

UNTIL THE RIBBON BREAKS: (Singing) I watch the (inaudible) on the carousel (inaudible). Everything’s a circle if you just lean into the turn.

LAWRIE WINFIELD: Everything’s a circle. Lean into the turn. It’s that idea. Just let go, hands off the wheel.

RASCOE: That’s Pete Lawrie Winfield, also known as Until the Ribbon Breaks. His latest album, “Visitor,” is out now. Thank you so much for joining us.

LAWRIE WINFIELD: Thank you so much for having me.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “CAROUSEL”)

HOMEBOY SANDMAN: (Rapping) They say he the Peter Pan, peep the pattern on the mandala (ph).

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