Page The Village Idiot
Michael Winslow was the first person to absolutely astound me in this life. Ever since I saw the Police Academy movies, I wanted to use my voice to create sound effects just like him. There were many inspirations along the path that led me to become the artist I am today. Elton John & Billy Joel made me want to play the piano. Metallica & Guns n’ Roses gave me the desire to pick up electric & acoustic guitars. For bass, it was Cliff Burton, Geezer Butler, Duff McKagan & Les Claypool. The drummer in me pretty much identified with anyone who beat the shit out of their kits.
In 1999, heard Enemy by Days Of The New, which used a repetitive drum machine beat & featured acoustic guitars. That song altered my idea of what a song could be. Travis Meeks is one of my favorite musicians of all time. Go watch him perform The End with The Doors, it’s epic.
My problem was keeping bands together. I could never find more than one dedicated member at a time. In hindsight, the amount of anguish I allowed myself to feel over this was absurd. I let it burn me out from music altogether. And when I moved to Arizona in 2003, I had no intentions of having anything to do with music.
A few years later I would meet Jordan Boen at Arizona Tile in Scottsdale, who is primarily a drummer but can also play guitar & bass. We made music as a 2 piece in the studio, then tried to fill out the bands for live shows.
At some point in 2007, he convinced me to go with him to the Rhythm Room, a legendary blues & jazz bar that’s been around forever, in Phoenix, AZ. On this particular evening there was an artist he had been telling me about for months. This is back in the day so we used to check him out on Myspace. Page The Village Idiot. One Man Band Extraordinaire!
Before we left the house, Jordan offered (force fed) magick mushrooms into my face. Page, who is originally from Chicago, was opening for Captured By Robots. Check out the link, wild stuff. It was like watching a mad magician with instruments as props. He had foot things & synth things & drum machines & fanny packs. The dude shredded on the electric guitar. The whole time I was thinking to myself “he’s doing this all by himself?”. How is that even possible? Is this guy even human?
For the next 5 years I obsessed about what I saw that night. Without Page The Village Idiot aka Peter Davis (I hear that’s not even his real name), I am not sure there would have been an I Am Hologram. This is the man that inspired me to do what I do. And to express my admiration for the artist (sometimes) known as PTVI, I asked him if he would answer a few of my fanboy inquiries.
ABMR: This was in response to me trying to figure out the exact show I saw him at.
PTVI: Hey Rich. I believe the show I met you at was Captured by Robots (it was his 80's themed robot wedding show) at Rhythm Room.
ABMR: How long have you been playing music?
PTVI: I grew up with a piano in my family's house. Around age 4 I got into trouble for running a can of tomato sauce up and down the keys. It wasn't until many years later that I realized I was just channeling John Cage. Around 4th grade I took the sheet music for Beth by Kiss to my piano teacher. That was a key moment in wanting to play music: to learn how to play something your idols wrote showed me the power and joy of playing.
ABMR: How many instruments do you play and what was your first instrument?
PTVI: Bass guitar was my first serious instrument. I was very active in the Phoenix metal scene in the 80's and 90's as a bassist. Great memories of opening up for Flotsam & Jetsam at house parties and dive bars. I also play ukulele and love to fiddle around on the Fender Rhodes electric piano.
ABMR: What was the first piece of music that really spoke to you?
PTVI: I remember being on a field trip to see the Chicago Symphony when I was 10, and they played A Fifth of Beethoven by Walter Murphy. Hearing a rock ensemble backed by a symphony was the biggest sound I had ever heard. Definitely a game changer!
ABMR: When did you start performing as Page The Village Idiot?
PTVI: In the late nineties was playing bass in an industrial metal band called Idols of Perversity. I went to Big Fish Pub open mic and played a couple of acoustic songs. I got laughs and that made me want to do it again and again.
ABMR: I know you dig all kinds of music, what are your biggest influences for PTVI?
PTVI: When I was just beginning to imagine being a solo artist, I had a dream of Frank Zappa playing acoustic guitar alone and doing a song called Vomit from the Comets. I took it as a sign and a mission statement to be funny and diverse like Frank but do it all by myself.
ABMR: You play with another band now? Future Exes? How was it going from one man band to a full band?
PTVI: Playing with Future Exes feels like I got a wish granted from the Make A Wish Foundation. I love just being responsible for just playing lead guitar while having a great band to canvas on. It's a lot easier to sound good when you're playing with a great ensemble.
ABMR: There are 3 albums online for PTVI. Are there any others that aren't online? Anything new in the near future?
PTVI: There was a live album called Live Boob-leg that was available for a while at shows only. I have the material for a new album but I feel like I have already grown out of some of the material since the world has changed so much (and changed my perspective too). I have written a few songs during the pandemic (both for PTVI and Exes), but mostly I have been studying the music and music theory of others (Eno, Byrne, Stockhausen, Jobim and George Russell).
ABMR: Give me one random non musical fact about you.
PTVI: I have a Master's degree in Library Science. So when I tell people to' look it up' or 'do your research'...I REALLY REALLY MEAN IT!!!
On July 15th, 2015, I was the featured artist at an open mic at the famous Yucca Tap Room in Tempe, Arizona. I had just got back from tour with Four Skin & getting asked to be a part of some very cool events. Somewhere there is a bootleg of this 30 minute set. I know it exists Tom!
Page happened to be in attendance. After my set he complimented my style as a one man band. That’s when I got to tell him. He had no idea that he was the inspiration for it all. When I was done telling him my story, he had a big smile on his face.
That was one of my top 10 moments in music.
Give him a follow, read some more articles about him, click on the links
Bandcamp IHeart Radio Apple Music Instagram
Twitter MySpace Spotify ReverbNation Facebook
Article by Yab Yum Article by Phoenix New Times
One of my last events before the shutdown in 2020 was at Yucca Tap Room with Page & our mutual friend Via Vengeance, who is also a one man band.
This article was partially written to bring light to the venue that made this all possible. The Rhythm Room was hit particularly hard by COVID-19. Their main source of revenue comes directly from live music events & their doors have not been able to open since last March. On March 5th, 2020, 12 days before Arizona shutdown, I Am Hologram performed a set there.
My friends Snailmate are/were employed there, as well as other employees who have had to find new sources of income.
This venue is an absolute piece of Phoenix history. They have already reached their goal on their GoFundMe, but every bit helps. Here are some links to local media covering the story.