As you’d expect from a deeply creative pursuit, the music world attracts a fascinating range of people. It’s possible (with apologies to the folks from Dos Equis) that Sophie Peyton, who brought her project Gordi to Studio Milwaukee on Friday, is one of the most interesting musicians in the world.
Her progression as an artist reads pretty typical: works hard as an independent musician in her native Australia, gets some airplay (through public radio!), signs to the Jagjaguar label in the States, earns rightful praise for debut album Reservoir, keeps the momentum going on sophomore effort Our Two Skins and even composes a motion-picture soundtrack.
That's interesting enough compared with the average person. What takes it up a notch is how, in the midst of all that, she became a doctor.
Peyton has taken a well-earned pause from practicing, having previously stopped to work on Our Two Skins before answering the call in April of 2020 during the COVID outbreak. That extraordinarily taxing time shows up a bit on new album Like Plasticine (set for release Aug. 8), most pointedly on “PVC Divide,” which found its way into the off-air portion of Gordi’s set.
The other three selections were an example of just how BIG our sessions can sound, even in an intimate setting. They packed the stage with guitars (acoustic and electric), keys, synth, drums, shaker, tambourine and two mics, creating a sound as sweet as it was substantial.
Peyton’s voice shared those qualities, whether unfiltered or coming through the vocoder. She looked right at home in the middle of the action, although she spent part of the mid-set interview talking about a Wisconsin connection that put her on the periphery early in her career: singing backup for Bon Iver on The Tonight Show.
“I would just give a tip to anyone who ever does that: Don’t be on the edge,” she shared. “Because every time the camera would start to pan across, right before it got to me, it would kind of zoom back out. So, my parents were watching at home like, ‘Yeah, we genuinely didn’t see you.’”
She’s tough to ignore now, something you’ll hear when you hit the “Listen” button at the top of the page. You’ll also find out which TV show played a major part in both of her careers, how she teamed up with Julien Baker for a treehouse gig at the Eaux Claires Music & Arts Festival in 2018, and how public radio in Australia helped launch her as an artist.
If you’d like to lend a hand to public radio here in Wisconsin, head over to our membership page and check out all the ways to support Radio Milwaukee — and get some cool stuff in the process (including guaranteed invites to all of our Studio Milwaukee Sessions).
Studio MKE: Gordi set list
- “Alien Cowboy”
- “Peripheral Lover”
- “Head Rush”
- “PVC Divide” (non-broadcast performance)
