From a quiet college town perched atop southern Tennessee’s Monteagle Mountain emerges Perkaderk — a musical outlier whose sound feels like John Mayer dipped in 90s R&B. Drawing inspiration from great musicians before him like Stokley & Mint Condition, Teddy Riley, Donell Jones, Bruno Mars, and even Def Leppard, Perkaderk brings melody back to the forefront, both in his vocal performance as well as his guitar work.
He’s not just a beatmaker or a vocalist… or a guitarist—he’s a full-package producer, who crafts his songs from the ground up. His process starts with finding some melodic phrase, chord progression or even just a cool groove on his guitar, which he will then record into Pro Tools. Once he has arranged it into a melodic outline (or ‘sequence’ ), what follows is carefully layered production and vocal melody sketches (ie: his “mumbo jumbo”—a term inspired by a line from a fav movie of his, The Family Man). Once he has a full outline of his song sequenced in Pro Tools, he performs a ‘meditation’ on the song, where he listens over and over without any physical interaction, only listening, as he allows the words/lyrics to find their own way into his melody. Every track is worked and re-worked with intention, but always rooted in feeling and groove more than formulas.
Most recently, Perk’s focus has been on building and performing with a new live band called Soul Service in Hampton Roads. As for his solo catalog, he has written and produced around 70 unreleased pop and R&B singles which are scheduled to roll out over the next two years.
His music is not purposed to force any kind of message—it just vibes. It’s less about heavy themes and more about mood. Whether you’re chilling, making love, or just trying to feel something real, he wants to help you ride the wave.
He’s collaborated with talented up and coming artists in the area and credits the pivotal moment in his life as a musician to knocking on the door of Teddy Riley’s studio in Virginia Beach, “The Future”. That one, singular, bold move ended up providing him with a crash course in professional production from one of the most consequential record producers of modern pop music and opened the door to many industry insights and relationships that still guide him.
Despite being low-key on social media, Perkaderk’s music really is able to speak for itself. He doesn’t chase trends or validation—he makes what feels good. And that’s what makes it timeless.
He’s in this for the long run. Not for fame. Not even for money. He creates because, for him, there is no other option. Having been born into a ‘musical family’, it’s always been a part of who he is. And when it’s all said and done, he hopes his family sees the purpose behind the passion.
Oh, and one thing most people don’t know? He dropped out of Virginia Tech at the end of his Junior year to run off to New York and join a boy band (whose name will remain withheld… for now… but their debut album sold 2 million records!)
