Like any good writer, we here at PEV always try to pull out the most interesting facts about the artists we feature – looking at all angles and aspects of every singer, writer, painter, etc. Usually there are several little factoids worth diving into… but Jeremy Fisher… he has more than an introduction can handle. As soon as you think you’ve grasped the essence of one Mr. Fisher, he hits you with some new incredible feat that you had no idea was coming.

 When it came time to promote his first album, “Back Porch Spirituals” in 2002, he biked across the entire continent, from Seattle to Halifax, Nova Scotia. That’s six months of pedaling through Canada. Holy crap. 

Fisher’s $60 homemade video for “Cigarette,” became a viral phenomenon of mega-proportions on YouTube, with over 2 million views (and counting). The video is no slouch – once you begin, you won’t pull away until the screen fades to black.

The guy has his own series – “For Real with Jeremy Fisher.” His own sort of “animated comic strip,” the creation simply showcases even more of Jeremy’s great talents.

The previously mentioned “Back Porch Spirituals” is available today in the US, an immaculate series of examples of Jeremy Fisher folk music. His latest record, “Goodbye Blue Monday,” is “a timeless burst of acoustic rock & roll that’s brainy and hook-filled, playful and provocative, all at the same time.” While I haven’t heard plans to bike across any continents in the near future to get the word out – I wouldn’t be surprised if Fisher’s legs were soon hard at work once again (though he’s probably already got more than enough attention).

Clearly, you can catch Jeremy in a variety of ways – on your iPod, your computer screen, your local bike path. Check his schedule and get out to a show and test drive both albums. There’s much more below, so dive into the XXQ’s.

XXQs: Jeremy Fisher

PensEyeView.com (PEV): Artist, singer, songwriter, innovator… Tell us how you first got started out? Has playing music and art always been something you’ve wanted to do?

JF: I always liked drawing and took a lot of Art classes in high school, but I never had the focus to really learn the fundamentals.  I describe my style as "minimal", but that really means I work within my own limitations and try to use them to my advantage.  Music and art are things I always have done, so it's never been a question of desire, I've never been deprived.

PEV: Calling Vancouver home, what kind of music where you listening to growing up? What was the first concert you attended? Who is on your iPod right now?

JF: My first concert was AC/DC at the Skydome in Toronto when I was 13.  My favorite band past and present.  Right now I'm listening to Robert Plant and Alison Krauss sing "Stick With Me Baby", but I was just listening to Run DMC 5 minutes ago.

PEV: Tell us about your creative process… What kind of environment do you have to be in to make music?

JF: There aren't really any specific conditions, I just try to allow myself the opportunity to create at the very moment of inspiration.  So if I'm riding my bike down a country road and I feel like I have an idea I'll pull over and sing it into my cell phone.  If I can capture that pure emotion, hopefully I can make something of it when I sit down with a guitar in my hands.

PEV: What can fans expect from a live Jeremy Fisher show?

JF: I try to connect with the audience on their level - what I mean by that is if it's a Wednesday night and they're quiet and reserved and we're in a theatre I'll tell a lot of stories, try to make them laugh pull at the heart strings a little.  If it's Friday and we're in a club and it's standing room only I'll keep it mostly up-tempo and try to get them involved, singing, dancing - whatever they're into.

PEV: Tell us about your first live performance. How have you changed since that first show to where you are now?

JF: When I started it was all about the music, I took the songs very seriously and didn't give much thought to the pacing of the show, how I presented myself or any of that.  Now I try to make it multi-faceted and surprising without falling into a shtick - which means I never quite know how it's going to go and that's exciting.

PEV: Your first album Back Porch Spirituals is now available for the first time ever in the US. What can fans expect from Black Porch Spirituals?

JF: Straight up folk songs.  Features the beautiful background vocals of Laura Veirs and the frantic spoon playing of Artis the Spoonman (the man who inspired the Soundgarden song of the same name).  I wrote and recorded it when I lived in Seattle and made my living busking in the Pike Place Market.  I met both Laura and Artis down there.

