Our sound engineer Pete Plympton (on the left, next to our bassist Phil Baker), is a man of both incredible patience and incredible talent; he’s stuck with us since our earliest days performing at small clubs in our hometown of Portland, Oregon, in 1995, and we would be lost without him. An absolute and steady rock behind the engineer’s desk, he is a much bigger key to our successful concerts than our fans realize; he can make us sound harmonious in a tiny jazz club or in the vastness of the Hollywood Bowl. He deserves a trophy, or five, and we’ll make him a big one. Born in Portland, Pete grew up in a family of eight in Oregon City, on the Clackamas River, fortunately loving anything musical and fascinated by sound. After dabbling as a musician with a few local bands, he quickly realized he was best suited to a roll off-stage, engineering for prominent Portland bands and venues in the late 1980s and early 1990s, before getting that providential call from Thomas Lauderdale, inviting him into the Pink Martini family. We’ve kept a tight hold on him ever since! Pete resides in the Portland area with his longtime girlfriend.
1. If you could have seen any musician in concert, dead or alive, who you never got to see live, who would it be?
Sitting on that rooftop with The Beatles playing live in 1969
2. What is your favorite Pink Martini song to perform?
“U plavu zoru” is a blast to mix
3. What Pink Martini song gets stuck in your head?
“No hay problemo” is so good
4. If you had a robot that could do one household chore for you… what would it be?
Find that one thing I am looking for
5. If you could instantly be fluent in any language, which?
Spanish
6. Who is your favorite movie director?
The master, Alfred Hitchcock
7. What was the first concert you ever saw?
The Grass Roots in 1971ish
8. If you could have one dish from any restaurant appear instantly anytime, which?
The whole buffet at any Indian restaurant
9. What music would you choose as a soundtrack to your most triumphant moment?
Me whistling “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life”
10. What’s your favorite sweet/dessert?
Baklava
11. Pride of Lions, Pod of Whales… what would you call a pack of squirrels?
Bird food bandits
12. Are you on the party bus or sleepy bus?
Sleeepy
13. If you could safely tour any ancient civilization, which?
Any one that is CIVILIZED… or an audience of stone age people would be cool or good at this point.
14. What is your favorite non-musical hobby?
Fixing things, and domesticity
15. If you were instantly skilled enough to have any one other occupation in the world besides musician, what would you choose?
A pilot, I love to fly
16. What is your favorite city in the world?
So many, but Portland Oregon is my favorite
17. What’s the most fun thing about being in Pink Martini?
Mixing the band and hanging out in amazing towns and venues
18. How did you choose your musical instrument?
I think mother nature did that
19. How are you keeping sane and calm during this crisis and these weeks of quarantine?
Long country drives with my girlfriend