It’s tough to make it when you’re a small band in a city that’s not known for it’s vibrant music scene (even if it actually does have a very large one). That’s why we’re setting out to get to know Philly, and are showcasing a lot of up and coming groups from here that are doing whatever they can to help their art be heard.

The first group that we’ve chosen is The National Rifle. Below is a video interview, so that you can get oriented with who they are. We’ll follow up this interview with two live performances and a special music vid. If you want to check them out now, go to their MySpace and play a few of the tracks they’ve put up. As for me, I’m not sure what typing at 3:30 in the morning can do to an article, but I guess we’ll see in the morning.

In one of our first interviews ever, we interviewed Graham Wright of Tokyo Police Club to talk about their last album and any new ones coming up.

CS: I see there’s a huge amount of kids following Canada and it’s music scene. I’m not sure why, but-

Graham: -I’m not sure either.

Well, I guess I know why. It’s got pretty great music. That and I guess a lot more people are becoming socialist and ice hockey’s becoming more popular.

Finally. It’s about time.

Well, what do you think about the scene that’s come about from Canada?

It’s always weird to see who gets the scene or who gets to be the next big thing because if you go to any given real city at any given time ever there’s gonna be good music. They were making good music in Canada before and they’re gonna keep making good music after. Just the same way that when Athens, Georgia was ‘en vogue’. There’s still bands in Athens making great music and there were bands before that, but that was their year.

What’s the first noise that you ever remember hearing?

That’s an excellent question. I don’t even remember what doing is. My childhood memories are sketchy.

Well, you wouldn’t think so. You’re music has a childlike feel to it sometimes.

Yeah. Well, that’s Dave. He probably has a better memory than I do. It’s weird because you read books, these epic novels that span people’s lives, and their childhood is rendered in such detail.

Well, an easier question would be: what’s the first song you heard as a child?

Probably would have been something weird that my parents were listening to when I was a kid. I think the earliest song I remember being part of my life is by Genesis or Phil Collins. It went [singing] “seeeee how I miss you.” I don’t know what it’s called. Look it up [it’s by Bruce Cockburn on the album World of Wonders]. I guess it was my dad’s favorite song or something because he would always play it and we would always dance around the living room.

What song first made you pick up a guitar?

The first song I ever learned how to play, I think, was Brain Stew by Green Day. I don’t know that that was necessarily the reason I picked up a guitar, but it would have been a mixture of Green Day and Blink 182. When I first started playing guitar, I would download tabs from the internet. I have a 3 ring binder, probably 2 inches thick, of just tabulature. It’s in the order of when I got it, so you can trace the progression of my musical taste. It starts with Green Day and when it ends it has Radiohead and Sparkle horse and stuff.

So, what’s the whole story on you guys from when you met to now?

It’s lame, but where we come from there’s this thing called the “Gifted Stream”. You would take all these tests… and all this crap (it wasn’t if you were smart, it was if you learned it differently). They put you in this special stream that went to a certain school. Dave, Josh, and I were in the same grade in that and Greg was a couple years ahead of us. We weren’t friends the whole time. We knew someone who knew each other and kind of swapped around. By 8th grade we all started to become friends and that’s when we started to play music. Josh and I and another friend all bought guitars and said: “We’re gonna make a band. Let’s buy some instruments.” Of course, we didn’t make a band, but we would say: “Let’s rehearse today!” “Do you know how to play your instrument, yet?” “No.” “Well, me neither. Let’s watch TV”. But out of that was born that idea…

When you guys first started out, you had a kind of robot theme that you now seem to have dropped. Was that intentional to carry that or are you trying to shy away from the original theme?

When we made our EP, A Lesson in Crime, we had that one song: “Citizens of Tomorrow” which is about robots and all that stuff. You know, we were in twelfth grade. We were 18 years old, just writing about anything that we thought was funny, ya know? We were in high school and the year after high school when we wrote that stuff. That was one of many silly subjects that we wrote about. And then when we finished the EP and we sequenced it, we looked at the way it went and we go: “Oh… we totally made a concept record about robots by mistake.” None of those songs are about it. They have nothing to do with it. It was just the way that it lined up. Then, the guy who did the artwork caught onto that. And it sort of became this [thing]. Then, we did a photo shoot and the photographer brought in a robot. And all of a sudden we had this robot-y gimmick. We kind of rolled with it because you kinda need a gimmick; anything that people are gonna remember about your band is good. Then, we made that video. Again, the director obviously listened to the lyrics of the song and came up with what he came up with. But we’re through with that now. We feel like we kind of used the gimmick for what it’s worth and we’re done with it.

What do you have to say about what people think the genre of your music is?

