Going back home to Alaska for Portugal. The Man lead singer, John Gourley, means a 5:30 a.m. project, grabbing a tool belt and building with his father. That experience is one of the stories that inspired PTM’s tenth studio album “SHISH.” The album is an “ode to Alaska.” Yet, Bostonians might be surprised to hear that Gourley calls Boston “a second home.”
Between some of his family living in the area and his daughter Frances receiving treatment here, the city (and its special needs and rare disease community) has become a place that grows gratefulness for its existence but also what changed his life.
“It’s not even a conversation about American health care systems or socialized health care,” said Gourley in an interview with BINJ.News. “This is a conversation about fundraising towards developing new treatments for existing diseases, (it’s about) drug repurposing…find(ing) new ways to treat (these) things.”
The city’s own Boston Children’s Hospital has helped Gourley take care of his daughter; now, PTM is returning the favor. The band is delivering a piece of Alaska by playing “SHISH” in its entirety on November 29 at Roadrunner.
Gourley said it’s important to play all of “SHISH” live since the record feels like a PTM live performance. Unlike their massive alt-pop hit “Feel it Still,” PTM shows are heavy and filled with riffs from metal songs like Metallica, Slayer and Pantera. It was time to honor their live experience by creating a record that reflects their energy on stage. Still, fans of PTM were caught off guard when they played songs off of “SHISH” for the first time.
“You can write a black album riff and use it as the intro for a pop song,” Gourley said. “I look back at those first few shows playing this new stuff where people were just sitting there not knowing what to think but I think for people that have been along for the ride, they do know those (live) moments.”
“SHISH”’s heavier tone is not just about a rift; it’s about where Gourley calls home: the state of Alaska.
“Alaskans support our local communities, we support the people around us and we are not pacifists, we show up in defense of community,” said Gourley, “That’s what “SHISH” is, and it’s very much Portugal. The Man.”
The Alaskan way of supporting one another is what helped Gourley grow PTM into its own community. In that community, Gourley is committed to making listeners mindful of Alaska and moreover, America’s indigenous history and environmental status. One point Gourley made was how all political backgrounds can agree on preserving nature.
“I don’t know many conservative folks who don’t agree. You want to support hunters’ conservation? You want to support fishing communities’ conservation?” Gourley said, “You need to think about these things, what does the future look like if you take every apple off that tree?”
The reason Gourley believes PTM is a politically active group that still includes everyone is that they can’t create music without having everyone observe it and be a part of it.
“In the art world, it’s very clear; honesty wins every time and never show up expecting something of people, that’s what we do as Americans often,” Gourley said, “We show up expecting because it’s about me, It’s not about me, music is not about me, if music was about me I’d be sitting alone in a room, music and art is about us, if we’re not showing up together, none of this will work.”
PTM continues their honesty through the stories told on “SHISH.” One example is the song Tanana, named after the Tanana village of the same name in Alaska. Gourley said that “the idea that is Alaskan to me, you show up with your fucking Grammy. It’s like this fucking village, and you’re gonna … go to a potluck, everybody brings food. It’s a celebration.”
Most important for the celebration? Playing the “song that everybody knows” and “tear[ing] the house down.”
“It is a party. Everybody’s dancing. And that is Alaska to me. Nobody cares about your Grammy, nobody cares about your shing fucking things, your little awards,” said Gourley. “It is all about community. And it’s everything in this world.”
Coming from the Tanana village in Alaska, Gourley projects into this world that PTM also means being humble.
“People need to get humbled. When I see the way they act out there, like it about you,” said Gourley. “It’s never about you, it’s about us, always.”
Portugal. The Man is playing Roadrunner, 89 Guest Street, Boston, MA 02135 on Saturday, November 29 at 7 p.m. Click here for tickets and more information.
