Thunder Strike
This is what I’ve wanted to do for a long time and I don’t think I could’ve gotten this far without maintaining music as my focus. I’ve had a thousand different types of jobs and internships over my time, so it’s not like I didn’t consider or I’m not even still considering what it would be like to open a restaurant or a bar or venue.
In 2010, Guillermo E. Brown christened himself Pegasus Warning. The name came to him in a dream, but it stuck. After years of working as a jazz percussionist in his native New York—recording and touring with David S. Ware—he moved to L.A., where his newfound mythological veil provided him with the space to prioritize his solo work. “The Pegasus is all about the wellspring of ideas and creation, that thunderous strike in the sky that gives us that aha moment,” Brown says. “It became basically a warning to myself; if I don’t follow those creative impulses, I can get myself into trouble, and I should focus on my solo work just as an exercise to keep myself from going absolutely crazy.”
On September 30, Brown will release PwEP2 (Melanin Harmonique Records), his second EP as Pegasus Warning. It’s a faithful display of his idiosyncratic sound, which takes the form of yearning vocals gliding and vibrating over experimental, electronic backdrops anchored by percussive builds. Relieved, he tells us, “I’m happy to let loose these sounds.” Below, we’re pleased to premiere “Best Thang,” the EP’s first single. Brown co-wrote the track with Jamie Lidell and Kassa Overall, and it’s fueled by a question: “Is there anything that we can do but search for those bits of life that are the most amazing?”
HALEY WEISS: To start off, I’d like to talk about the collection of songs you’ll be releasing in late September. Can you tell me a bit about what your process has been like and what it’s sounding like?
GUILLERMO E. BROWN: I’ve been really trying to focus on the songs and my voice. I always try to hit a few areas when I’m making a record; I want the sounds to be experimental and exploratory, I want the drumming to be distinctive, and I want my voice to be able to shine through. So I’ve been really focusing those elements, and making songs that have some lasting power and some staying power. I want the songs to be able to stand up to the “Casio treatment”—it’s if the song can live just as a song with a foot stomp and a hand clap, or it can go with the bossa nova setting on a Casio, or the latest hybrid dance music form. The song is still there. It’s almost like you can’t fuck up a good song. I’m a big fan of new production techniques and new sounds. That’s kind of what has been my focus out here; making sure that the songs can stand away from the production, however it’s produced. My sound is super hybrid; the acoustic sounds are there and the electronic sounds are there.