Blending dreamy instrumentation with powerful lyrics is singer-songwriter and versatile recording artist D. Marin Perez with his newest single, a moving alternative rock song titled "Senator Senator"
Growing up in a Cuban-American household in Florida, Perez was immersed in 60s rock and Mormon hymns from a young age. As he matured, songwriting became a refuge to explore complex themes of family, faith, justice, politics, love, and loss. These subjects play a key role in his music today and beyond.
With "Senator Senator," D. Marin Perez invites listeners on a journey through his distinct musical style and meaningful, immersive lyrics. The instrumentation is top-tier, rounded out by pristine production and Perez's dreamy vocals, which anyone can appreciate.
This sweet-sounding, heartwarming alternative-rock song opens with dreamy yet deep instrumentation drenched in rhythm guitars, anticipation-packed drums, and D. Marin Perez's haunting, silky vocals. "Senator Senator" is the perfect introduction to the artist's meaningful and instrumental-heavy songs, offering an anthemic listening experience while touching on complex subjects of politics, love, and loss.
It's a powerful and dynamic song that sways between warm alt-rock and a gritty, heavier edge that keeps us locked in for the ride. D. Marin Perez has done an incredible job creating an immersive listening experience that not only showcases his raw emotions but also in a vulnerable, authentic way that makes listeners easily relate. If you're in need of a Sonic pick-me-up, this is your new go-to.
Find D. Marin Perez's captivating new single, "Senator Senator" on all digital streaming platforms.
Welcome to Buzz, D. Marin! We're really moved by the depth and power of your latest single, "Senator Senator." What inspired you to write a song that touches on themes of politics, love, and loss?
Thank you for the kind words! Why would I write a political song? For context, I come at the word "politics" like its shorthand for "the ongoing negotiation of a people's shared life together." Doesn't that kind of defang an often filthy-sounding word? Shouldn't we all want to be part of the ongoing negotiation of our shared life together? I remember the moment the first lyric for "Senator Senator" hit me in the late summer of 2023.
I was inspired by an op-ed wherein the author argued that elected leaders don't mind our country's obsession with culture wars -- if common folk gets preoccupied enough with the back-and-forth of a culture war, they just might fail to notice the implementation of concrete policy and governing decisions that affect their daily lives, like the Federal Reserve continually raising interest rates (that was the example in the author's article). Before I sound too partisan -- I get that it's a tough job to cool inflation, it sucks to raise interest rates, and the economy is a delicate beast—no shade to Jerome Powell.
What stuck with me from the article was this idea that once we elect folks to public office, they seem to operate not in the public interest. That's what "Senator Senator" is about, along with a (possibly) ridiculous belief that our elected officials could still turn from the Dark Side ("There is still good in him" - Luke Skywalker).
Your sound smoothly transitions between dreamy alt-rock and edgier moments in "Senator Senator." How did you approach crafting the song's dynamic arrangement and production?
I often hear drums, guitars, keys, and other instruments when I'm writing a song, like, "Ooh, what would drums be like in this section?" or "Could this use some horns?" I spent my teenage years recording home demos with drums, guitars, and keys, so it's some muscle memory I draw on quite a bit, almost instinctively at this point. That's the first answer.
The second and arguably more important answer is that "Senator Senator" wouldn't be what it is today without collaborating with my friend (and Engineer/Producer) Cameron Bina (of Cam Bina, the Band). He and I have been working on this record since November of last year, and I think we've both been pleasantly surprised at what phenomenal working chemistry we have in the studio.
What's made this process really, really special is that we've been recording these songs straight to a cassette tape on a Yamaha MT8X, trying to get near-perfect takes of various instruments on the eight tracks available to us before we make use of any digital recording tech. Every song on this record, including "Senator Senator," has a warmer, vintage undertone due to these production choices, and I couldn't be happier about that.
Regarding the lyrics in "Senator," was it challenging to open up and share such personal feelings and experiences through your songwriting?
Pessimistically or self-consciously, I know it's kind of "en vogue" to criticize politicians and the political class. It can be easy to write off protest songs because of the ubiquity of political statements in our culture and all over social media. For me, some level of civic engagement is non-negotiable, and I think more of us should be engaged in some kind of advocacy, protest, or organizing work.
When your senator, councilmember, or presidential candidate takes the big bucks from corporate special interests in exchange for political influence or favors, he or she is not looking out for your community, your family, or you. And that ought to feel personal for each of us, I think. The lyrics for "Senator Senator" reflect that frustration, tinged with tongue-in-cheek sincerity.
How do you feel your background as a former minister and community organizer shapes your artistic perspective and the issues you explore in your music?
As a minister and community organizer, I spent a lot of time and energy talking about values and meaning. Who matters? What matters? What does a good life look like? What does thriving and belonging look like? To me, the best of ministry and organizing gets to the same question: what does it mean to love my neighbor? And if that isn't a political question, I'm not sure what is (if politics = the ongoing negotiation of a people's shared life together).
Being a person of faith taught me that people really matter, that loving others really matters; becoming politically involved in community organizing taught me that love in public looks like pursuing justice (to paraphrase Cornel West) -- fighting for affordable housing, ending homelessness, standing with marginalized folks, and on. When I left the ministry, it became really important to me that my songwriting integrate those values and reflect those questions of meaning.
What do you hope listeners take away from hearing "Senator Senator?" What kind of impact do you aim to have with a song like this?
I hope folks who are generous enough to take a listen to "Senator Senator" ENJOY the experience, first off. It's a fun, uptempo tune with some interesting musical stuff going on. I still have fun when I listen to it (and I've heard it more times in the last several months than anyone reading this will in their entire lifetimes). But more to your point, I think: to the folks who are feeling jaded by our political mess (rightfully), I hope "Senator Senator" is cathartic. I hope it can offer some further language for them to feel the frustration of having elected officials who care more for their pensions and corporate payouts than the populations they represent.
Secondly, to the folks who don't have much of a civic life, who haven't had the chance or the time to get involved with "politics" (the ongoing negotiation of a people's shared life together), I hope "Senator Senator" at least demonstrates what's at stake if we're not engaged in that conversation. At best, politicians cave to special interests and line their personal pockets.
At worst, those special interests sway public policy in ways that destroy communities, the environment, and probably democracy in the United States as we know it. It's kind of a heavy note to end on. Find a local community organizing group doing work in an arena of public life that you care about (immigrants' rights, tenants' rights, affordable housing, food justice, LGBTQ advocacy, raising the minimum wage, voting rights, and on and on and on.
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