Daniel Perkins. Photo by Sander Roscoe Wolff

Daniel Perkins has been a fixture in the Long Beach music scene since the early 90s. His current band, Tall Walls, was a huge success at last year’s BuskerFest, which earned them a recording session at Brian Frederick’s 3. Pt Studios. They’re also performing at the Beach Streets Block Party this Saturday at 3pm, on Broadway between Euclid and Redondo Avenues. They’ll also be performing at the Green Prize Festival on April 30th.

Perkins is also the mastermind behind Couch Guitar Straps, a boutique business that’s developed a legion of fans, including celebrities like Fred Armisen, Weezer’s Brian Bell, Brian May of Queen, Nels Cline of Wilco, John Cale, Tears for Fears’ Roland Orzabal, and Matt Costa, who is headlining the Beach Streets BuskerFest stage on Linden Avenue and 4th Street at 2:30pm.

Long Beach Post: How did Tall Walls get started?

Daniel Perkins: We really started about six months ago with our first show as a complete band at Buskerfest. We had been working out songs as a basic 3 piece before that, with Jay Penev from Fathers & Suns on drums, Roberto Escobar from The New Fidelity and California Lions on bass, and myself singing and [playing] guitar.

Months previous I was singing in a Belle & Sebastian tribute and I noticed that the horn section of Alanah Ntzouras and Vanessa Acosta just showed up to the first rehearsal and were nailing their parts on sax and trumpet. I thought that, when we were ready, we should ask them and percussionist Greggory Moore to play.

This was happening right about when we were asked to perform at BuskerFest so, two weeks before, we got together and it just seemed like the magic happened that you never can predict. You put a bunch of musicians in a room and sometimes it just works!

Is the songwriting a shared process, or are you producing the material for the band?

I’m writing lyrics and chords but, with our instrumentation, we are definitely developing a sound, so that sound really is what’s making our songs, especially the newest ones.

What was your recent studio experience like?

We did 3 songs at Brian Frederick’s 3 Pt. Studios. We were focused on getting a good room sound, as he has a big space there. It was a lot of fun. Our sound seemed to develop even more, there, as we gained confidence learning what works together, especially lots of gang vocals.

Greggory brought in a lot of percussion and strong personality-type backing ideas. We were really having fun starting with our live sound, but being open to a limited amount of experimentation to try ideas without getting too far off the path of what we do.

We have not heard the mixes, though. Our expectation is, when we hear the finished product, we’ll dig it and consider reconvening there to add more songs, and have a completed EP from our BuskerFest prize.

What was it like to win BuskerFest?

It was unreal, actually. We had such an early slot. We figured, from the get-go, there was no way to win. It’s an audience participation contest, so it requires the audience to actually be there to participate. There’s no secret that the later the day goes, hundreds of more people stream in, so we were way early in the day.

All of the sudden, though, we gathered just enough of a crowd and Jay started calling for people to throw their wooden nickels at us. Suddenly, it was like a shower of nickels were hitting us as we played! We also noticed a ton of little kids when we were playing that really got into it. Maybe our early slot helped us, as there were more families there on the early side, in addition to all our friends.

You’ve been playing, singing and writing music for a very long time. How did you get started?

I started playing music at 14 years old in the punk scene in Sacramento. Some older kids who were very connected and involved – they did the “scene report” for Maximum Rock & Roll Magazine, had their own local zine, booked shows etc – saw me jumping around like a crazy 4’6′ kid at these shows and thought to create a band around me where they wrote songs about Ovaltine and environmental disaster and stuff and had me sing. We were called Danny Poo & The Roto Doggies. We played in front of 1000’s opening for the Toy Dolls and lots of big shows. It was pretty unreal for a kid my age, and really ignited my love for live music that’s never died. I’ve made it into my career, day and night.

In the early 2000’s, in Long Beach, I got into a band called Lo-Fi Champion and played all around the scene here, then. We were on several OC Weekly Compilations, got played on Tazy PHillips Ska Parade, and were chosen by The Village Voice to represent Long Beach/ OC at South By Southwest. We slowly started playing the mod scene and the band morphed into The New Fidelity.

What brought you to Long Beach in the first place?

When I was 17 I moved here to attend Long Beach State and, short of some stops in Huntington Beach, I’ve lived here ever since. I think it was largely the music scene here. The Space, at the time, brought me back here from HB, and I’ve never moved since. There seems to be a good amount of freedom to create and express yourself here, and there are lots of talented people to motivate you.

The New Fidelity had some good success. We were a suit- wearing mod 60’s pop band. We also toured a bit of Canada and the Pacific Northwest, and played the main stage at Ink and Iron a few years back with The Sonics. It was pretty unreal! We also got in on the first real wave of music licensing, and licensed tons of songs.

