He appreciates Droge's care for the songwriting process, and he said working with Droge pushed his work to a new level. When I'm writing songs, I don't notice time passing." Singer/songwriter Stephen Ashbrook of Portland is one of the artists - along with the likes of Pearl Jam's Stone Gossard - who have come to Droge's Puzzle Tree recording studio on Vashon. "When I'm in the studio recording, I don't notice time passing. "They were the things that make time disappear," Droge said. He chose the option that would allow him to do the things that make him happiest: writing and recording. Droge figured he had three options at that point: Go out and find another major label record deal, stay on the road and build a fan base through touring, or invest in recording equipment and set up a studio at home.
He got dropped from his label, Epic, and because of the contract he had with the major label, Droge was entitled to a pile of cash. It's more kind of looking at the long term and thinking, 'Is this where I want to spend the rest of my life?'" After supporting 1998's "Spacey and Shakin,'" Droge was in a position to make some changes.
I think I did it at a good time in my life, in my 20s. "There were parts of it that I liked," he said. But it didn't take him very long to determine that he wasn't going to spend the rest of his life living out of the back of a bus. For the most part, (for) recording artists, selling records is about the last place they make money." Droge worked the road-heavy rock-and-roll circuit for the first three records of his career. "Fewer people are buying records now than they used to. "How am I going to go out and play for 22 million people?" he said. With that kind of television audience, Droge has a hard time justifying a return to the road. "It's not going to suck, you know what I mean? It just might be harder work to get through it." Seeing 'Grey' The title track from "Under the Waves" appeared in this year's season finale of "Grey's Anatomy," seen by an estimated 22 million people. "I'm going to have to do some serious practicing before the gig to get comfortable," he said. It will be his first live performance in more than two years. With his new solo record "Under the Waves" ready to hit the shelves on Tuesday, Droge has a whopping two shows lined up to support it, with one date conveniently falling at Seattle's Tractor Tavern on Thursday. But that's all since changed, and the Pete Droge that spent 18 months on the road supporting his debut, "Necktie Second," is now making a living producing other artists, while Hollywood and performers like Shawn Mullins expose his songs to the masses. "It's pretty amazing that you can sort of track and trace," the 37-year-old Droge said, "and get a better sense of who's discovering the music and why." Droge's business plan in the mid '90s was standard to that of most other rockers with a major label deal and gold records on their mind: record, tour, repeat. He's noticed some of the teenage "Friends" on his MySpace page list the movie, starring Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels, among their favorites.
"It had a huge impact, and it still does." The definitely-1990s guitar, cowbell and echoing drums continues to be many listeners' entree to the Bainbridge Island-raised musician's songs. "I had no idea what that meant," Droge said in a recent phone interview from his home studio on Vashon Island. As the scene unravels in the now-classic 1994 film "Dumb and Dumber," Pete Droge is unknowingly getting a massive boost in exposure, as his first single, "If You Don't Love Me (I'll Kill Myself)" plays in the background. The social mutant took the gesture as an attack, and Harry pelted his female companion in the face with a pile of ice, initiating a head-in-the-snow fight that didn't end till they had each rolled through the Aspen snow. Mary was only teasing as she playfully tossed a handful of snow at Harry.