Karma and Perry are not the type to aspire to commercial success. Karma says that though he loves songwriting, he's not an especially talented musician. When he does want to write a song, he must describe it to the "real musicians" so that they can create the "complicated chords" necessary for the song to be heard and understood by other human beings. He can't play half the material he's written.
It's ironic because though many in Phoenix may not recognize their names, there are many who will have heard a song or two by Perry or Karma. Robin Wilson and Scotty Johnson of the Gin Blossoms often close their acoustic sets with a rendition of Karma's "Sunnyslope" because, Wilson says, "In my brain, when I think of the Sonoran Desert, I hear the music of Meat Puppets and Fish Karma."
Though Perry and Karma left Arizona to live in other states, they both wound up back in Tucson. That move was driven by desire and a feeling of belonging. "I'm always drawn back to this place," Karma says. "I don't know what it is. At least for me, there's a pull here."
Perry agrees. "It's home . . . It's really that simple. Tucson's a real easy place to live. It's a real easy place to come back to. You just slip right in. There's no struggle involved."
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