New Yorkers The Pains of Being Pure at Heart bring their indie-pop to Mao Livehouse this Friday (24th February) as part of their huge Asian tour. We managed to get ahold of frontman Kip Berman whilst in transit across the continent:
SH 24/7: Has your song-writing technique changed since you guys just started out? Do you write on tour?
Kip: I write the songs in my bedroom and bring them to band practice. I always prioritise the immediate and pop side of things over trying to impress you with how complicated I can make something. I feel The Ramones and Buzzcocks wrote great songs, so I hope that we carry on that tradition with our own voice.
SH 24/7: Did you feel a lot of pressure while recording 'Belong', after the critical acclaim your first, self-titled LP received?
Kip: Not really. I'm not sure what defines success or what sort of expectations people have for us, but if there's any pressure on us, it's pressure we apply ourselves. We want to make great records, not out of some arrogant pride or desire to be famous, but because we love music and want to make something of real worth and beauty. No record label, critic or anything can make us want to succeed at that more than we do for our own natural reasons.
SH 24/7: If you could collaborate with anyone in the industry right now, who would it be?
Kip: I really am grateful that we've gotten remixes from Twin Shadow, Washed Out and Saint Etienne. But that's not really a collaboration, it's more like handing over our music to someone we respect and seeing what they do with it. I'm not sure how the back and forth of actual collaboration is meant to work, or if it would improve what we want to do. It's kind of nice being able to just do what you want.
SH 24/7: You've seen a lot of the world, what's been your most memorable gig so far?
Kip: There's been so many wonderful ones, but certainly whenever we play Manchester, Glasgow, New York or anywhere in Spain it's pretty special. But honestly, there's nowhere we're not excited to be - we're just happy that there are people in such remote places that like our band.
SH 24/7: Where are you looking forward to playing for the rest of the tour?
Kip: Jakarta is a city where we get a lot of emails from. I don't know if we're popular there or there are just 11 people that REALLY like sending us messages, but I'm really excited to finally be getting the opportunity to go and play there. Also, The Philippines is a place I really want to go, as there's a really great indiepop scene there - bands like Moscow Olympics and people who wear Slumberland Records badges. That's pretty amazing.
SH 24/7: How much do you know about the music scene in China? In Shanghai in particular?
Kip: I know very little about pop or underground music traditions in China. There seems to be some really good indie bands in southeast Asia, but the ones I'm most familiar with come from The Philippines or Indonesia.
SH 24/7: Quite the tour you are on right now. Is it your first time to Asia? First time to China? What do you think?
Kip: We were lucky enough to come to Hong Kong and Taipei last December, but this is our first time getting to visit the mainland, as well as many other places in Asia aside from Japan (we toured Japan in February 2010 and played the Fuji Rock Festival in 2011). It's really exciting and not something that a band like ours would have had the chance to do 10 or 15 years ago. It seems things have changed to the point where it's becoming more normal for Western bands, even smaller ones, to get a chance to perform on the mainland and that's a wonderful thing.
SH 24/7: What's the turnout been for your Asian shows?
Kip: Well, last night was our first one in Singapore. We had a lot of technical problems, but people seemed patient and understanding and really enthusiastic. Obviously I don't want to make generalizations about an entire region based on one show, but I'm really excited to have the opportunity to tour here.
SH 24/7: Do you see a lot of locals coming out? Or is it mostly foreigners?
Kip: Well, we've just played one festival so far, but it seemed like the attendance in Singapore was a lot of locals, with a bunch of people from The Philippines, Thailand and Indonesia were there.
SH 24/7: When all the dust settles from this tour, what's next? Back home for some rest? Back on the road? Writing for an upcoming album?
Kip: A nap, then writing!
You can catch The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart at Mao Livehouse this coming Friday (24th Feb) - more info here
