Active in the local music scene for many years, Peter Scherzinger’s music career came to a sudden halt during the early days of the pandemic.
Although he retired as a music teacher at Lasalle Secondary School approximately six years ago, Scherzinger has continued to keep himself busy through the jazz group Broche à Foin and a classical group called the Northern Brass Quartet.
With all live performances shut down during quarantine, Scherzinger set about recording his first solo album, “Crashing Through Shadows,” which he finally dropped Aug. 1. He also previously released two albums through Broche à Foin.
You can listen below to one of the tracks on the album, entitled “The Monster Fish on Wheels,” featuring Scherzinger’s son, Stefan, on drums.
“I play in a lot of different groups, and so I'm used to always playing with other musicians,” said Scherzinger, also a former music instructor with Laurentian University’s now-defunct music program.
“It’s a very social thing. Because we rehearse regularly, and we're hanging out. The pandemic was tough that way. Basically I was stuck at home with me and my instrument.
“There's this idealized idea that musicians can just practice and practice and practice endlessly, but it's actually not that interesting. It's more fun to play with other people. So I missed it a lot during the pandemic.”
Scherzinger’s new solo album features participation from his youngest son, Stefan Scherzinger (drums) and his wife Sue Scherzinger (guitar), as well as friends Jean-Yves Bégin (saxophone) and Allan Walsh (clarinet).
With each of the guest musicians doing some improvisation, Scherzinger loves the personal touches they put on his album. “What's really cool is when you get somebody who improvies, they add their own sort of flavor to what you've written,” he said.
Representing Scherzinger’s eclectic tastes, the album features a variety of styles, including jazz, folk, electronic and movie music.
“I'm kind of breaking all the rules, because typically you're supposed to pick one genre or subgenre and kind of stick to it, right?” he said. “But I've always been interested in all different kinds of music.”
Scherzinger said he’s also a poet, and the album’s title, “Crashing Through Shadows,” is actually a line from one of his poems. “Believe it or not, crashing through shadows is a poem about riding a transit bus,” he said.
The cover photo for the album was taken by Scherzinger at Minnow Lake on Halloween night. “I thought it was a good fit with the shadows, because it was taken on Halloween night,” he said.
The album is now available on all streaming services.
“Hardly anybody buys CDs anymore, so I thought this time and just go with a digital streaming release,” Scherzinger said. “I got postcards made with the cover picture, and the listing of the tracks and the artists on the back.”
Heidi Ulrichsen is Sudbury.com’s associate content editor. She also covers education and the arts scene.
