“It’s Music About Music”: Perren on “The Spot,” the Flow, & the Joy of Creating Without Expectation

Perren © Hailey Jansson
Perren © Hailey Jansson
The beating heart of his recently released third album, Perren’s “The Spot” is a gentle, hypnotic meditation on creation, collaboration, and being fully present, capturing the warmth, looseness, and deep human connection of three musicians finding transcendence together in a cold upstate garage.
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Stream: “The Spot” – Perren




The coolest shit can be happening to an audience of no one, so who gives a f*? Go do the thing.

* * *

There’s a peace that settles over you the moment “The Spot” begins.

The guitars sway like wind-chimes in slow motion, Jonah Yoshonis’ voice rising and falling in lockstep with the lead melody until the two feel inseparable – twin threads of one drifting thought. Perren’s music is tranquil and hypnotic, equal parts meditation and mantra. He doesn’t ask for attention so much as he holds you there, suspended in the warmth, like sunlight filtering through dust.

Waking up in a new place
By now, I am able to embrace
What deserves memory space
And what to erase

The title track off Perren’s recently released third album The Spot (August 8 via Callback Projects), “The Spot” is as much about process as it is about presence – and a spectacular introduction to an artist and record worthy of everyone’s attention.

The Spot - Perren
The Spot – Perren

“’The Spot’ is the song about making the album,” Yoshonis explains. “It’s about being in a totally unfamiliar place and still finding connection. It’s about finding the perfect balance between sounds and words and feelings: That’s the spot.” The song was born in a cold garage in upstate New York, where Yoshonis, Mike Dvorscak (Birdwing), and Evan Marré (Russell the Leaf) spent eight days swapping instruments, tracking live, and learning to trust instinct over precision. You can hear that looseness in every note – the way each instrument breathes, the way every chord feels like discovery.

The result is a gentle kind of alchemy: Three musicians chasing stillness and finding transcendence instead. “’The Spot’ is just a few people jamming in a cold garage,” Yoshonis reflects. “That’s the best shit. There are all these other things that music can become but nothing beats just doing it.” That sentiment radiates through the entire track. It’s “music about music” – a love letter to creation itself, captured in real time. You can practically feel the space between them, the hum of the amp, the soft rattle of a snare.

As the song unfolds, the lyrics trace that feeling of arrival: “Waking up in a new place / by now, I am able to embrace / what deserves memory space / and what to erase.” It’s self-reflection without self-pity, the sound of someone learning to let go. And when Yoshonis sighs, “That’s the spot,” it lands like an exhale – the point where everything finally aligns. “The Spot,” he says, “is about the way music can exist when there’s no expectation or intention other than just wanting to play with other people for the joy of it.”

A chain of events far beyond
My comprehension
Brought me to this little town
I hope it works out
Does this sound good to you
Is it angry
Maybe a bit confused
That’s the spot
Perren © Dane McGoldrick
Perren © Dane McGoldrick

There’s humility in that, and joy too. After years of making music alone, Yoshonis lets collaboration take the wheel here – and the result feels alive, present, and deeply human.

“While other songs in the album are about loss, grief, trying to get over apathy,” he says, “the title track is sort of the appendix or maybe the behind-the-scenes of the album – ’cause it’s the song about the album. It’s music about music.”

And that’s exactly what makes it so special: “The Spot” captures lightning in a room – a moment of unguarded creativity that you can’t fake or force, only feel.

With its soothing repetition and quiet revelation, “The Spot” is both a state of mind and an invitation. It asks you to breathe, to be still, and to remember why we make art in the first place: for connection. For joy. For the love of doing it.

Russell told me
Listen up, here’s a hint
Stand in this spot
Promise you it’s the shit
Angles perfect for the stereos to hit
That’s the spot

“The Spot” feels like the calm after the storm – a love letter to creation, collaboration, and the beauty of simply being present. Perren turns process into poetry and stillness into sound – a tender celebration of friendship, flow, and artistic trust. As he steps into this next chapter, Jonah Yoshonis reminds us that the best music doesn’t chase perfection; it lives in the moment. And this one, without question, hits the spot.

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:: stream/purchase The Spot here ::
:: connect with Perren here ::

— —

Stream: “The Spot” – Perren



Perren "The Spot" © Dane McGoldrick
Perren “The Spot” © Dane McGoldrick

A CONVERSATION WITH PERREN

The Spot - Perren

Atwood Magazine: Hey Jonah, thanks for your time today! For those who are just discovering you today through this writeup, what do you want them to know about you and your music?

Perren: Thanks for having me. I’d want them to know that me and my music are an amalgamation of all the people and artists I’ve been fortunate to know. That’s my value system: all these relationships I’m so lucky to have that I hope show through my music as moments of homage and allusion to the (hopefully) best parts I’ve picked up from others along the way.

Gotta ask, why the name “Perren” - is it a family thing, or a friend nickname, or totally unrelated?

Perren: It’s my middle name. I’m happy with the job my folks did: thanks for the cool name, mom and dad.

Perren: When we live tracked it, I had an entirely different set of lyrics that were heavier and didn’t feel right. At some point during the second or third day of recording, Evan Marré wrote “the spot” on a piece of tape and stuck it on a moving blanket behind the control desk. His point was that it designated the best position to hear the playback. So later that night, I reworked the words to tell the story of going to Watervliet NY to record this album.

Perren © Dane McGoldrick
Perren © Dane McGoldrick



You’ve said this song is “just a few people jamming in a cold garage.” What is it about, for you?

Perren: For me, it’s about the way music can exist when there’s no expectation or intentions other than just wanting to play with other people for the joy of it. And trying to figure that balance out along the way, but mainly trusting the process and not being too precious about anything. The coolest shit can be happening to an audience of no one, so who gives a f*? Go do the thing.

How does this track fit into the overall narrative of your sophomore album of the same name - and why did you end up naming the album The Spot?

Perren: While other songs in the album are about loss, grief, trying to get over apathy, blah blah blah, the title track is sort of the appendix or maybe the behind the scenes of the album – cause it’s the song about the album. It’s music about music. And something was so perfect about Evan’s piece of tape and the image motif of the moving blanket that it had to be the album name. It just did.

Perren © Hailey Jansson
Perren © Hailey Jansson



For me, it’s about the way music can exist when there’s no expectation or intentions other than just wanting to play with other people for the joy of it.

* * *

How do you feel your new album captures your art and artistry today - especially compared to your past records - and what can fans and new listeners alike look forward to hearing on it?

Perren: The biggest difference that I hope is conveyed in “The Spot” – compared to past releases “Little Brother” and “Lazy Eye” – is that this one was made collaboratively. In the past, I’ve played almost every instrument on the albums but for this, we all played musical chairs and live tracked nearly all of it. I hope people can hear that it’s us playing with joy and discovery in the same room. I want people to feel like they are in the garage with us and nothing else exists besides that moment.

What do you hope listeners take away from “The Spot,” and what have you taken away from creating it and now putting it out?

Perren: I’d hope people hear the album and want to go play music in their friend’s basement. Don’t be too stubborn or protective over what happens when you are making things with others. Deep breaths. Be fully present. I hope I am able to meditate on these simple things – that are hitting different now that I’m 30 – enough so that they become reflexes. I just wanna keep making music with whoever and wherever and whenever.

— —

:: stream/purchase The Spot here ::
:: connect with Perren here ::

— —

Stream: “The Spot” – Perren



— — — —

The Spot - Perren

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? © Hailey Jansson


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