Ditch Work With Penguin Prison for a Free Lunch Break Party at Heart Nightclub

The fantasy of leaving work for lunch and never returning is a fun one. But for most of us, it’s unrealistic. We may never have our Jerry Maguire moment. But still, it’s nice to daydream.

However, this Friday, the folks at Perrier are giving Miami the opportunity to take a real break from work and the smell of the office kitchen. (Thanks for microwaving your leftover fish dinner again, Brian.)

The makers of fancy water are asking people to “ditch your desk” for Lunch Break, a free midday dance party at Heart Nightclub. The Lunch Break series was launched last summer in New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Miami. Back in August, Perrier threw its first Lunch Break at the Electric Pickle with musical guest Peanut Butter Wolf. Attendees received a complimentary Perrier and Deep Eddy Vodka cocktail, got to dance when they normally would have been filling out spreadsheets, and, on their way out the door, were handed free bag lunches from Perrier, because it is about lunch, after all. This time, New York-based indie pop musician and producer Penguin Prison will man the decks from 12:30 to 2 p.m.

With an upbeat vibe that sounds somewhere between Chromeo and Passion Pit, the man behind Penguin Prison, Chris Glover, might be just the guy to pull off this Lunch Break thing. We spoke to Glover about this unique engagement as well what it’s like to party with his grandpa.

New Times: What was it about the concept of the Lunch Break party that drew you to the event?
Chris Glover: I don’t think I’ve ever DJ'ed at noon before. I was interested in doing that. I wanna see how much people can party at that time as opposed to midnight or 2 a.m. It’s gonna make my job a little more difficult to be up to the task to get people to go crazy at that time of day. I hope people can just take the rest of the day off.

You shot the video for “Never Gets Old” with your grandfather in a Florida retirement home and then in Miami. It looked like a lot of fun. What was that experience like?
So for my song, “Never Gets Old,” I had the idea to film my grandpa, who’s 90 years old and lives in a retirement-home community in Florida. Everyone there, I would say, falls into the category of people who will never get old. Everyone there is always doing activities all day long. They seem like they’re having more fun than people in their 20s. We filmed the video there, then got into a convertible and drove down to Miami. At one point, as I’m sure you know, it just kind of starts raining out of nowhere in Miami, and it started doing that. We were in the convertible with the top down. He didn’t think it was funny at the time, but later he was having fun telling everyone about it. 
You’ve said in the past that "Penguin Prison" was just something you came up with that sounded cool because it’s both a little fun and serious. A few years into your career, has the name gained any further significance? Do you ever wish you would’ve picked something different?
I feel like Penguin Prison to me is a combination of opposites. You have a penguin, which is funny, and prison, which is not funny at all. I try to make my music both funny and serious. It’s like pop music but with substance. I use electronic instruments, but I also use organic instruments. Old equipment with new techniques. I try to make sure people have fun but also think at the same time. I think all band names sound a little ridiculous when you first think of them. People will remember [Penguin Prison] — it rolls off your tongue. It’s alliterative, and it’s a funny band name.

I read that you grew up loving classic country music, but your sound has been compared to Hot Chip, LCD Soundsystem, and RAC. Where is the connection there?
I think country music is just so funny to me. If you listen to old country music from the '60s and '70s and stuff, the lyrics are all about cheating and having babies out of wedlock and drinking and stuff like that. I like the melodies; if you take some of my songs and put them on an acoustic guitar, I think the melodies almost sound like country sometimes.

When speaking about your latest album, Lost in New York, and really all your music, you’ve said that you always try and keep the word “fun” on your mind. What do you do for fun in your spare time?
Actually I have the most fun when I’m making music and performing music, playing shows. That’s really what makes me have fun. When I see other people having fun because of what I’m doing, that’s fun as well. 

Lunch Break, Made Extraordinary by Perrier with DJ Penguin Prison. 12:30 p.m. Friday, February 26, at Heart Nightclub, 50 NE 11 St., Miami; 305-­912-­3099; heartnightclub.com. Admission is free; RSVP via flavorpill.com.