None of that makes sense to me. I remember writing the bio for the band and putting down post-pop as the genre. I don’t know… post-pop. Pre-post-fun-era-circa music. And people always say: “Hey. Post-pop. That’s a good description.” I just thought: “We’re pop music, but we’re kinda not. So, let’s throw post in front of it and let people draw their own conclusions. I don’t think anybody knows what it means. I think everybody just draws their own conclusions in their head and they got with what they think. And that’s fine with me ‘cause I hate categorizing our music, anyway.

What made you guys pick a word like “australopithecine” to rhyme with?

That’s really a question for Dave. [laughs] I don’t know. What does he rhyme with?

Hospital machine.

Yeah. [laughs] I don’t know, man. I mean… It’s funny. You look at the line before that and it’s like seven syllables and then “australopithecine” randomly. All the syllables are followed by this one ridiculous word. It’s given us this reputation of being this very verbose literary pop band. It’s just a word. It’s not that bad. People complain that we’re over clever sometimes.

If you woke up on a random planet and had all the tools to create a habitat. What would it look like?

Hobbitown from Lord of the Rings. It’d look like “Bag-end”.

I was reading that audiobook before I got here.

Yeah? It must be a pretty big file. I once saw an audiobook of the Bible done by James Earl Jones.

If Elephant Shell were turned into a cartoon. What would it look like?

There was this particular cartoon called “Shazaam”. Anybody remember that cartoon?

Yeah.

It’s that old “Scobby Doo” like cartoon style. Like on TV funhouse when they have Ace and Gary. That weird, old look.

If you could pick three artists or bands to collaborate with, who would they be?

Well, one would be Radiohead… I don’t know what I’d do after that. I’d be so worn out. Uh, I’d really love to do something with Sigur Rós cause their live show is so fantastically awesome. Lastly, I’d have to say Tokyo Police Club [the music swells up] because it’s my favorite band to play with.

A little while ago, Adam and John sat down with Kevin Snow of the Black Kids to talk about their album (which was released quite some time ago but is now picking up popularity by being on various soundtracks like Jennifer’s Body and Fame).

Adam: Do you guys feel pressure being one of those blog-hyped bands? Is it more of a blessing?

Kevin: Yeah, I guess it was a bit of a double- edged sword. I mean, it was a blessing cause it got us a chance to get out of Jacksonville. Prior to that we had never really left town. So, we wouldn’t have had the opportunities that we did: record a proper album, go on tour, etc. But I don’t know. [As far as] the pressure thing, I think it wasn’t so much pressure because of blogs. It was more pressure on ourselves to make a good album.

Adam: The general consensus is that a lot of people claim to like your EP more than you album. What is your take on that whole EP vs. record battle?

Kevin: Actually, we sort of expected it in the studio when we were mixing it and making the decision to have it different from the EP we knew it was gonna piss off a lot of fans who were really into the EP and maybe pick up some different fans that bought the record. But we’ve certainly done a lot of, like, emulating of the same kind of thing we’ve done on the EP. “Let’s try to make it cleaner sounding,” ya know? And it did. It did sound cleaner. The EP was something we did at home at our friend’s apartment.

Adam: It’s amazing how you get so much shit for making it sound a little cleaner, right?

Kevin: Oh, always. Always.

Adam: Was there some kind of secret genius behind your name? The fact that no blog could ever say: “I hate black kids.”

Kevin: Yeah, that kind of works in our favor. I think. [Jokingly] It’s just not right. They’re not aloud to say that.

Adam: What’s the craziest thing that’s happened to you on tour?

Kevin: Funny thing- our crew is actually crazier than we are. Usually, one of our crew guys gets wasted. Like, I remember one time, all of our crew were smashed. And they were just going around town just throwing shit. And, at one point, someone stole a little girl’s bicycle and rode off. I’m not gonna name names, but they rode off with a bike that belongs to a little girl who’s probably crying right now.

Adam: What’s the most shocking or surprising thing that people might find on your iPod?

Kevin: Oh, God. On my iPod? It’s a bit embarrassing, but I’ve got some old classic Disney soundtrack stuff on mine. I say that like I’m embarrassed, but there’s some really good stuff on there. I’ll show you some time.

Adam: Would you say the Youngblood rivalry is more like the Gallagher brothers or the Jonas brother?

Kevin: Hmmmm.That’s a good question. Well, the Jonas brothers, they generally get along pretty well. They probably listen to “Kissed a Girl” all day. Reggie and Ali would certainly fall more into the Noel and- who is it?

Adam: Noel and Liam.

Kevin: Yeah, they’re more like the Gallagher brothers. I don’t think there’s been that much drama onstage, yet. We’re waiting for that, but usually in rehearsals something goes down and we have to jump in.

Adam: Survival situation: Plane goes down. Stranded on an island. Who gets eaten first?

Kevin: Uh… Shit. How can I say this without offending anyone?

John: Or, look at it from the other side, who survives the longest?

