The rise of Lucas Perri

Golnaz Taherian | Contributor

Featured image: Lucas Perri takes his listeners to a cloud nine R&B experience with his music. | Courtesy of Lucas Perri

In the midst of a heartbreak, many of us turn to music for catharsis; it acts as a sort of therapy for the soul. It allows us to experience our pain, yet still helps us become stronger while gaining closure.

Many musicians are aware of this, and have made a career out of writing songs about breakups (Taylor Swift and Bruno Mars spring to mind).

Lucas Perri, a third-year York undergraduate student majoring in Anthropology, is another musician who enjoys exploring these emotions.

He wrote his first song after a terrible heartbreak in grade 11: “I joined my first band as a lead singer and I felt the need to write a song about how I was feeling on losing her and what she meant to me. It took that experience to push me to sit down and write a song.”

As unpleasant as the experience was for Perri, he found his passion and a pacifying way to process his heartbreak.

“It’s actually funny because looking back, it was but a raw expression of my emotions. It was my first song, so it wasn’t my greatest work. Yet now when I write a piece, I feel as though I’m more calculated and I try my best to focus on connecting with others—to make something that will help them, rather than simply being about me. What I write about and the source of my words stem from my personal experiences, and I use that to connect to others who are listening,” he adds.

Unlike plenty of artists who adhere to one genre, Perri often challenges himself through creating new sounds. He isn’t fearful of stepping outside the mold, due to the influence of both modern R&B and hip-hop music on his work. It’s the fluidity of both genres that allows Perri to fabricate rich, soulful music that resonates with the hopeless romantics of the world.

“I felt they were the best genres to create music from, as their flexibility allows me to make the music I want. I’ve always found it hard to express in words why I love R&B and hip-hop. My default answer was always because I grew up listening to it, and I remember escaping to my earbuds. It was my one place of purest comfort,” he says.

Along with Perri’s lyrical gifts, his skill in acoustic guitar, piano, bass guitar, and drums are all self-taught. He’s paired these instruments with his lyrics and, despite troubling experiences with writer’s block, Perri chooses to overcome it on his own, noting the importance of individuality and personal experience. He is among the number of artists who writes his own lyrics authentically.

“I have always felt that writing verbatim to what is going on in your life is the best way to connect with your listeners. There’s something about showing that hidden emotional side of myself that feels freeing in a way,” Perri says. “There is no better place for my mind to be emotionally, than in a piece of my own music.”

His talents are impressively demonstrated on his latest song, “Slide Thru,” which can be found on his SoundCloud page. The song is inspired by a romantic encounter with a girl Perri was infatuated with at the time. “Slide Thru” starts with a bell keyboard, which creates undertone drifts beneath the music until the end, evoking a magical vibe. He also uses a sampled drumbeat and an electronically enhanced guitar, giving the song a more edgy feel to it. The instruments, echoing sounds, floating-esque voice, and lyrics, allude to a dusk-to-dawn vibe.

While in a haze of creating music, the solo artist also recognizes how York has given him the network he needed to start off his music career. It has inspired Perri to reach out to unique individuals. “It is never hard for me to strike up a conversation about art or music. All of the friends I’ve made here have inspired me in one way or another, whether it’s through a small conversation in Vari Hall, or on break during a lecture.”

Finally, Perri’s advice for new and upcoming artists is to be raw in their expression, as individuality and honesty are cornerstones in connecting with listeners: “Be yourself, and know that’s good enough.”