Can you explain that a bit for readers who don’t understand what that means?

Licensing is when a television show or movie uses your song for the background to a scene. It’s sort of a holy grail for up and coming bands, nowadays. Where once bands wanted the record deal, today they want to be in film and TV. It can often pay quite well in an era where fewer people than ever are purchasing your music. Plus it’s so fun, and pretty cool, to watch a show and hear your song in the background!

[Our songs were used in shows on] ABC, NBC, Independent Film Channel, MTV, and the Food Network. I still see lots of stuff on my ASCAP statement and we haven’t been together since like 2011 or something.

How has your songwriting changed for Tall Walls, as compared to TNF, or LFC?

From a song writing perspective, Tall Walls frankly is a bit of a combination of the two. Where The New Fidelity was a focused study showing our love of 60’s power pop and 80’s paisley pop, LFC was quirkier, more whimsical, with more topical songs about non traditional things. A bit more indie rock.

I see Tall Walls as me thinking less about a specific song writing approach and really just being free to do what I do, and be who I am, if that doesn’t sound too cheesy. Then, out of this, the band itself has really developed it’s own sound. I expect every every band I’m in, and every song I write, to be the best ever. That’s how I feel about Tall Walls.

As the band has evolved and developed a unique sound, has your writing changed to suit it?

Yes. That’s already happening. It is a sort of upward circling feedback loop. Again, I’m really excited about Tall Walls as the vibe is on. As a musician, you never know when you’re gonna get it, but sometimes, never often, you get in a room with a group of people and the switch just turns on. That’s Tall Walls for me. [smiles]

Couch straps waiting to be shipped. Photo by Sander Roscoe Wolff.

I’ve got to ask you about Couch Guitar Straps. How did it get started?

It started in 1999. I slept on my friend Chris Tower’s couch to afford to buy a sewing machine, and we sewed Guadalupe images onto seat belts to make guitar straps. Siren, a store on 4th and Junipero, took a few and they sold out. I’ve been making guitar straps ever since.

What sparked the idea?

I always only sang in bands but, when Lo Fi Champion started, I had learned to play guitar. After a few years on my acoustic guitar at open mics we were ready to go electric and I couldn’t find a strap I liked. I figured if I, as broke as I was, was willing to pay a little extra for something unique that I liked, I bet there were a lot of people like me that would also.

The idea was the easy part. It literally took about 8 years to really figure out how to make them. A friend in the fashion industry at the time told me that, in fashion, your secret is never what make, but HOW you make it. I can tell you it was extremely difficult figuring out our way of making what we make.  Couch employs 8 people including myself. Most everyone is a Long Beach musician or involved locally here in some way.

I’m a proud owner, by the way. A few years ago, my wife gave me a dark red vintage Volkswagen guitar strap that she purchased at the Marine Stadium Patchwork Craft Fair .

Nice! At Couch the real joy, for sure, is seeing people using our stuff, whether it be a good friend, a band we know and love, or someone’s instagram from New York or Texas or the UK or something. It’s really pretty exciting to be making something and have the connection we do with the end users of our products.  We are a Made In USA company because we genuinely know that our quality comes from our methods and hands and couldn’t be outsourced.

What is your perspective on how the Long Beach music scene has changed, and how it can change?

The scene in Long Beach is very strong. Summer and Music, Fingerprints, and the city in general really do a lot – more than most cities – to create opportunities for musicians and fans. It’s only getting stronger. These larger events, where “outside” bigger bands are mixed in with local bands in well promoted public events, are pretty exciting. I see more of that in the future.

I’m also pretty excited about the opportunities for venues here. 4th St Vine was recently granted a live music permit by the city, for instance. The bands themselves could do more, myself included, to go out to more shows. I think the smaller shows are generally less supported.

The real opportunity for the scene to grow is to have one or two “buzz nights” somewhere that all the bands want to get in on, like Mondays at The Blue Cafe years ago with Steve Zepeda, or the old Mondays at Spaceland in LA. I’d like to see a few well curated, well attended weekly local nights. There are attempts, but it hasn’t fully happened, yet.

Tall Walls has shows coming up at The Green Prize Festival and Beach Streets, for instance, two huge municipal events where there is a budget and an opportunity to perform in front of hundreds of people. My friends in LA bands just don’t get these opportunities from their cities.

To learn more about Tall Walls, visit their facebook page. Visit CouchGuitarStraps.com to learn more about the company, and their products.

Tons of information about Beach Streets can be found at LongBeach.gov/BeachStreets. For more information about this year’s Green Prize Festival, visit GreenPrizeFestival.com.

Tall Walls photo by Matt Maguire.

{FG_GEOMAP [33.7644383,-118.1524139] FG_GEOMAP}