Kevin: Ali would win.

Adam: Hands down?

Kevin: Hands down. Ali will get her way. She’ll eat us all.

Adam: If you had to describe your album in a different art form, what would it be?

Kevin: An art form as in visual arts?

Adam: Any art form?

Kevin: Other than music, huh? Well, probably film. I think lyrically we paint of pictures. Even literal pictures of experiences Reggie’s had. Whether it’s unsuccessfully winning over girl’s hearts on the dance floor or what have you. But, yeah, I like to think it’s cinematic.

Adam: There’s a lot of vocal trading going on in the record. If you guys could get anyone to duet with, who would it be?

Kevin:We’ve had a duet hanging around for a while that Reggie wrote. And our dream girl to sing on it would be Charlotte Gainsbourg. We have her in mind and I think it has to be her. Actually, I’m kind of hoping she’ll read this interview.

Adam: We’ll make sure to post on her blog or something. Leave a link. Well, how more involved is the rest of the band on your new album?

Kevin: In general, in the past year on touring we’ll all sort of be noodling around on our laptops and come up with different songs. Our goal is sort of- when we go to actually record the new album, we pick out the best bits. I think it’ll be a much different songwriting experience then the first time around. Like, a riff that Owen’s has on his laptop, we’ll build a whole song around it. I’m really excited about it. We’ll see how it goes.

In a long overdue post, we sat down with a member of royalty here in Philly, Erik Petersen, to talk about his band Mischief Brew, Philadelphia’s music scene, and his record label (Fistolo Records). This interview was given about a year ago, which makes a new record in an all time low of procrastinating important articles. It’s a bit like saving that last piece of cheesecake for later, but it ends up being pushed to the back of the fridge by leftovers and Red Bull. But seeing as this is one of our better interviews and given our new work ethic, we are releasing this interview with the hope that we had before of getting these guys more attention. Mischief Brew is good shit and a damn good time in concert. Plus, Fistolo is making some damn good music over here. So, it’s about damn time we got this on the site… damn it.

INTERVIEW BY COLIN KERRIGAN AND JOE GALLAGHER

Colin:

Yeah, I think it’s good to go now.

Joe:

Cool.

Erik:

Cool.

Joe:

You’re a Temple Grad, right?

Erik:

Yeah! I am.

Joe:

What did you study?

Erik:

English and Literature.

Colin:

How’d you like that?

Erik:

I had a minor in… I think it was called urban studies, but I didn’t finish that minor. I finished in (just) English. You know, it was a long time ago. I went to school back and forth and finally decided that I should finish so I went to school at night; worked in the day, went down at night and then finally finished.

Joe:

Where were you working while you attended college?

Erik:

I’m still doing the same thing. Kitchens, construction, carpentry…

Joe:

REALLY?

Erik:

Really, really.

Joe:

How much time do you do that out of the year?

Erik:

That’s my day job.

Joe:

Oh, really…

Erik:

(laughs) Yeah. I don’t do this for a living.

Joe:

You’ve been in the scene or a really long time. How has it changed over the years?

Erik:

I think it’s always been pretty constant. There’s always a venue. I mean, sometimes there would be nowhere to do shows, then a couple months later there’ll be three different houses ding shows. There’s places all over. I think that that (the Stalag) is definitely the hay day of West Philly warehouse-crazy-mania. There were like 3 warehouse show spaces all next to each other. There was Stalag, the Kill Time and the Fakehouse. I think the Fakehouse is still there. In any of those venues, I’ve seen the best shows of my life. Crash Worship at the Fake House, one of those times I saw Citizen Fish at Kill Time (amazing), and at the Stalag… I mean, you name it. That was, to me, the most magical time and since then its… it comes and goes. It still a strong scene and people are still into doing D.I.Y. shows and all ages shows and keeping it real. That’s stayed pretty constant.

Colin:

I saw pretty young people at your show tonight… for your show.

Erik:

Yeah, it’s so funny-

Colin:

-getting dropped off by their parents.

Erik:

Yeah, that was ME, ya know? I used to go to all ages shows in Philly to places that aren’t around anymore. I mean, I remember when the Khyber used to have all ages shows, I used to see amazing shows, like: matinee shows. I’d come down and get onto R5 r get on the El; come down, spend the day in Philly, go record shopping, go to a show. It was the best. And I think a lot of older people don’t, adults and people that are over 21, they don’t understand how important  that is. So, to us it’s really really important to do all ages shows. Like this show: it’s more work. Like getting down here early, but as you see it was so much more worth it. We’ve done bar shows- we’ve done GOOD bar shows- and it’s been ok, but our all ages shows are 10x crazier.

Colin:

That was pretty energetic back there.

Joe:

Where’d you grow up?

