photo by Jose Mandojana

In this special bonus episode of BackStory, Pete from Ivan & Alyosha (our Artists in Residence for February 2011!) tells us the story behind their song “Fathers Be Kind.”

“Fathers Be Kind” took about a year to take full shape. I had the verse and melody in my head for a long time and would play it anytime I was near a piano. During this time I kept hearing stories of people who had been negatively affected by their family life. Some of them were such victims of their surroundings that they were on the road to become what they hated; they were turning into their parents. There were others who saw that very dim light at the end of the tunnel. Though they had been dealt a very bad hand in life, they chose to become pioneers in their family. They made a choice not to answer the call of mediocrity.