Peter Green is the main singer/songwriter behind the group Class as well as the president and owner of Double Agent Records. Although they never play live, Class has released a critically acclaimed LP “First Class” and a remix EP called “A Quiet Life”. Both releases have mellow songs with electronic melodies as well as acoustic guitars. It is atmospheric futuristic music that could be in a sci-fi film-noir movie. Class have married ambient textures with acoustic guitar pop. Leigh Tsai accompanies Peter on vocals with her beautiful and ethereal voice. “A Quiet Life” EP has many varied yet all ethereal remixes of “Strobe Light”. Other jewels include “Japanese Technology”, “Holding Hands”, and “Sierra (Chasing My Dream)”. On other releases, they have added their signature sound to many cover versions. They contributed a mellow, acoustic version of “I’m Not Always So Stupid” to The Wedding Present tribute LP. They also did a cover of “We Don’t Have To Take Our Clothes Off” for a tribute to the music of the 80’s. At the same time, Peter Green founded Double Agent Records. This small label is the new home of The Telescopes and Unisex. Other bands like My Favorite and Rose Melberg have released incredible albums through Double Agent. Music is in Peter Green’s blood. His father, Dan Green, was a professional songwriter. While the band Class has been quiet and their future unknown, Peter Green has had his hands filled as both a graphic designer and an owner of a record label. On a cold Friday evening in December, I had an in depth conversation with Peter about music, running a record label, the future and past of Class, The Telescopes, My Favorite and much more! So, live the quiet life and get yourself some Class!”

T.JONES: “What goes on?”
PETER GREEN of CLASS: “Not much, I’m in Manhattan.”

T. JONES: “Your new album is called ‘A Quiet Life’ EP. Tell us about it?”
PETER GREEN of CLASS: “Not too new I think but I'm still happy with it. When I try to write new songs, I realize I already made the songs I want. They're on that EP, so no need to make more.”

T.JONES: “What is the meaning behind the title?”
PETER GREEN of CLASS: “It’s from the last song ‘Number One’, about exactly that and how I'd like to live a quiet life.”

T. JONES: “Do you have a favorite song on ‘A Quiet Life’?”
PETER GREEN of CLASS: “Japanese Technology.”

T. JONES: “How did you meet Leigh Tsai?”
PETER GREEN of CLASS: “She lived down the hall, freshman year in college. She liked Smashing Pumpkins and Belly. I got her into Blur and The Field Mice.”

T.JONES: “Are you romantically involved with her?”
PETER GREEN of CLASS: “Nope.”

T.JONES: “What made you form the group Class?”
PETER GREEN of CLASS:  “I enjoyed a lot of acoustic, simple music and wanted to try making some too.  Leigh is a violin virtuoso, been playing since she was 2, so I begged her to play with me. Class has never been about playing live or getting famous, just making good music. So when I promised Leigh would never have to perform on stage, she agreed to record with me. Previous to that, I recorded some songs with Shivika from Papas Fritas adding vocals under the name Zaius.”

T.JONES: “Who does what in Class?”
PETER GREEN of CLASS: “I write, sing, produce, play guitar, and keyboards. Leigh sings and plays violin and piano.”

T.JONES: “As an musician, who were some of your major influences?”
PETER GREEN of CLASS: “The Field Mice, Simon and Garfunkel, Ride, Everything But The Girl and other early 90’s bands.”

T.JONES: “How did you get the name Class? Is there a deeper meaning than the typical meaning?"
PETER GREEN of CLASS: “We just wanted to be classy, not grungy and punk, so we chose Class.”

T.JONES: “Your father, Dan Green,  is also an artist. Tell me about him.”
PETER GREEN of CLASS: “In the late 60's, he was paid as a songwriter. He'd go to work and write songs for a company that would try to sell them to popular acts and some got pretty well known. The Duprees, Reparata and the Delrons, The Peppermint Rainbow, etc. Soul fans know who they are.”

T.JONES: “Do you go into the studio with pre-written themes and lyrics or do you hear the music first and write then and there?”
PETER GREEN of CLASS: “We recorded everything at home. I usually experiment, write and record demos all at the same time. See how it develops.  Definitely no pre-written structures.”