Erik:

I was born in Upper Darby and that’s where I live now. I lived there since I was 6 or 7, then I lived in New Town Square (my parents moved to New Town Square), I lived in Baltimore for a bit, then my wife and I moved to West Chester and that’s where we know Brian and it all kinda comes full circle. We had a couple apartments there. That was before the era of Stalag for me. West Chester had its own really good punk scene.

Colin:

It was good for a while.

Erik:

Yeah, it was awesome.

Joe:

Really?

Colin:

Yeah, man.

Erik:

Not just The Orphans, but  there were all sorts of amazing (bands). It was so awesome to have that as my first experience with punk. It wasn’t like one of those huge festival shows or seeing Warped Tour, none of that. For me it was the most revolutionary thing. It was lik: “Wow, I can go to a show, buy a 7′ one of my friend’s bands put out, talk with them, hang with them, and watch them. It was almost a mind blowing thing. That shaped my idea of what a punk show should be. Even now, shows like this; I mean, yeah it’s a club, but still. Everybody’s cool, everybody’s dancing…

Colin:

I was on you MySpace and I saw under you influences was Kurt Vonnegut books. How does that influence your music.

Erik:

Oh, God… I wrote that a while ago.

Colin:

I figured.

Erik:

I think, for influences, I just rattled off in my mind anything that ever inspired me.

Colin:

Yeah, there are some random ones in there.

Erik:

Farm tools are on there.

Colin:

Yeah.

Erik:

I love that book. It’s been a while since I’ve read it. That’s the one where he’s a rich man, but he chooses to set up therapy sessions- he’s like a therapist n this small town. It was all about human kindness and people like “Why do you stay here?”. I love those elements in that. Kurt Vonnegut was good at that; small, amazing, snippets of truth. I should read that again…. Jitterbug Perfume is on there too. It starts in the future, no wait- it starts up in the present in the past and then meets up in the Future or something.

Colin:

So, you guys were saying up on stage that you guys hadn’t played in a month and a half?

Erik:

Last time we played, we did this weekend tour in October. It was Buffalo, then out to Detroit, and back to Pittsburgh. Since then… Greg lives in Brooklyn and we’re here. It’s just been busy so we hadn’t practiced or anything. Then this came up and we were like, “Oh we gotta practice, practice, practice.” but it kinda never worked.

Colin:

So, you guys didn’t practice at all?

Erik:

No. We just kind ran through everything upstairs. Like *bau na bau bau*; just mouthing guitar parts. We messed up a few times, but nothing anybody cared about.

Colin:

It turned out pretty well to me at least.

Erik:

That’s the true test. If we can do that… we’re kind of a mess of a band.

Joe:

Does it suck to have not played in so long together? Or is that how it as to be?

Erik:

In ways it is. We did this new record and this new 7″. Now, we’re kind of “touring on that”. But, our biggest fear is becoming stagnate. We never want to be stagnate. It comes and goes, ya know? You have to keep challenging yourself. We wanna keep writing music, but we’re all kind of spread out. We wrote the last batch of songs though demo tapes and then practiced them and came together in the studio.

Colin:

So, you and your wife started Fistolo (Fist-toe-low)-

Erik:

Fistolo (Fis-toe-low).

Colin:

Yeah- How’d you get started with that?

Erik:

The same way that Mischief Brew started. Just totally by accident. After the Orphans kind of fizzled, I had this idea of a band I wanted to do and that’s kind of how Mischief Brew started. So, once we started making Mischief Brew demos we were like, “Well, let’s make Patch’s, let’s make a little catalogue sheet!.” And, we had Orphan 7″, Orphan tapes, then we started making shirts and it was just this little- it was called a traveling carnival. It was this make up kit full of all these “goodies”. So, then we looked at each other and said, “Well, I guess this is like a label…it needs a name.” So, we came up with the name- which means a devil, in Italian folklore.

Colin:

I would have never known that.

Erik:

It’s hard to find anything (on it). I think it’s derived (from) Fistula. It can relate to the whole “urban scum” thing. It kind of became a monster, ya know? It’s out of our control.

Joe:

You guys put out the Franz Nicholay record.

Erik:

Yeah. It’s excellent. It’s happening now, it’s at the pressing plant.

Colin:

So, our name is the Elitist. What do you think of when you hear that?

Erik:

The name?

Colin:

Yeah.

Erik:

Um, I didn’t really give it too much thought. But if you asked me what I thought of elitist: “I don’t like them.” I’m sure there’s some kind of double entendre there though… maybe…who that of that?

Colin:

Our friend.

Erik:

I didn’t even notice. It’s like the paradigm. If it works, it works.

Joe:

What do you feel about Philadelphia and you place in it? As a city and a scene.

