Farrell bringing Satellite Party to Lollapalooza

06/23/2005 3:23 PM, Reuters
Jonathan Cohen

Perry Farrell will use next month's revived Lollapalooza festival in Chicago to unveil his new music/theater project, Satellite Party.

He will be backed by former Extreme guitarist Nuno Bettencourt, No Doubt bassist Tony Kanal and percussionist Gabriele Corcos and will play material intended for the group's as-yet-untitled 2006 debut album.

"It's about a group of artists; fine artists, filmmakers, street performers and musicians," Farrell told Billboard.com. "They hang out and put on these crazy parties. One of the crazy parties turns into a full riot and the guy who organizes them gets hurt and sent to the hospital.

"There, he meets this beautiful night nurse. While listening to the radio together in the evenings as he's recuperating, he gets a vast visitation of energy through the radio, which is pretty much an invitation to a satellite party. Their souls leave, as do other souls on earth, because that certain station pulls them up to a party with a galaxy of stars."

At Lollapalooza, which takes place July 23-24 at Grant Park, Farrell will present "excerpts" from the full story, which on record will feature contributions from the Red Hot Chili Peppers' Flea and John Frusciante, the Black Eyed Peas' Fergie, Farrell's former Porno For Pyros bandmate Peter DiStefano and electronica outfit Hybrid, which features New Order bassist Peter Hook.

"The music is a hybrid," Farrell said. "It combines elements of house with hip-hop and rock. Then, you twist it a little bit with theater."

Among the tracks slated for inclusion is a new version of "Revolution Solution," which appeared earlier this year on Thievery Corporation's album "The Cosmic Game." Another song is dubbed "Dogstar," after the name of the galactic host of the satellite party.

Are Farrell and "Dogstar" one and the same? "Actually, no," he said with a laugh. "I'm the fellow on Earth running the parties. I'm the guy who meets the lovely night nurse. I gave myself a great role!"

Other Lollapalooza performers include The Pixies, Weezer, the Killers, the Arcade Fire and Billy Idol.

Farrell insisted he was in no hurry to align with a record label, although he says he's already met with several companies about releasing Satellite Party's music. "I look at the record industry right now and I'm aghast," he said. "I'm not in a super rush to cut any deals, but the right one will appear, for sure."

In the meantime, he has signed to song three acoustic songs ("People Are Strange," "Touch Me" and "The Crystal Ship") with the Doors Of The 21st Century at a previously announced Aug. 5 taping for the new VH1 series "Decades Rock."

Reuters/Billboard