Boating with Clyde
An interview with Clyde Petersen of Seattle, Washington
Facilitated by Mary Morgan
The project Boating With Clyde features artist, filmmaker, and musician Clyde Petersen getting other musician friends on a boat (that he made himself!) and taking them out onto the water to record a session. It started in 2010, and has since been featured as part of a film festival. The project has even turned into an art installation, and the webisodes are available as a series online.
Clyde Petersen
Tell us about Lake Washington or the Puget Sound (for those that have never been)!
The Puget Sound defines the towns of western Washington, from Bellingham to Olympia. It is nestled between the Cascades and the Olympic Mountains. Seattle is home to two lakes, Lake Union and Lake Washington, and they connect to the Puget Sound by a canal and a set of locks, maintaining water levels throughout the year and assisting in shipping and personal boat transit.
How do you pick which musicians get to have the experience with you?
Homosexuals get top priority. After that, additional talent is considered. Some bands write in and ask to play, sometimes I chase a band around and try to get them to play. I attempt to get bands on tour out onto the lake, since it’s a fun way to hang out.
What is it you notice about an area when your perspective is by water rather than by being on land?
Seattle has a terrible traffic problem, so as soon as you hit the water, it’s instant relief. You can lay in a boat in Lake Union and watch the rush hour creep by. I highly recom mend viewing Seattle by boat. It is incredible.
I heard you made the 8-ft. dinghy by yourself! (A pink rowboat named Sparky Taylor.) But, sometimes other floating crafts accompany you to watch. Who gets to come along, and in what other kinds of boats?
I had two friends help me build the boat: Evan Clark and Sparky Taylor. I named it after Sparky because I consider her a very charming person, and this call boat has a lot of character and charm as well. Sometimes we rent additional canoes, or borrow water crafts from neighbors. Other times guests are forced to ride on inflatable turtles.
What is a typical reaction from a participant once they've been boating with you?
Guests are usually pleasantly surprised at how dry they remain and they have a great time. After the shoot, they usually say, “I’m hungry and I have to pee.”
What is your most popular episode as of right now, and why do you think that is?
The most viewed episode is Dylan Carlson of the band Earth. They have been around for over 20 years, so it is not surprising that people want to see Dylan play guitar in a boat.
Clockwise from top left:
Daylan Carlson, DavEnd, Madeline Adams, Jordan O’ Jordan
What's something that happens on a boat as a performance space that would never happen in the usual settings?
People have to adapt, relax, and reorient themselves with sound in a different way. There are only battery-powered things on the boat, so punk bands are quiet and have to really listen to each other. It’s magic.
Do you have any favorite stories that happened during a filming of “Boating with Clyde''? Has anything ever accidentaly gone awry?
The Little Mermaid sing-a-long with DavEnd was my favorite event. Nothing terrible has ever happened. My van has died a bunch of times at the lake, but it’s fun to have Harry and the Potters jump start your car.
Last year when “Three Dolar Bil Cinema'' interviewed you, they asked: “What can the audience experience during the show?''
And you said this awesome thing:
“Boating with Clyde is a realy good time. If you like to watch channel-9 style live performances of music, science, gay fish puppets, boats, queer people, baby ducks and gay cruising in the arboretum then you should smoke a big joint and come on down to the show and chil out. I wil show you a whole bunch of selections from Boating with Clyde, the Nautical Adventure Series.''
Anything you can add to this beautiful summary for Quickest Flipest and the series' direction in the future?
This summer we hosted Holodeck Heart, a new queer Star Trek band. I’m hoping to guide the series in two distinct directions. Heavily local and flamboyantly queer.
Finally, what's one of the keys to your nautical heart, Clyde?
Seeking: Flagrant Homosexual for baby hating artistic snobbery coupled with a fine saddlebag of raw talent in many fields, an exquisite taste for the finer things and for making them yourself, and an ability to not be tied to the 9-5 day. Bikes a plus, muppet admiration a plus, pot a plus when coupled with insane art films and vintage porn. Have to be able to stay awake ‘til the wee hours of Pride Sunday. Those are some of the keys. Now if I could only find the locks.
