Musical partners and real-life married couple Mr. & Mrs. Something recently released their debut album Setting Sail. With a strong folksy feel and just the right undertone of classic rock, Setting Sail delivers poignant lyrics and melodies alike. When this dynamic duo isn’t making music, the two go by Chelsea and Bino Peck and spend their time teaching chess to elementary school kids and working at downtown Seattle missions—both activities they claim have a great impact on their creative processes. Engage recently got to chat with this fun and friendly couple about life, marriage, music, and their new album.
We started off with a speed round of rapid fire questions to break the ice.
Q: Coffee or tea?
Bino: Tea
Chelsea: Coffee
Q: First pets name?
B: Beaudry
C: Otis
Q: If you were stuck on an island and could only have three items, what would they be?
B: Some kind of water filtering device. Probably a guitar.
C: Yeah, at least one music instrument
B: And a Bible to read. Am I trying to get saved or just hanging out on the island for the rest of my life?
After giving my own answers and laughing at ourselves for a couple of minutes, we transitioned into the meat of the interview.
Q: I’m sure you get this all the time, but your name Mr. And Mrs. Something—Where does it come from?
B: That’s our last name.
C: *laughs*
B: Just kidding. Around the college years, I was in a folk duo with my brother. And kind of spur of the moment at a concert he just said, “We are the…uh, something brothers.” And I cracked up and it just kind of stuck.
Q: Who are your biggest musical influences?
B: Man, so many. Everything from Pink Floyd to Jimi Hendrix and Bob Dylan. Stuff from old rock and old folk. For more modern stuff, the Avett Brothers, Ray LaMontagne, The Head and The Heart. I know a lot of that is true for Chelsea too, but I’ll let her chime in.
C: I would just add on The Beatles and The Who, and also I really enjoy Jars of Clay.
Q: Where’s the weirdest place you’ve ever performed?
C: Well I would say it’s weird but it’s cool too. Last year we played at a retirement facility.
B: Oh yeah, they were putting on a barbecue for a lot of the residents. And you know a lot of the times when you perform you really feed off the energy of the audience. *starts laughing* So that was interesting.
Q: Who do you make music for?
C: We are absolutely doing it to honor the Lord. He has directed our steps to music in the first place—He’s why we do it. And then stemming from that, both of us want to encourage and edify believers. Not only that, but we also hope that by using that same heart, the music will be a bridge to people who are not believers to be a light in the darkness and bring them love in a way that may not have received from the church previously.
Q: What is the dynamic of being married and music partners like?
C: We’ve continually learned more and more how to write and perform together—it’s something we’ve been growing in. And so that time together from our marriage has lent a sort of intimacy to our music. But it is definitely a mutual thing.
B: Yeah, they definitely lift each other up. Being married helps the songs writing, and writing songs helps the marriage.
After that, we got to the topic of the album proper.
Q: Where does the name of the album come from?
C: Both of us grew up really enjoying the water. And in this season of life, feeling like God has opened some doors for us as far as doing music, we just felt like we weren’t creating anything ourselves—But God was directing everything. And so we took the analogy of a sailboat going out on the water and not necessarily knowing if there’s going to be any wind, but making the most of the journey. In that, we felt like we were saying that we’re starting this musical journey but we’re relying on God’s spirit to move us and the wind to take us.
Q: What was your favorite track from the album and why?
B: “Home Will Be” is definitely the most special song from the album to us, just because of our history with it. It’s the first song that we wrote together, so that’s special in and of itself to us. And I ended up proposing to Chelsea with it as part of the proposal.
C: Yeah, I think “Home Will Be” will forever be my favorite for sure.
Q: What sort of themes and emotions were you trying to tease out with this album?
B: I think the willingness and determination to press even through difficult times.
C: I’ll just add that finding joy and hope from God even in those hard times is what we want our life to be about, and that’s definitely an element of what we were trying to get at in the album.
Q: How do you hope this album will impact those who hear it?
B: We hope people will be refreshed in their journey and encouraged to carry on. But I also hope it challenges people to reevaluate themselves and their perspective—the way they see themselves, the way the see life, the way the see God. And hopefully they’ll start asking themselves questions about their own value and identity. I think we’ve found that knowing your value and who you are can be so foundational to carrying on.
C: We also hope that wherever this album goes, wherever we’re able to take our music, that it allows us to build relationships through it and make connections with people. And, of course, we also really want people to just enjoy some good music.
To learn more about Mr. & Mrs. Something, or order their album, check out their website at www.mrandmrssomething.com.