T.JONES: “How and why did you start Double Agent Records? How did you get the money?”
PETER GREEN of CLASS: “I started it back in 1995. I knew a lot of great college bands making great demo tapes. I work as a graphic designer to pay for the label.”

T.JONES: “What is the meaning behind the name, Double Agent?”
PETER GREEN of CLASS: “It is a personal story I rarely share, sorry.”

T.JONES:  “What is the best thing about having your own indie label? The worst?”
PETER GREEN of CLASS:  “The best is working with bands I love, creating the artwork, etc. The worst is not making a profit.”

T.JONES:  “Did Double Agent Records make a profit this year?”
PETER GREEN of CLASS:  “No.”

T.JONES:  “What is the best selling album on Double Agent?”
PETER GREEN of CLASS: “Rose Melberg and My Favorite's debut album.”

T.JONES: “How did you meet Stephen Lawrie of The Telescopes and Unisex?”
PETER GREEN of CLASS: “I was a big fan when I was 17, I still have my Telescopes t-shirt. After the label got going, I wrote the scopes a latter to see what they were up to, Stephen told me he formed Unisex, and I offered to sign them. After getting back into the music scene, Stephen decided to resurrect The Telescopes.”

T.JONES:  "Which do u like better ‘Stratosfear’ by Unisex of "3rd Wave" by Telescopes?
PETER GREEN of CLASS: “‘Stratosfear’, but don't tell Stephen.”

T.JONES: “What is going on with The Telescopes now?”
PETER GREEN of CLASS: “Stephen is mixing their 4th album, playing shows, and hoping to come to the US next year.”

T.JONES: “How did you meet My Favorite and eventually sign them?”
PETER GREEN of CLASS: “I used to do a fanzine called ‘Splashdown’, which is named after a Telescopes song, and someone sent me My Favorite's demo tape. I really liked it and wrote a nice review, which Michael read. Then, he wrote me a letter. I interviewed him for the final issue of the zine before I started the label. I asked if I could release a song on our first split 7" and he agreed. It did very well, so we teamed up for their debut CD too. It been growing since. After the debut, it was great to get the EPs as they came out, each was amazing, but they next was even better.”

T.JONES: “What’s going on with My Favorite now?”
PETER GREEN of CLASS: “They are going to tour the USA in 2004 and start recording their 3rd album. The new songs are ace!”

T.JONES: “Tell us about the REMIXES for the second CD on the new My Favorite album. How did this come about?”
PETER GREEN of CLASS: “Even though the EPs were limited to only 1000 copies, which means most of the world has never heard them, we wanted to do something for the great My Favorite fans. So if they collected the EPs, they'd still be happy with all the new stuff on the compilation. I personally did some remixes, which the band liked, so we started to ask others to remix too. We were blown away by Phofo's remix. Then, we asked fans to remix too, we got about 30 submissions, chose the best 14.”

T.JONES: “What other projects are Double Agent working on?”
PETER GREEN of CLASS: “I recently did artwork for Fonda, now I'm working on art for a band called ‘timewellspent’. Rose Melberg is working on a new album. My main focus now is getting My Favorite on tour and saving up for the next Scopes album.”

T.JONES: “You did some remixes for My Favorite and Unisex. How did you approach these?”
PETER GREEN of CLASS: “I didn't do scopes. I did Unisex though. That was a good one. I get the song broken down in all parts and listen to them individually, searching for inspiration. For example, in my ‘Suburbs Are Killing Us’ remix, I loved the piano part, so brought that to the front, and made it sadder overall. ‘Homeless Club Kids’, I wanted to tell a story, so it's a big drama, in 3 parts.  I just never want to simply add a funky beat, my remixes are more like ‘re=productions’.

T.JONES: “What artist would you like to collaborate with in the future?”
PETER GREEN of CLASS: “Tricky, I'd say. I always liked him a lot. I'm not interested in signing hot new bands. I still have work to do with the bands we have and love personally. I trust that any song My Favorite write will be amazing. Rose and Stephen too. I don't have that trust in anyone else. I got a great demo from a Czech band, Kitch. We included a song on our comp, and they remixed My Favorite for us.  We were gonna release their album, but they decided they were not happy with it. Shame.”

