Perry Farrell And Etty Lau Farrell On Lollapalooza India, New Label And Porno For Pyros Reunion

During a busy Lollapalooza weekend last month in Chicago, Perry Farrell and Etty Lau Farrell had news to share, announcing a new contract which keeps the festival in Chicago’s Grant Park, while highlighting Lollapalooza’s 2023 India debut, expanding one of the world’s strongest festival brands into an eighth market.

The pair also announced the debut of their very own Imprint Label, slating a remix of Etty Lau Farrell’s debut “He’s A Rebel” as the new record label’s first single.

While continuing to hone the concept behind “Heaven After Dark,” an ambitious indoor performance series personally curated by the couple, Imprint Label offers up-and-coming acts a unique opportunity to both record and perform.

Readying the launch of a Jane’s Addiction tour alongside Smashing Pumpkins which kicks off October 2 in Dallas and runs through mid-November, I spoke with Perry Farrell and Etty Lau Farrell backstage in Chicago about performing at Lollapalooza with Porno For Pyros for the first time since 1997, their new Imprint Label, record industry lessons learned and much more. A transcript of our conversation, lightly edited for length and clarity, follows below.

You guys have been busy…

ETTY LAU FARRELL: It’s been a little crazy. We went into rehearsal for the 7/7 show at The Belasco. We started rehearsal for Porno. We went to Stockholm between rehearsals. Came back and did a show. Went to France. Went right back into rehearsal. And now we’re here! It’s been a busy travel month.

Last year’s Lollapalooza was a strange way to celebrate 30 years. Porno For Pyros played Lollapalooza in 1992 and 1997. How are you guys feeling so far being back this year 25 years after that?

PERRY FARRELL: I am a lot less worried…

ETTY: You have to understand, last year, when Lolla came back, it was the first music festival in the entire world. So we knew that we were scrutinized and we were the guinea pig. If it went well for us, the world opened up. Otherwise? We would’ve been the reason why it got shut back down again, right?

Obviously, Lollapalooza is one of the strongest festival brands in the world. How important was it expanding to India?

ETTY: I felt like India was a territory that we’ve worked on for many years. And, of course, with COVID, it put us back a couple of years. And I felt like India was a big one. Because we’re not going into territories that we’re familiar with. France? Europe is a familiar way of doing things. So I felt like going into India, hopefully that will open up the East for us. With India being the first, maybe we can do Singapore or Shanghai. I feel like it would be great to expand.

PERRY: As Etty points out, this is our introduction into the East. The music of India is very transcendental. It’s just the kind of sound that we need. It’s a sound that is going to raise the consciousness for everyone. Speaking this universal language of music and art. My project that I’ll do when we go there is Kind Heaven Orchestra.

What made now the right time for you guys to launch your own Imprint record label?

ETTY: I feel that with the streaming services and all of that, there is a bit of a popularity contest. There are certain ways to manipulate the numbers and what not. And I feel that there are some artists that may not be great at the social media aspect – but they’re incredible artists and they focus more time on their art. So we would like to give a platform for those artists that are authentic and truly love the music – but they may not have the tools to promote themselves on a grander scale.

PERRY: We’re in an incredible position. I have a vehicle for these young artists. So, although I can’t offer them exactly tour support, I can offer them a festival that goes around the world.

ETTY: A platform.

PERRY: I’m not looking to manage them or call them up every day and see, “How are you guys feeling?” I can’t do all of that. So they are going to have to take care of themselves a bit more. But what I want from them is the genuineness and the authenticity of their art. Yes, we’ll be collaborating. There could be artists that I would just say, “Let’s do some more tracks together…”

And it doesn’t have to be nine songs. Back in those days, there was something very unique and special about albums. And I still love the concept. But it doesn’t only have to be an album or a single. I always like to say, “Why can’t I have both?” One year, I’ll do an album. Maybe in the next six months, if there’s a song or two that comes out, and it’s the right time or the right place, put it out, you know? If it keeps the project and the momentum going, let’s do it that way.

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A remix of “He’s a Rebel” is going to be the first single, right Etty?

ETTY: Yes! It’s been out and I was just told that a bunch of U.K. DJ’s have picked it up and put it into the rotation. So I’m the test subject. It’s going pretty well.

Perry, when you were getting started, you had time, over the course of multiple albums and several years, to build an identity as an artist. Now nobody gets that. Is that something you’re looking to change when it comes to watching over the artists on your own label?

PERRY: Right. Yeah, I watched the greats like Mo Ostin and Lenny Waronker at Warner Bros. Records. They gave the artists five years to develop themselves and they offered them tour support and at least three records to get it right – radio play and everything else. Now, they don’t offer tour support.

ETTY: They don’t even get a whole record. Three songs if they’re lucky.

PERRY: It’s causing the artform to struggle. Now, listen, a little struggle isn’t a bad thing – it actually can make you stronger. But, struggling to the point of drowning is what I’m seeing. And we’re losing a lot of potentially great, young artists that just get swatted away because they didn’t come through for these major labels. And the major labels, I just don’t think they’re nimble enough to adapt to what’s going on today.

They don’t have time to develop their artists. Their artists are young. Maybe they don’t sing perfectly yet. Well, they’ll say, “Don’t worry about it. We’ll fix it in post.” And they try to perfect that voice using autotuning. It sounds like sh–t to me. It’s like watching a basketball game on a computer and you make sure the guy dunks every time. That’s not a game! I want to see the imperfections. That, to me, is the exciting part: can they do it?

It’s their soul. I want to hear their soul. I want to hear them yearning or crying or exploding with joy and happiness. That excitement of the unknown has been kind of mixed right out of things. So we’re going to bring that back.

Another platform you’ve been using a bit to sort of find and develop talent is the “Heaven After Dark” concert series. How did the second one go, how has it grown and where are things headed?

ETTY: The second one, we took over the whole building. We took over every floor. So we had different performances throughout the evening in different nooks and crannies. It was more of an experience than just simply going to a show.

PERRY: We had an art gallery in the [smaller room]. We had art going there. The artists wanted to do a recreation of The Garden of Eden. There were statues in the garden and then at the end of the night everybody got to take home all of the flowers and the plants. So that was an added bonus.

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The next one that we’re gonna do, again, is going to be different. We’re now starting to conceive what we’re going to do in India at Lollapalooza and Kind Heaven Orchestra is going to become a lot more electronic – stripped back in the instrumentation of the analog artists. They’ll still be there. I never want to lose the live element. It’s still going to be live PA.

But I’m looking forward to it. I just love it. Every song, every show is like a new canvas so to speak.