Erik:

Ya know, it’s a love/hate relationship. I consider it my home. Even when I lived in West Chester. It’s not (people would kick me in the head for that), but this is where we’re based out of, this is where we play all our shows, this is where our friends are, our family. We can dwell on the bad parts of it, but there’s good parts. Like, last weekend we were at a wedding for a family member and it was in Philly. So, we stayed on a hotel in Center City for the wedding; kind of like tourists in our own city. Trying to look at it from an outside perspective… when you take away the bells and whistles it’s a great historic city. So much happened here and so many cool buildings and neat little pockets of unique shit going on… pockets of magic. “Seek and you shall find.”

Colin:

There’s just some shady spots you gotta watch out for-

Joe:

But then you stumble upon completely beautiful things.

Erik:

Exactly.

That’s like asking how does feel to have so many buffet items to choose from. How many family members in your house. It really all makes it more interesting and chaotic, with little time to choose and all the human you could ask for.

No.

We layer our voices in production but with some group vocals, they are recorded live.

We sing it live if decided upon. We record and layer it in production also if decided.

The layering is more of the fun part, more spontaneous and on the spot. Sure, there is parts traded back and forth, but layering and everything else in the end, doesn’t have heavy consideration on the actual words being sung.

I battle nihilism everyday and refuse to look at it. Oh goodness yes. I mean, who really cares what I have to poetically say. Sure they might like it, but just like an instant message, boom, the next minute they’re talking to mother and buying groceries. As much as I suffuse my words with meaning, it probably won’t be until I die that they make any sense to anyone else on a much more considerable level. Then again, what have we actually learned from art? That life is beautiful and diverse? That it actually is loaded with meaning. As far as I see it, these artists were delusional and today, the human race is still up to it’s old tricks of murder, rape, corruption, with not a lesson learned from the sweat of fantastic human beings who were sensitive, romantic

Oh goodness yes. Igor Stravinsky, Shostakovitch, Debussy, Prokofiev, Beethoven, Mahler, Bizet.

No. Actually, I did I have a dream where I was schizophrenic. It was while we were recording up at Dave’s. The next day I wrote Bubble Reputation.

Both Music and Literature are the essences of my being. They are from the artist’s mind in direct or indirect correlation with everything that is unknown – everything that wiggles in front of us but wont give out a name. The mystery, the secret, the anti-reality and the illumination of illusion.

I personally do not. But the majority of us in the group write from their own experience and also from the background of musical theory training they have each received.

I can’t go ten seconds with out one thought being dedicated to it’s illusive directness.

Art is my religion and without it I would die.

Quitting is ending my entire existence. I refuse to quit. I refuse.

Brothers Grant and Scott Hutchison of Scotland’s latest and greatest “folk/indie/pop” band, Frightened Rabbit, sit down with The Elitist to discuss sex in churches, Snoop Dogg’s latest venture, and why they don’t give a damn about hipsters (among other things.)

INTERVIEW BY C.S. BROWN AND KELSEY DOENGES

CB: Actually I read one of your interviews before you got here, you guys seem really nice, we’re really excited. And I heard your music like a year ago.

Scott: Really?

CB: Yeah, have you ever heard of InSound.com?

Scott: InSound, yeah, I have.

CB: They had a free MP3 and it made me buy the CD.

Scott: Oh great, then it worked.

CB: So how’s the tour so far?

Scott: Short, so far. We just played Cleveland, two college tours. It was good; it’s kind of funny when you come over to campuses… There was a guy that just couldn’t even walk, and he was just trying to get down the stairs.

CB: Haha yeah, that is college…

Kelsey: It’s funny, I just saw a girl, like, plastered. And I’m like “It’s six thirty!” Haha, it was at Temple…

CB: So where did the name come from?

Scott: The name is a line from one of the songs… I suppose the whole name refers to sex.

CB: Haha oh yeah?

Scott: I was on the phone with this guy, it was on live radio. I was in Austin and he was in Australia and he was asking me about the name and I was like, “Well, what time is it in Australia?” ‘Cause I didn’t know if I could say, and he said “Oh, it’s morning, maybe don’t get into it” But then he got off air and was like “So what does it mean, Scott…does it mean fucking?”

CB: Ha!

Scott: But yeah, it does pretty much mean fucking.

CB: Haha nice… we were trying to figure it out on the way here.

Scott: Is that what you came up with?

CB: Yeah, yeah, ‘cause you know…

Scott: The lyrics are like…

CB: …incredible. It really sets you guys apart from a lot of music, which for some reason has a lot of throwaway lyrics that aren’t meant to be too secretive or insightful.

Scott: Yeah, they like to use really big, commonly used words that don’t mean anything but are supposed to be some sort of false mystery, but I don’t really see the point in that. I don’t know, it’s just more engaging to the audience, I suppose. And I guess I just don’t like to waste my time, because however many bands are releasing music these days, it’s completely saturated but everyone who gets to do it is in a privileged position. So I feel when you have that privileged position, you shouldn’t waste it on shitty lyrics. Especially a record, you know, because it can potentially last forever so you want to get it right, and make sure there aren’t any holes in it.