T.JONES: “Where were you on Sept. 11th, 2001? How did you deal with it? How do you think it has affected or will affect the music industry?”
PETER GREEN of CLASS: “On September 11th, I was in my Apt in Boston. It was all packed up in boxes though because I was planning to move back to NY on 9/13, which I did. The whole thing actually still affects me very hard. It's terrible. I loved the twin towers. The first World Trade Center bombing in 93 was on my birthday, so that stuck with me. I told people often that the terrorists would not be satisfied until the towers were brought down. It makes me sick that I was right.  If I knew that, surely US intelligence should have. I don’t know why I'm even here in NY now, target #1. As for the music industry... no effect.”

T.JONES: “What do you think music needs these days?”
PETER GREEN of CLASS: “Sincerity. My Favorite. Less thugs, more hugs. I don’t know. I don't even feel part of it. I still love vinyl. I don’t have an I pod. I'm behind.”

T.JONES: “If you could remake any song from any artist. What song would it be (off the top of your head)? How would you approach the remake?”
PETER GREEN of CLASS: “We've done a lot of covers as Class. I usually pick a song whose nice lyrics don't fit the poppy production, and strip the song down like we did on the 80's tribute and our covers of The Wedding Present. We did the Field Mice cover for a tribute album that never came out, so we included it on our first album. Recently, I started a cover of The Cure's "Untitled", always one of my favorites.”

T.JONES: “What LP or CD has been in your turntable or your player recently?”
PETER GREEN of CLASS: “New mojave3 album is on there now. Most of my faves are the same or related to my faves when I was younger. I love Ian Brown’s new stuff, and I used to love The Stone Roses. I like Beth Gibbons’ album, and I used to love Portishead. When I was 16, I was into REM and They Might Be Giants, but then I went to England and learned about the Stone Roses and b-sides. That started me as a collector.”

T. JONES: “Word association time.  I’m going to say a name of a group/emcee and you say the first word that pops in your head. So, if I say ‘Chuck D’, you may say ‘Revolution’. If I said ‘Flavor Flav’, you may say ‘Crack’ Okay?”
PETER GREEN of CLASS:  "Okay."
T. JONES: “The Velvet Underground.” 
PETER GREEN of CLASS: “Strum.”
T.JONES: “Happy Mondays.”
PETER GREEN of CLASS: “Madchester.”
T. JONES: “Close Lobsters.”
PETER GREEN of CLASS: “Rock lobster.”
T. JONES: “The Roots.”
PETER GREEN of CLASS: “Erykah Badu. I love that song they have together.”
T.JONES: “Ian Brown.”
PETER GREEN of CLASS: “Monkeyman.”
T.JONES: “Ride.”
PETER GREEN of CLASS: “Sky.”
T. JONES: “The Beautiful South.”
PETER GREEN of CLASS: “Pop.”
T. JONES:  “The Cure.”
PETER GREEN of CLASS: “Disintegration.”
T. JONES: “The Verve”
PETER GREEN of CLASS: “Blue.”
T. JONES: “Jesus And Mary Chain.”
PETER GREEN of CLASS: “Leather.”
T. JONES: “Eminem.”
PETER GREEN of CLASS: “Blonde.”
T. JONES: “George Bush.”
PETER GREEN of CLASS: “Oil.”

T.JONES: "What are some major misconceptions that you think people have of Class?"
PETER GREEN of CLASS: “That we still exist. It has been a long time since the last record.”

T.JONES: “Will there be another Class record?”
PETER GREEN of CLASS: “You never know. I just got some new music software.  I'll probably make music, but don’t know if it will be under the name Class, or if it will involve Leigh.”

T. JONES: “Do you like hip-hop? What are some hip-hop artists you like? Dislike?”
PETER GREEN of CLASS: “You'd be very surprised how much Missy Elliott vinyl I have.  I got into her when ‘Sock It to me’ came out. I knew she would a superstar one day. I also really like Warren G, which is lame, but he's chill. Digable Planets are ace too. I prefer the chill stuff to thug shit. I like trip hop like Tricky too. The Class song ‘Japanese Technology" was definitely influenced by hip-hop, Missy.”

T.JONES: “Where did you grow up? In one phrase or sentence can you describe what was it like grow up?”
PETER GREEN of CLASS: “I grew up on Long Island. It was all phony, I never knew true friends until college.”

