Words by Alison Taylor
Photo by Mike Dote
Brooklyn-based quintet Action Painters are a band you need to get to know thanks to their supremely catchy, if not exactly vogue-ish brand of rousing pop-rock (if that makes them sound cheesy, they’re not). They play perfectly crafted songs that you can like, totally sing along and dance to, which is very cool in these dark times. They also make very funny video shorts and have J-Lo’s (no shit…) producer Peter Wade buffing their debut LP to be released very soon. I caught up with super-hot (yet pleasingly nerdish…) lead singer Tom Haslow before their big gig this Friday…
So, J-Lo’s producer. How? Why?
Yep it’s true, we are recording our debut album with producer Peter Wade who’s also worked with Elkland, LL Cool J and a bunch of indie rock bands. We come from the indie world but we have pop songs so we thought it would be cool to work with someone who can push that. We started talking to him, played him some material and he liked it. Supermarket is the first single from those sessions.
Supermarket’s a bit of a rant – were you channeling Alanis Morissette?
It’s an inarticulate rant. I was listening to a lot of British music actually – I love that snotty British attitude.
You’re doing pretty well carving out a pop-flavoured niche, would you agree?
I think it’s definitely true. A lot of New York bands in the last five years have been of the post-punk, post Strokes/Interpol revolution. I love those bands but for me I’ve always just loved good songs and songs that you can dance to. We’re not a down-strokey guitar kind of band.
What’s been your best gig recently?
We played an amazing show at Mercury Lounge with Delta Spirit who are quite possibly the best band you’ve never heard of but will soon. They’re sort of Americana-folk with an indie edge. And they’re amazing live. They have great, sad songs – Tom Waitsy with Bruce Springsteen’s soul. They are about to blow up.
You played The Bowery too, what was that like?
It was really cool. We opened for Tiger City. When I moved to New York that was the place I wanted to play. Some of my favourite bands have played there – Interpol, Arcade Fire, Clap Your Hands, British bands like The Arctic Monkeys. When a friend of yours plays there you’re always really happy for them but at the same time insanely jealous.
How do you up your game for a bigger venue?
I take my pants off after about the first song… No, I think that when you’re on a bigger stage and you have a bigger audience you have room to run around and make a fool of yourself.
Did you all meet through Craigslist?
I was in a synth pop band called Unisex Salon. We weren’t really getting along, we couldn’t be in the same room without killing each other, so I left with the bass player. And we met everyone else through Craig’s List. I think it’s a bit unusual but I didn’t really know any better. Luckily we found people we get along with.
Is it kind of like that hideous process of interviewing people for a house share?
Yes it’s definitely tough. It’s like a blind date! You look at someone online and they seem cool but then you realize they’re not.
Talk us through your name, Action Painters…
The thing with names in general is that they’re meaningless. You could have a good name or a bad name…like the British band The Duke Spirit that’s one of the fucking coolest bands out there right now and they’ve got the coolest name too. Even before you’ve heard them you think they’re cool because of the name. But then you look at Interpol – that’s the stupidest name ever but I think they’re a great band. If Interpol sucked you’d say it was a bad name but because they’re great you like it. It’s like The Beatles, the name’s a stupid pun but they’re the greatest band ever.
Nice discussion of band names, but what about Action Painters?!
It comes from the Jackson Pollack abstract art movement. I’ve always been into art and I was worried that our name was too obvious. But actually people don’t necessarily get that – it’s just that I’m a total nerd! The funny thing is when we started our website the domain name actionpainters.com is owned by a house painting company in New Zealand. It’s like “oh, we also have a band but decorating is our main gig…”
You’re a multi-talented bunch – tell us about the short films you’ve been making…
We just started writing and directing our own video short films. We all hang out all the time anyway, so we thought we might as well be doing something creative. Plus, I’m still paying off student loans from film school so in some way it justifies being in debt. The first one is a fake porno movie. It’s almost done and is going to radically change the public’s perception of fake pornos made by bands.
Your music video for Sooner or Later is cool too. Did you feel like a dick making it, what with it being your first music video?
Ha. It takes a lot of Jamesons to look that natural. Depending on the shot we just get more and more intoxicated and sweaty. We wanted to do something that was sort of like an intro to the band. It was inspired by the scene in The Beatles movie Help where they sing ‘You’re gonna lose that girl.’
Have you got a stylist?
We work with a good friend of ours called Mike Karem. He styled our first shoot and our first video. It’s not so much about dressing as making it cohesive – we don’t want to turn up and I’m wearing pyjamas and our drummer’s wearing a ski suit.
Who cuts your hair? It’s so nice…
Oh, thank you. I go to this Japanese lady in the East Village. There’s this guy named Glen Jason who cuts all the rest of the band’s hair.
Do you get a rider?
We’re just getting into that world now. We’ve been arguing lately about what kind of alcohol we want, and what sort of fruit and cheese plate we’d like. It’s a new and exciting world. A good whisky is really all I care about. And a giant bowl of red M&Ms.
If you could have a super group who would be in it?
There are certain people I’d really love to play with but super groups are usually pretty terrible because they sort of cancel each other out and end up being mediocre. The Travelling Wilburys were the best super group ever. I’d love to sing a song with Bono. Even though he’s sort of ridiculous I love him.
You wouldn’t want to use Bono’s stylist…
He’s made some really bad fashion mistakes over the years.
What other bands have inspired you?
The Talking Heads, The Beatles, U2 before they starting sucking – they all made music that was artistically cool but also you could dance and sing along to it. I love good melodies and great choruses but if there’s no soul to it then it’s pointless.
Finally, The Real World – are your songs really gonna be featured?
Real World is happening, we just signed the licensing agreement. So plan on hearing our band when the Gay Guy is arguing with the Frat Boy and the Bitchy Black Girl about who didn’t do the dishes. I mean, that’s what rock and roll is all about, right?
Action Painters play a big CMJ showcase on Friday, Oct 24th @ 9pm, sponsored by BMI and Deli Magazine. Public Assembly // 70 North 6th St. Brooklyn, NY
Action Painters first single Supermarket is available to download here
Check them out right here
