Why Does Perfume Genius Sound So Twin Peaks? Oh, Maybe Because His Babysitter Was Ronette Pulaski!

Ever heard of Perfume Genius? It’s the monicker of Seattle-based solo artist Mike Hadreas, and his albums have  a Twin Peaks vibe going on which he describes as “dreamy and creepy and beautiful and disturbing and sad.” Like so many other artists of his generation, Perfume Genius been undeniably influenced by the TV show since he saw it at the early age of 10, when Twin Peaks premiered.

“I’d never seen anything like it,” he told The Sydney Morning Herald. “From the very first time I saw the opening credits on, I don’t think anything in my life has scared me as much as that show scared me, but I was also completely obsessed with it at the same time. Maybe that’s why I’m so fond of that sound: it brings me back to that time.”

But his connection to Twin Peaks goes way further than that.

Hadreas began composing songs shortly after he moved from New York to live with his mother in Everett, WA, not far from the Laura Palmer’s house in Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me. And the reason why he was allowed to watch the pilot episode together with his family? Because the girl that was babysitting him from time to time, Phoebe Augustine, was playing a character on the show called Ronette Pulaski!

Can you imagine the effect on a 10-year-old of having a babysitter portraying a traumatized coma patient in an absolutely terrifying television show? That’s when you get this…