Pete Statham Rises From the Ashes

Five years after the demise of his group, Bearforce 1, Netherland singer Pete Statham is back with a new attitude, a new album…and enough energy to keep dance floors moving for years to come.

“Uplifted,” Statham’s labor of love that was years in the making, is a dance music tour de force that is at once of-the-moment and a glimpse into a more innocent past.

As the title track announces:

“I feel uplifted, I’m breathing again

I’m back on track, looking forward again

I feel uplifted, I’m smiling again.”

But just as his debut solo release began gaining steam in the studio, a sudden and tragic loss threatened to derail Pete’s momentum.

“We were scheduled to film the video for the latest single, “Bear for Life”, in November 2012 in Amsterdam,” he said during our interview. “My director and good friend Sergio Ulhoa was supposed to shoot it, but three days before shooting, Sergio died of a heart attack at the age of 51. We were all in shock.”

“Actually….I still am.”

Wrestling with how to proceed, Statham says his partner pushed him to move forward.

Click the pic above to check out the video for “Bear For Life!”

“Jose suggested shooting the clip in Florida,” he said. “He had contacted a director in Miami, Scott Wellington. I sent Scott a long email and told him everything that had happened. He was so touched and taken by it that he decided to help us out and we filmed the ‘Bear for Life’ video in March 2013 in the Everglades, at Vitambi Spring Resorts.”

“Uplifted” offers a jarringly “retro” European feel (without sounding dated…something that is hard to accomplish when using synthesizers and classic disco beats.) Statham succeeds at taking the High NRG groove and pulling it from the 8-track into the age of the downloaded album.

“The vibe of ‘Uplifted’ is a feel good sentiment, although sometimes a little melancholic, especially the track ‘Living Our Lives’. Many songs are about love, relationships, friendships, longing for love, or about missing friends from the past.”

Pete says his partner was the main inspiration for the majority of the album.

“You can see him in the video for ‘Strong’ (he is the bearded guy in the elevator),” he says proudly. “It was filmed in Vienna in June of 2012.”

But reaching beyond his own hardships, joys, and triumphs, Statham says his music, and the music of the community as a whole, is a testament to how far we have come, how we have grown, and how at the end of the day, we really are all in this together.

“Music connects people,” he says. “And being openly gay, it sure gives opportunities to bring people closer together. My lyrics are very universal; many people, either straight or gay, can recognize aspects from it happening in their own lives.”

Statham’s own musical roots reach back to his early childhood.

“I come from a musical family,” he told me. “My father used to play the organ in church and my mom used to play the piano. They assumed I would follow in my father’s footsteps and play the organ in church, twice every Sunday, which is something I did not want to do.”

Years spent singing in several choirs also educated Statham on the intricacies of a musical ear as well as blending his voice with others to create a full, rich sound.

With a tongue-in-cheek nod to the parody of Village People as well as the High NRG feel of the early-80s underground leather and S&M clubs, Bearforce 1 emerged from the Netherlands and quickly gained worldwide recognition for its unusual look and message of diversity within both the gay community and the universal dance scene.

For Statham, his experience as a member of the pop group was a bit of a whirlwind.

“Before joining Bearforce 1, I was in a group called BEARUP! together with a friend, Jan,” Pete says. “Jan saw an announcement in a gay newspaper that they were looking for bearded men who could sing in order to make a single and video. It was meant to be a one-time thing. So both Jan and I applied and they took us.”

Within two weeks, the group had already recorded its debut single, “Bearforce 1”, and found itself flying out to Barcelona to film the video in Sitges, a nearby city known as one of Spain’s most gay-friendly destinations.

“After we put the video on YouTube, we were discovered by Perez Hilton. He called us ‘The most amazing thing ever,’ and within two more weeks we had over one million views.

“That where it all started.”

Although he enjoyed the instant success of Bearforce 1 (and the perks that go along with that attention), Statham felt he had more creativity and more to say than he could express as part of a democratic unit.

“For us, the success was very overwhelming; we all had a blast,” he says. “I had a great time in Bearforce 1. We were having a lot of success with our second single, ‘Christmas is Here,’ and we were touring all over western Europe, Spain, and even the states, but I wanted to express myself more. I wanted to sing more and to compose and write my own music.

“The first guy who left the group was Jan, and a couple of months later I also left.”

These days, creative control is definitely at the center of Pete’s career.

“Several friends of mine wrote songs for the new album and I wrote quite a few songs myself, and I wrote most of the lyrics,” he said.

Although his music career is what is gaining Statham a lion’s share of attention and admiration, he also feels passionately about his “day job” as a humanist spiritual counselor for the Dutch prison system, where he moves out of the spotlight to listen to those who want his ear, not his singing voice or dance moves.

I had to ask him just what a “humanist spiritual counselor” does.

“We have seven different ‘directions’ of counselors,” he told me. “Some have a Christian background, others are Muslim, and we have a Buddhist counselor and a rabbi for Jews.  Humanism is a way of life, where respect is very important. We say, ‘Everybody has to make choices in life,’ but those choices have certain consequences.  I also believe that somehow we are all connected. We are here on this earth to be loving people, to help and inspire one another, and we have to accept our own responsibility. We have to stop ‘referring’ or blaming somebody or something else.

“In prison, I have confidential private talks and group-sessions about existential themes, relationships, loneliness, making choices, consequences…….and about awareness.”

With the release of “Uplifted,” Statham says he would love to be able to perform more in America, and hopes 2014 brings tour dates so he can perform for and meet his fans on this side of the river.

“Right now I am performing in Europe, and will be performing during the closing ceremony of Pride in Amsterdam in August. Soon, I will be doing a duet with Karin Nagi, a Dutch singer. She was in the group Mai Tai, who had a major hit with their single ‘History.’ I also am writing new song material for my next album, including a song I wrote for Sergio, ‘With the Stars.’ I am planning to release that album in 2014.

“And we have plans for a remix version of Uplifted.”

Amsterdam is where mutual friends hooked Statham up with the man he says is his inspiration.

“I wrote several songs for Jose, like ‘Looking for a Heart of Gold.’ He lives in Florida and I live in Amsterdam, so it is definitely a real long distance relationship. We do see each other at least every two months. He does a lot of PR work for me and has wonderful creative ideas.”

As his career continues to climb upward, Statham says he will carry the memory of his lost friend along with him, so that Sergio Ulhoa can live on through his friend’s dance beats…and bask in the glow of Statham’s success.

“The video for ‘Bear for Life’ is dedicated to Sergio,” Statham says with a smile.

For more information and to purchase Pete’s music, check out his website here!

This article originally appeared in the August 2013 issue of