CB: Scotland isn’t really known for its music scene here yet, but I do think it’s flourishing. There’s a lot of bands coming out of Scotland now from Silje Nes to Franz Ferdinand to Twilight Sad, some of my favorite bands of all time. Do you guys see yourselves as contributing to this great, new Scottish music?

Scott: I hope so; I’d love to be included in that sort of…classic Scottish band canon, but I think we’re a few albums away from that yet. I just think of bands like Arab Strap, and it was 10 years before they called it quits. You have to earn that I guess. So I’m happy to earn it in the coming years, but I’d love to be one of the bands people think of when they hear Scotland. In a few years maybe we’ll be in that position. It’s always been quite strong in Scotland, but I think now everyone else is taking notice of it. A lot of the time in the UK, it seems like “Oh that’s the place you have to go to make it in music” but that’s not really the case anymore. People still do it, but now people know that Glasgow’s pretty strong musically. And you can go to Glasgow and see 10 bands play in a night if you have the time to do it; there’s so many shows every single night in Glasgow.

Grant: I think it’s one of the things that Scotland is best at. We’re not particularly good at sports, besides the ones you play indoors. Although we do have a champion darts player, so…

CB: Haha oh, really?

Grant: Yeah, and we have curling too.

CB: Yeah, I’ve heard of that.

Grant: But I think for Scotland, which is such a small nation, the music scene is incredible.

CB: There’s always the stereotypes that you know, London has the great bands, like Manchester with Joy Division, all that.

Scott: Yeah, each has it’s own era and a different type of musical history. I think Glasgow’s just been moving along quietly, producing good bands steadily and there’s quite a lot coming out that people will be hearing about as well.

CB: I hope more come out because Canada is slowly taking over. Have you guys felt any of that yet?

Scott: Yeah, I guess they are taking over. But I do like it, they’ve got a similar feel.

CB: How do you guys feel about genre labels, because most of the time when we’ve looked you up people use the term “folk”, or more specifically Scottish folk. How do you feel about these kinds of labels?

Grant: I think Scottish folk is definitely where it originates from. A lot of Scottish folk is traditionally about loss and Scottish history. And a lot of it is about people getting thrown out of their homes to Canada, actually. It’s a lot about lost love and it’s quite dark, so you get back to that way in which we tend to do our songs, which is that the lyrics are quite dark, yet some are funny. So folk is okay, but then obviously when people listen to it they expect what they’re going to hear…folk. But it’s not essentially folk music, however it’s quite nice when people struggle, because I don’t think we’re doing anything necessarily experimental, yet people say that you can’t quite categorize it, and that we’re slightly different than other bands. Especially when it comes to content, like you were saying. I always like it when people struggle to really put a banner on it… we tend to say it’s pop music.

CB: We hear that a lot, that people just kind of consider themselves pop music, but the whole point of people who listen to your music is that they want to call it “indie”. And they want it to be that because…

Scott: See, that’s the thing, it is indie as well, because indie is essentially popular music.

CB: Exactly.

Scott: And “indie” is supposed to be independent music. And the word just gets bandied about all too much. But for us, pop music is kind of just an easy way of saying that we’re not experimental, and we’re not metal… Pop sort of means that it can relate to a lot of people, so the age range at a lot of shows can be quite interesting.

CB: Well, we found it difficult to define your music too, which is why we asked. And in England, pop music is just all music; pop is what you hear. But here it’s got a whole different connotation. I definitely get what you guys say when you say pop music…This is a little bit random, but whenever we play your songs, the song that comes up afterwards is this Indian type of chant, and it actually sounded like your song, and we thought it was because it segued perfectly into it.

Grant: Really?

CB: Yeah, so do you guys think you could ever go outside the confines of Scottish music and kind of get on other national influences?

Scott: Well I don’t know, if we could actually spend a lot of time somewhere else and get to know the country itself and figure out what the sound is. It’s funny thinking about influences, it’s really just… I don’t want to try to be like “Oh, we’re doing an Indian-type song” Like Snoop Dogg, he says he’s gonna tour India and the surrounding countries. He’s done this song and he’s like “Yoo, this Snoop Dogg, kickin’ this one out to my homie Punjab”

CB: Haha!

Scott: And then basically all that he’s done is, you know that standard sitar voice? (Does a sitar impression that I can’t even begin to put into words…but you get the picture) He’s changed the voice and everything else is exactly the same. I can’t wait to see the video of that…

CB: Haha oh yeah, Indian women shaking sticks and all that.