PEV: Your $60 homemade video for “Cigarette,” became a viral phenomenon of mega-proportions on YouTube, with over 2 million views (and counting). Did you foresee this happening when you launched it? What was it like to watch the count grow and grow?

JF:  I didn't foresee this happening, but I suppose I wished it would happen.  The viral phenomenon is the most exciting thing about modern technology.  These days I tend to only have time to check out media that comes from trusted sources, usually when someone I trust sends me something I get something out of it.  So when Cigarette went viral I knew that I struck a nerve, not necessarily positive for everybody, but hopefully meaningful.

PEV: Tell us about the For Real with Jeremy Fisher series. Can we expect to see more of these in the future?

JF: Yeah, there will be more.  I'm kind of letting them fall in my lap.  Moving forward I'd like to keep it tied to current events.  My original intent was for it to be a more creative version of a vlog.  So I might still do updates from the road and/or studio, but I think it has to fall into the framework I've created which is some kind of animated comic strip.  My favorite comic strips are Red Meat and Get Your War On by the way.

PEV: What’s one thing we’d be surprised to hear about Jeremy Fisher?

JF: I am a reasonably good shredder on electric guitar and have some pretty good rock poses to go with pinched harmonics and dive-bomb whammy bar action.  Don't you wish you could be the mirror on the wall in my bedroom?

PEV: Was there a certain point in your life when you knew that music and art was going to be a career for you?

JF: When I started teaching guitar in highschool and my friends were working in fast food restaurants I knew what I didn't want to do.

PEV: What one word best describes Jeremy Fisher?

JF: I don't know, but I hope it would be an onomatopoeia.

PEV: As musicians, you live a lot of your life on the road. How is life on the road for you? Best and worst parts? Any fun stories?

JF: The thing I love about the road is I know exactly what I have to do and when to do it.  But with that comes an inability to make decisions after a while.  Worst part is bad food.  Best part is waking up in a new place every day.

PEV: Do you find yourself often going back to one theme in your songwriting over another?

JF: Yeah, especially with the songs that never see the light of day.  Sometimes I'll come up with an inspiring line in an uninspired song and then that lyric will reappear in newer songs until I find the right tune.  There are really only two base emotions: pleasure and pain, everything else I write about just establishes context.

PEV: How have all your friends and family reacted to your success? What’s it like when you get to play at your hometown?

JF: They've always been really supportive, the hometown show has a kind of a family reunion feeling.

PEV: What can we find you doing in your spare time, aside from playing/writing music?

JF: I like being outdoors, cycling, canoeing, camping.  I'm guilty of working too much, often in my spare time I learn to play another instrument.  I have a way of turning all my interests into a job at some point and I kind of like that it blurs the line in the work/play relationship.  Sometimes I do wish I could leave the job at 5pm though.

PEV: Having played with many great acts in music is there still one artist or group that would be your dream collaboration? Why?

JF: I'm still waiting for the call from AC/DC where they say, "Malcolm has to take his family to Disneyland the day we're supposed to play to 150,000 people in Brazil - can you be our rhythm guitar player for this show?"  Because it would be the difference between riding in a jet and getting to drive one.

PEV:  Is there an up and coming band or artist you think we should all be looking out for now?

JF: Hannah Georgas

PEV: If you weren’t playing music, what would each of you most likely be doing for a career?

JF: Well the singer would be probably be a model, because he's got the looks, the guitar player would be trying to be the singer because he's jealous and the harmonica player, honestly, he would be that dude outside the grocery store playing two harmonicas at once through each nostril collecting coins in a coffee cup because he's nothing without the rest of us.

PEV: Tell us what an average day is like for you?

JF: I tried to post my iCal here but it didn't work.  Here's the gist of it: Wake up stressing about life, see what's changed on the internet since I fell asleep, drink coffee, feel like I can do anything, do anything, make a nice dinner, do more of that thing, Go to bed.

PEV: So, what is next for Jeremy Fisher?

JF: Drink coffee.

For more information on Jeremy, check out: www.jeremyfishermusic.com