Pete readily admits that the band name is a snarky bit of self-description. Some people read him as self-confident and assured, others as shy and self-doubting. Thing is, it's all true at once.
Despite any self doubts, Pete picked up a bass guitar at the age of 40, having played only a little bit in college, and decided it was time to make noise. About a year later he auditioned for Gloucester-based dark-wave band Lilac Ambush, and although they could tell he was raw, they took him on. Several great shows followed over the next two to three years and by then it was too late, the performing bug had bit hard.
Having taken up keyboards and guitar as well, Pete looked for an outlet for doing some songwriting of his own. The first iteration of Dirigible Ego was a solo act, Pete on guitar and vocals, with a keyboard workstation doing the rest of the work. Pete did two shows in that mode, one in May 2007 at the late, lamented Sky Bar in Somerville, one at the Cantab Lounge in Cambridge that November, opening for a bill that Lilac Ambush was also on.
A couple of months later Pete was talking about music with Eric, who
revealed his shocking past as a bass player. The rest is history.
Pete at the Lilypad semi-acoustic show. Photo by Mark L Saperstein
Above: Pete at Cantab Lounge, November 2007. Eric caught this show and liked what he heard, thus kicking off Dirigible Ego The Band Version. Photo by Ian Lekus