Scott: Right, but with influences, that’s not the point; it’s not really a decision that you make it’s more of… if I happen to listen to a bunch of crazy different music it might work its way in there, but that’s the nice thing, nothing’s ruled out. One of the people I really admire is David Alburn… it’s not contrived at all. It’s just genuine, I guess, curiosity and he’s got very limited skills in most instruments but he goes and uses his instincts. And I like that, he’s a person I really admire. And it’s not even on the level of like, when Chris Martin goes to Africa and gives lots of shots to starving kids and stuff. It’s just David Allburn goes out there and comes back with a record, it’s more healthy and…

CB: Genuine.

Scott: Exactly.

CB: This is a random question… if someone were to have sex to your music, where do you think it would it be?

Scott: Oh, where? I’d say, hopefully not in the ass.

(Laughter all around)

Grant: I’ve got a couple stories…We once heard his flatmate having sex to the record. And then there was a time when we were playing a bar in London; a couple of us sit at the bar and grab ourselves a drink, and this guy comes up and says “I have to tell you, I first had sex with my girlfriend to one of your songs.” And I was like “Oh, well did it work out for you?” And he says “Yeah, quite well.” But to answer your question, I’d say, you know in a church. Or in the rain somewhere.

CB: I was kind of thinking a church too, actually.

Grant: Haha

CB: If your music were to be used as a drug, would it be a hallucinogen, or what?

Scott: Like a truth drug… alcohol, I guess.

CB: And if your music could be a weapon, what kind would it be?

Scott: I’m not really up on weapons…

Grant: Hmmm weaponry… a samurai sword.

CB: A sword? Really?

Grant: Or something like a rubber bullet.

CB: Something less deadly.

Grant: Haha yeah. Or a water gun.

CB: Well, your lyrics are punctual and your music is good, and the kicker is when you’re listening to them and you actually laugh and feel like you’re participating in it.

Scott: Yeah, it’s good when people come up and tell us that. We try not to take ourselves too seriously.

CB: And that’s great, that’s how it should be. And we don’t either, our magazine title is The Elitist, and what does anybody think of when they hear “elitist”? …An asshole.

Scott & Grant: Haha

CB: We have to kind of play against ourselves and make fun of it. I don’t know if you guys have it in Scotland, but we have hipsters here. What do you guys think of that whole thing?

Scott: It’s more so in the U.K. than in Glasgow. However, it kind of comes along with the whole music scene, and it doesn’t really bother me because they never latched on to our band as the “cool band” [in Glasgow]. That’s not us; we don’t put hairspray in our hair or wear neon colored clothes. We’re just going to wear whatever we want to wear. So yeah, they’re not really part of our following. And they’re not a very loyal audience either, I don’t think.

CB: Well, your music is really genuine, and it’s obvious you guys are too, so I hope you stick around for a while.

Grant: We got told last night, or the night before, by this guy; it was actually quite impressive. He was like (yelling) “Don’t fuckin’ change, you’re fuckin’ brilliant!”

CB: Haha!

Scott: He actually said “Don’t change or I’ll fuckin’ kill you!”

CB: Where did this happen?

Grant: Cleveland.

CB: If you had a chance to either save Scotland from impending doom, or make the best Frightened Rabbit album ever, what would you do?

(Pause)

CB: I don’t have to quote you on this one if you don’t want, because it could be potentially damaging..

Grant: Yeah, Scotland! Save Scotland! Actually, I would deflect whatever was going to kill us to England.

CB: So, your label; have you guys ever thought about signing to a big label?

Scott: Well, we were almost signed to a pretty big label in the U.K. but they just fucked us over last minute, the day before we were to sign the contract, actually.

CB: If you don’t mind me asking, what was the label?

Scott: They’re called… and they’ve produced Snow Patrol, Yeah Yeah Yeahs; it’s a large label. Basically they don’t need to sign any bands, they’ve got Snow Patrol, which is the largest band in the U.K., or close enough anyway. But yeah, it was our first experience with anyone in the music industry, so we believed them from the start. We were like “yeah, these guys are really nice guys” Turns out, you realize how big of bullshitters they are.

CB: Well, thanks you guys. Enjoy the rest of the tour.

The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart should be your new favorite band if they aren’t already. Their witty lyrics, and blissful indie pop will send you running to the record store, and their earnest, polite, sweet, and hilarious personalities will certainly get you all doe-y eyed. Three quarters of the crew (Kip-guitar/vox, Peggy-keys/vox, and Alex-bass) took a few minutes out of skyrocketing to the top to answer some of our questions.  Also be sure to catch the Pains (and Zaza) at the Barbary, May 6th 2009!

1:  There are a lot of questions about your name, it’s from a friend’s unpublished children’s book, but what was the book about, and  was there anything specific about the book that drew you to the name?