T.JONES: “What advice would you give to someone starting their own label?”
PETER GREEN of CLASS:  “Do it if you love music and wanna be part of making music. not if you wanna make money. I was jealous of labels like Kindercore getting financial support but then it became a business and when it didn't make enough, they pulled the plug. I should tell you something, I got very lucky. I owned ‘doubleagent.com’ and in the height of the Internet bubble, I sold it for a sh*tload of cash. Now, we're at doubleagentrecords.com, no big deal. The cash went to the scopes and My Favorite and let Double Agent survive a few more years. The company that bought it from me folded in less than a year. Now, a 3rd owner has the domain, some sleazy magazine. They'll fail too.”

T.JONES: “How has the Internet affected the label? The band Class?”
PETER GREEN of CLASS: “The internet is amazing. It got big when I started the label, and thanks to the web, everyone around the world can hear our bands, and now My Favorite have a big following in Sweden. Class used to get fan letters from Japan with just a 7" out. The Internet is great but these days, I'm sure everyone downloads our music illegally, for free, so it could be hurting us too. Yet, with band names like My Favorite and Class, it very hard to find on Kazaa, etc. When I did a zine, there were printing costs and overstock, etc. The web has eliminated that. It’s wonderful for fans.”

T.JONES: “What have you been doing as a graphic designer?”
PETER GREEN of CLASS: “Here's a website I designed that was just shown on MTV. http://www.nrablacklist.com/  It is about how the NRA has a blacklist. It doesn't have my name on it. It did when it first launched and I got hate mail. Scary. The people behind Stop The NRA hired me to do this too. stopthenra.com . The NRA is crazy.”

T. JONES: “What is the biggest mistake you made in your career?”
PETER GREEN of CLASS: “Probably not getting My Favorite on tour a few years ago. A few shows here and there has not been enough. I did pay to fly them all to California though. After the domain sale, we had cash for fun stuff like that. We all learn more all the time, the label and the bands.”

T.JONES: “Isn't there another band called Class? Has there been problems? What did you think of them?”
PETER GREEN of CLASS: “There is one other Class, yea, but I never contacted him. He was an R&B crooner, I saw his website. There was another Zaius too, we traded tapes.”

T.JONES: “What is the story with the Double Agent Records logo? The rocket ship?”
PETER GREEN of CLASS: “Launched in 1995, Double Agent's rocket speeds through the universe in search of intelligent compositions. I've got it tattooed on my arm too.”

T.JONES: “What remix (of a Class song) do you like the best?”
PETER GREEN of CLASS: “I like the Telescopes remix best. Some band covered strobe light. Oh, and Metronome covered ‘Greys’. That's good too.”

T.JONES: “Tell us about your involvement with The Wedding Present tribute project?”
PETER GREEN of CLASS: “I just always loved that b-side, ‘I’m Not Always So Stupid’, so we did a cover and sent our 7" to David Gedge. He said it was lovely and told The Orange Slices people about it. They did a Weddoes fanzine and planned a tribute, and included our cover version. That was 1998, I think. Volume 2 is available too.”

T. JONES: “Favorite drug?”
PETER GREEN of CLASS: “Weed.”

T. JONES: “How do you like to smoke? Bongs, blunts, spliffs?”
PETER GREEN of CLASS: “Bong.”

T. JONES: “Favorite alcoholic beverage?”
PETER GREEN of CLASS: “Jack & Coke.”

T. JONES: “Do wish to be cremated or buried?”
PETER GREEN of CLASS:  “Cremated for sure, with my vinyl collection, please.”

T.JONES: “Where do you want your ashes spread?”
PETER GREEN of CLASS: “In space.”

T.JONES: “What is in the future for Class, Double Agent Records, and Peter Green?”
PETER GREEN of CLASS: “Well, I'll be 30 in February, so I've been asking that question a lot too. I love and need the label in my life, but I'm sick of working my ass off as a graphic designer to pay the bills. I'd like some personal savings instead of giving all my earnings to the label. So, hopefully the new My Favorite record will sell a lot and the label can support itself.”

T. JONES: “Any final words for the people who will be reading this?”
PETER GREEN of CLASS: “Quality over quantity. Our bands are the best. They are real. Listen to the lyrics. That’s it!”