Perfect Hair Forever

Perfect Hair Forever is a lo-fi garage pop project from an annoymous dude based in Auckland. Having posted a number of short releases online in the past year Perfect Hair Forever has now  released his first official full length  - OK COOL - on Crystal Magic Records. We caught up with the mystery man to discuss the project,  bratty soccer kids and charming snakes with heavy riffs...

Hey, how’s it going?

Howdy - no complaints

How did you first get into making music?

When I was in high-school Iused to play in a band with four girls - YEESH what a nightmare  - I don't really remember when or why we stopped but I think everyone moved away so I just started recording stuff in my room. 

Who/what are some your influences?

Buddy Holly is probably A No. 1 - he wrote AND produced his own stuff which was pretty much never happened before him - Lou Christie / Perry Como are my "voice" guys - feel like they are both pretty under-rated talents - I could go on but they are like Dudes of the Holy Trinity to me. 

What have you been listening to mostly lately?

A whole bunch of trash - I'm pretty heavy on production so whatever sounds good - I just got into this band called The Spits - it's kind of like the Ramones but like dystopian or something - toxic waste.

When and what inspired you to start Perfect Hair Forever?

Well I think it was around 2008 and I actually dont know why - I think I just wanted to make music again - I had never really wrote songs and so I would just record some drums and then just improv some guitar riff over it then make up vocals on the spot - thats usually how I still write songs now I guess.

Have you been involved any other music projects?

Apart from high-school bands, nope - I think after starting this I am pretty sure that I like to work alone - kind of seems like a bad personal trait but I cant help it.

Love the name, is there a story behind it?

Haha oh man - well when I finish a song, I don't want it anymore - I don't want to hear it again because I just heard it 50 times while I recorded it - it's out of my hands when I put it up online , so it's done - I dont need it anymore and I dont want to be able to change it anymore so for me it makes sense to get rid of it

You have a  few short releases up on Bandcamp - what can we expect from the LP?

It's all new stuff apart from a new version of 'Spit on your Grave' - It's definitely nothing like the old stuff really - I kind of wanted it to sound like some 12 year old brat made some album with his soccer team or something.

Tell us a bit about your writing and recording process?

So usually I will just go through my phone which is filled with two/three word sentences and pick one - sit around thinking about it and write some lyrics - sometimes I write the whole thing in my head and try match that or else I will sit around with my guitar and see what happens.

Are you still flying solo or are there some guests or collaborators on the new album?

I'm still flying solo but my friend Sam come up with me to record OK COOL and he did his own thing too - Tuner Melts - CHECK IT OUT.

Was there anything in particular that influenced the album, it’s writing or recording?

Apart from the image of some brat kid - there are some songs on this album that are pretty "heavy" for my standards and there is this riff that I used in two songs - it just sounded really evil to me, so I wanted to make more songs that what I picture a snake would listen to - like, this could charm a snake out of a basket - so I just did some vocals on some songs that were just groans or cries - I dont know, I have ZERO grip on reality most of the time.

The album is being released on Crystal Magic Records – who did you hook up with them?

I guess it probably came through my friend Daif - the guy Fraser who runs it is a super nice dude and they got an A-Grade roster.

When we first got in touch at the start of the year, you were determined to remain anonymous, is this still the case?  If not, who are you?

Two words - zero accountability hahaha.

Have you warmed to the idea of play live at all since we last spoke?

Yeah well - me and a couple of guys including that dude Sam I mentioned before have been playing in our friends basement so might do a show at some point but who knows when.

What other plans do you have for Perfect Hair Forever?

Well I finished OK COOL two months ago basically so just finishing the next album - other than that not much.

What are your thoughts on the local music scene?

I kind of feel out of the loop - I don't go to that many gigs - I think there are just less bands now - I'm probably the wrong person to ask.

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OK COOL is out now and available to download free via the Crystal Magic Records bandcamp below.