Kip: The short story was written by Charles Augustus Steen– a friend of mine and a legendary “character” from Portland, OR. The story’s moral is that the time spent with your friends and the adventures you have together when you’re young are the most important things in life– besides the beauty of the phrase, the moral really seemed to fit us. We’re all friends and playing music together is just the most exciting possible thing to be doing with our lives.

2: The comparison’s to “John Hughes soundtrack” music is endless…what are some of your less obvious musical influences?

Kip: I really like glam rock. T. Rex, Roxy Music, New York Dolls, Bowie– and their later day acolytes, Suede, Pulp, etc. I also really enjoy garage rock– Nuggets stuff, but also Dirtbombs, The Hunches, The Make Up, The Reigning Sound…

Alex: Kip and I first bonded over the Exploding Hearts (RIP). One of my favorite bands ever.

Peggy: I really like early 90s dance music.  Like Haddaway and Technotronic and Bizarre Inc.

3: What are some of your non-musical influences? (art, film, etc.)

Kip: I like books, but not in a “look at me, I’m so smart and sad” way– I just like children’s books that create strange, different kinds of worlds with a matter-of-factness–  Like Babar or The Little Prince.

Alex: You probably won’t catch us sitting around talking about our favorite Renaissance painters, haha. I like art, but as a band I feel like we bond more over silly, funny, awesome pop culture bits like Wayne’s World.

Peggy:  I like the outfits that Claudia Kishi wore in the Babysitters Club.  And I like British Penguin classics from the 60′s. And religious cults are inspiring.  Like, they believe in something and go to great fucked up lengths for the cause they believe in.

4: What’s one question you’ve never been asked, but wish people knew about you guys?

Kip: We’re pretty uninteresting, to be honest…  Maybe “Kip, so is there a band that is really awesome that people are going to love in about 6 months?” And the answer would be “Yes, as a matter of fact there is, and that band is called Zaza”, but Kurt (POBPAH drummer) plays drums in that band so please don’t call the conflict of interest police.

Peggy: I think people have asked us that before.  I like it when people ask us questions about what we were like as teenagers, because I like picturing Alex with his Eddie Bauer rollneck sweater at a punk show with shoulder-length hair and glasses.

5: What’s your favorite kind of pizza? (rumor has it, you’re real into pizza)

Kip: I think late night pizza is the best kind of pizza– there’s quite a few places here that cater to that sort of thing…

Alex: I tried this bacon and chicken pizza over the weekend and it was terrible. I keep it simple, although one of my undercover favorites is a good ziti slice.

Peggy: I really, really love Hot Pockets.  I used to eat them all the time when I was in college and my roommates thought it was bizarre.  They’d see the little paper microwave sleeves in the trash can and be like, “Uh, Peggy, you ate THREE hot pockets today???”

6: Favorite nickname for pizza?

Kip: ‘Za’.  I also like pointing out that “I don’t want no ‘roni on my ‘za” in a surfer voice….

Alex: ‘Za’, definitely. Is there anything else?

Peggy: ‘Pizzazza’?

7: Craziest thing to happen in your whirlwind, meteoric rise to notoriety?

Kip: I don’t think we’re all that notorious…

Peggy: So far, probably getting to play on a late night TV show.

8: Most surreal moment?

Kip: Hearing through a friend of a friend of a friend that Janeane Garofalo is a fan! I mean, that’s pretty mind blowing!

Alex: Watching the Carson Daly bit… so weird.

Peggy: Playing in Iceland was pretty surreal

9: I recently saw you guys play at Kung Fu Necktie in Philadelphia, and there was some of Kip’s  family in the audience. What’s it like singing something like “This Love Is Fucking Right!” in front of the family?

Kip: My mom is cool. I think if you ever met her, you’d really like her.  I was really psyched that she was able to come out to our show– she also got a real thrill out of working the merch table!

10. Members of the band also often play in side bands (Kurt, the drummer, is singer/guitarist in Depreciation Guild for example), how important is it to vent some creativity elsewhere, and have that interaction with other creative types?

Kip: We don’t have any side projects. The Depreciation Guild is just as important as Pains and we do our best to allow for both bands to co-exist.

Peggy: I think eventually it’d be fun to be in another band, like maybe a really bad band where I played drums or something (I don’t know how to play the drums).

11: The Brooklyn music scene is exploding, there are hordes of bands bursting out every other day, if it had to come down to cage-ring-death matches to get noticed, what fellow bands do you think you could take?

Kip: This is starting to sound like Beyond Thunder Dome, and we probably don’t need another hero…

Peggy: We’re kind of wussy, in case you haven’t noticed.

12: If you had to pick a specific art form to describe your album, what would it classify as?

Kip: Pop.

Well that’s all for us at the Elitist, hope it was a little more fun than the average interview, and thanks!

Kip: Thank YOU Elitist. We definitely appreciate the time you took to come with interesting questions and, of course, pizza related inquiries!