This week, we have the pleasure of diving into several artists in the Synthwave genre (or in the general realm of the Outrun/Vaporwave universe). Why? See this article.

Perfect Female Type is a Retrosynth Records signed artist that is based in Minneapolis, MN. As it turns out, quite a few artists Tuned Up loves are from there. Author, an art-rock/alt group; Durry, your fav sibling homeschooled rock duo; Toilet Rats, your favorite geeky synthy punk artist; Careful Gaze, earnest post-hardcore… maybe, just maybe, we should add Perfect Female Type to that list.

This artist makes music that sounds as if it were snatched out of a Nickelodeon commercial and then swirled around in a blender with a heaping scoop of Joy Division and New Order instrumentals.

I was born in 1988, but I suddenly like I’m 12 years old and born 10 years earlier. I’m also starting to understand why Joy Electric likes the Moog synthesizer so much (it seems like I’m hearing it here; but alas my ears are untrained).

Anyway, hope you’ll join us in getting to know this artist more. We asked him some questions:

Tuned Up: What resonates with you about the synthwave/retrowave culture? What first drew you in?

Perfect Female Type: It brings me right back to my childhood in the 80s. Also the people are so gosh darn nice.

Is there a core memory from your childhood that you can directly tie to your creative process today?

Hearing I Would Die 4 U by Prince & the Revolution for the first time. I must have been 12 years old. I was standing outside on a sunny day and someone was blasting it from speakers in their window. I remember just standing still and staring at my feet and trying to take it in. I’d never heard anything like it before. That was the first time I knew what it felt like to be in the presence of greatness.

What drink best pairs with listening to your latest release?

The best drink to have while listening to Rosanna is probably a Greyhound.

 If the sky’s the limit – what would be involved in production of your live show?

Lots to look at! More than just me at a keyboard. I’d want dancers, back-up singers, a live drummer, a whole band. Plus some mind-bending visuals of warped 80s videotapes!

What creative influencer (artist, producer, or someone else) needs more recognition?

Lately Neo Tokyo Philharmonic has been blowing my mind.

What excites you about the future of synthwave culture and its adjacent genres?

The movement into the 90s and 2000s. A whole new generation is waking up to nostalgia of their youth, and none of them were alive in the 80s, and maybe not even the 90s! I’m excited about the mechanics of nostalgia that we can put to work on those eras. The Frutiger Aero stuff on Instagram is just nuts. I love it!

What synthwave cover of a popular song needs to exist, that doesn’t yet?

Loverboy by Billy Ocean. Bonus answer: Can’t Slow Down by Lionel Richie

What is there to be excited about in your creative world, at the moment?

Collaborations! I love working with other artists, whether it’s a featured opportunity, a direct collab, or a remix. There are just loads of people who are 100% down to collab in the retrosynth world, even big names!

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Follow Perfect Female Type on Instagram.