Story by Catie Keck
Photos provided by The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart broke into New York City’s music scene in 2007 as the shoegaze love child of friends Kip Berman and Peggy Wang. After playing a number of shows as a two-piece band accompanied by an iPod for drum beats, Berman and Wang were joined by drummer Kurt Feldman, and eventually added members Alex Naidus on bass and Christoph Hocheim on guitar.
The band’s self-titled debut album was released last February on Slumberland to reviews that likened them to My Bloody Valentine and The Jesus and Mary Chain. In contrast to their fuzzed-out predecessors, however, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart utilize audibly clearer vocals and minimal distortion.
Their melancholic up-tempo noise-pop reminiscent of teen angst and first-loves have since landed them tours with, among others, Surfer Blood, Stars, and The Blow. In addition to an upcoming tour with Twin Shadow, the band has booked spots at various music festivals this summer, including 35 Conferette, Coachella, and Øyafestivalen in Oslo, Norway. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart met with Ethos to discuss their upcoming shows and the release of a second full-length studio album, Belong, in March.
Catie Keck: Before Kurt joined the band, you used an iPod as a substitute for drums?
Kip Berman: We had sort of a prerecorded drum track from a drum machine that we’d play off my old iPod. It was me, Alex, and Peggy, and we’d play along to the drums. It was pretty boring. Nobody wants to go see a band play along to their iPod. But you know, we started off in New York where space is a premium. It seemed like a good idea at the time to have a very efficient means of making music.
CK: Had you initially planned to continue using a drum machine rather than a drummer?
KB: Yeah. I mean, our first EP was recorded with a drum machine. It’s got this distinct kind of sound that’s rigid. But Kurt joined and played drums on our first album and ever since then we’ve had a live drummer. From my point of view, I think things have gotten a lot better since then. We’re more excited about the music we’re making as a result.
CK: You’ve talked about being influenced mainly by punk and hardcore bands, but you’re often described as indie pop. What aspects of the music that you’re influenced by are incorporated into the music you play?
KB: In this year and date, it’s more a question of what influence means. We don’t sound like a lot of the bands that we listened to in high school—the kind of post-hardcore and punk music you mentioned—but I think that idea is to just go out and play. Our first interaction with independent music wasn’t indie rock or classic Pavement—I love that, too—but our first interaction with non-commercial music was at punk shows and hardcore shows. That idea of community and the values of that music translate more to what we’re about. Those values of that aesthetic and lifestyle influence us in the decisions we make and the belief that you can be a band that plays for thirty people if it’s a good show. We don’t have aspirations of becoming a stadium-rock Super Bowl halftime band. There’s nothing wrong with that, but we’re happy being the people we are.
CK: How has the architecture of your practice and recording spaces have changed with your career?
KB: I kind of get back to using that drum machine. In New York, it’s difficult to find a place to make noise. When we first started out, we were rehearsing at Peggy’s work in a little office she worked at in Chinatown after hours. When we did add drums, we had to rent out a more traditional practice facility, which we share with a couple of other bands. The difference between New York and, say, Portland, is basements. In Portland you can rehearse for hours and hours and not worry about the time or neighbors. I think New York focuses you on a more concise approach to music. The way our band is organized isn’t experimentation or jamming, or a free flow of ideas. We only have time to practice what we can, and it forces efficiency in the way you produce music. Your environment changes the economics of the way you play music.
CK: What can we expect from your second album, Belong? How does it differ from your first?
KB: On the one hand, the motivations that helped us write the first album are exactly the same and we tried to write the best songs we could and record them as well as possible. As a band, we think it’s good to have a simple idea in your head of what you want to do with your life. After being on tour and being in front of people, seeing audience reactions has changed our perception of how we want our album to sound and what kind of songs would be best to play in front of people every night. We wanted the music to have the same level of emotion as the lyrics, but we wanted the experience of the music to be instant so that you don’t have to think about it too much. We’re really excited about the whole process of recording this album. We got to work with a producer and mixer that wouldn’t normally work with a band like ours.
[Kip is interrupted by bandmates for news about a score find of a ceramic cat at an obscure shop in southern Oregon, at which point Peggy takes over the interview]
CK: Peggy, you’re rumored to have been a part of a jock-jams cover band. Is that true?
Peggy Wang: [Laughs.] That was actually something that me and my friend were going to do, but it didn’t end up happening because at the last minute we ended up having to go out of town, but I am starting a new band and I think we’re going to do a cover of Bizarre Inc. called “I’m Gonna Get You.”
CK: Why that particular song?
PW: Bizarre Inc. is my favorite euro-dance band. The lyrics are really good. That song and “What Is Love” by Haddaway are maybe my two favorite songs. They’re sort of dance-pop, but if you listen to the lyrics they’re sort of relatable and they’re nice love songs.
CK: Kip mentioned you worked with a new producer and mixer on Belong. Are there any other collaborations on the new album that your fans should look forward to hearing?
PW: Not really. There was one song that we thought about getting Caroline from The Manhattan Love Suicides to guest sing on because it was a song that was kind of inspired by them, but it didn’t end up happening.
CK: What can listeners expect to hear on the new album?
PW: We’re a pop band in the traditional sense: keyboards, and guitars. The focus of the guitars doesn’t change, but I feel like this album definitely has more experimentation in terms of electronic drums and weird guitar effects. Look for some weirder sounds and effects.
