Pileup - Sound In The Signals Interview
I recently had the opportunity to interview Pileup. We discussed how an early interest in music inspired the band, musical influences, writing and recording their demo, artwork, and more. Check it out below.
First, thanks for the interview.
Thank you, it's our pleasure.
Can you tell me how you started the band for those who may be unfamiliar with it? How did you first become interested in music?
We started off as band because all three of us used to be in a screamo band called haveyouseenhim and after that fell through we wanted to make something different that tied back to our original roots in the kind of music we’ve been into forever. For me (Dorian) and Damian, we grew up alongside a lot of different music thanks to our parents, who would always play us bands ranging from descendants to the replacements. They also were the ones who gave us our first guitar and bass for Christmas, which helped us get a head start on learning music.
Over time, thanks to the internet we discovered more and more music and bands, inspiring us as we went along and influencing us to start going to shows. For our drummer Diego, his parents also got him into music at an early age. They introduced him to a lot of Spanish rock bands like Soda Stereo and Caifanes. They also would provide him with a lot of instruments which gave him an outlet to create and learn music as well as his uncle, who influenced him a lot, growing up with bands like Devo and Bad Religion.
Who are some of your biggest influences?
Our biggest influences on our music are bands like Saves the Day, Lifetime, early Title Fight, and Joyce Manor. All three of us are big fans of that fast, emotional, kind of music as it allows for fun live performances but also as an outlet for our emotion.
You recently released your demo. What was the writing and recording process like for it?
We have been playing and rehearsing those songs for almost a year now! We finally got around to recording once we asked Nick from Me+You to record us, as he lives nearby and our drummer had recorded a split at his studio with his other band Cansado. We recorded the demo in 2 days, one day spent tracking the instruments and another where the vocal tracks were finished.
How do you usually write songs? Do you start with an instrumental idea or some lyrics first?
We usually start with the guitar riff, and then we add on to the riff with drum beats and bass lines, making a full structure for a song where we include our influences and our own personal flares to it. The final addition is the lyrics, which wrap the song up. I usually go by writing lyrics by improvising while playing along, and seeing what sticks as I go along writing, and over time I figure out what pattern or lyrics work best for certain parts, and how to sing them.
The artwork is really cool and it looks to me like classic artwork you’d see in emo and punk in the late nineties to early 2000s. Who came up with the artwork concept and designed it?
Thank you! That was actually the goal, as we were getting tired of seeing bands around us have very dark and grungy covers, and since we stand out musically, we wanted to stand out in our cover design as well. I designed it with my mom who’s a graphic designer in a couple of days on Adobe Illustrator, and I also added the photos of Boy Scouts because both Damian and I are active members in our troop, and currently working on our Eagle Scout rank. We find the juxtaposition of Boy Scouts being in a punk band is pretty funny, so that’s also where we got the “Boy Scout Hardcore” label from.
I saw that you recently released CDs for the demo. Is there any chance that you have plans for cassettes or vinyl as well?
As of right now, we don’t have any plans for cassettes or records, but if demand grows, we would be more than happy to make some. We're all avid fans of physical media and love collecting it.
Thanks for taking the time to answer the questions. Do you have anything else that you would like to add?
Thank you for interviewing us! This was such a pleasure for us to do. We also want to say thank you for everyone who supports us in any way, and to everyone who comes to our shows.
Follow Pileup:
No comments: