If you wanted to form a majorly acclaimed band in under a year, you’d probably want to do it along these lines: record some killer electro songs in your bedroom and distribute to mates, form a band while everyone’s raving about said tracks, drum up the buzz on the blogs, sell out shows on your first tour, get signed by a major record label and record your debut album. It’s the musician’s blueprint of dreams, and Passion Pit have nailed it – and all in under 12 months.
Michael Angelakos is the singer and songwriter behind Passion Pit, the five-piece who’ve been re-igniting New England’s love for electronic pop. Hailing from Massachusetts and picking up bandmates Ian Hultquist, Ayad Al Adhamy, Jeff Apruzzese and Nate Donmoyer while attending Boston’s Emerson College, Passion Pit were signed to NYC label Frenchkiss after Michael’s demo CD did the rounds on campus. Their sensational live shows earned them support slots with the likes of Death Cab for Cutie and These New Puritans, as well as bagging them the unofficial “buzz band” title at CMJ 2008 – pretty much one of the only bands people are still talking about since then.
Passion Pit pick up where bands like Vampire Weekend and MGMT left off, but also channel a loved-up Hot Chip in their dreamy, synth-y, sci-fi sound. The stand-out track from their original EP is “Sleepyhead”, a blissful yet haunting melodic tune. The other ethereal electro love songs on EP Chunk of Change (Frenchkiss) have quite rightly earned them a shower of accolades from the critics, fans and especially music bloggers. Now, they’re ready to go global. ’SUP caught up with Michael
while in the process of recording Passion Pit’s debut album.
You guys are in the studio at the moment, recording your first ever album. How’s it going?
It’s going really, really well. It’s kind of an arduous process you know, you’ve really got to be in it for the long haul.
Have you been in the studio for long now?
I think we moved in about November 12th and the album gets mastered and everything in mid-January, so it’s a pretty long process. Plus when we go into the studio, I usually do the writing then. I don’t like to write beforehand, so it’s a very long process (laughs) but it’s way more fun that way.
Is it more like a jamming session in there then?
We don’t ‘jam’ really, as I’m primarily the writer for the group. It’s improvisational [in the sense that] I impart the idea and the melodies and put it together and then start tracking them, putting them down and arranging them. The studio just becomes kind of the tool with which I write.
Wow, so it’s all being made from scratch right now. You must like to put the pressure on yourself!
Well, I work really well under pressure, I think, whether it’s extraneous pressure or pressure that’s put upon myself, by myself. No matter what, I think the urgency tends to really benefit the writing.
How will the new album differ from your first EP?
We’re really excited because we’re kind of being placed in that ‘buzz band’ category, or whatever at the moment, but that’s a really hard position to be put in. And a lot of bands, what they do is they have an EP or singles or a Myspace page or whatever and then they have to live up to the expectations that have been built around those singles and then deliver some kind of cohesive album. Really, my intention was never to create a band that had one sound.
Right, so you’re looking to create something a bit different from what we’ve already heard.
Yeah, I mean, I’m very much into consistency, but not rehashing the same old material, or becoming a one-trick pony, just because it works. I don’t understand how people do that. The new album is basically a departure, like, already a new sound. It makes me nervous (laughs) but really excited at the same time, as at least I will be in that position where no one can say, ‘He’s just using the same singles from the EP.’
How did you get into writing in the first place?
I was born into music. My father is a music teacher and I was always enamored by music. I always wanted to play music even when I was in preschool.
And you play the keyboard in the band now. Do you play any other instruments?
I studied jazz guitar for like 13 or 14 years, but composition was something I was always interested in, as I never considered myself a straight instrumentalist. I could never really do it that way.
And could you always write music?
I could write, relatively. I basically grew up with the Beach Boys and the Beatles and that stuff was just nailed into my head at such a young age and I have a really supportive family and a very musically inclined family so it was just a very good foundation.
When you write your music, how do you write? What inspires you?
Well, Chunk of Change was very specific in that it was like a self-loathing, kind of – well, it was meant to be something of a present for my girlfriend to make her feel better about herself in regards to our relationship (laughs).
You’re lucky you were a good musician. That could have backfired on you. And what about the songs you’re writing now?
We want to create something that was about that wide-eyed optimism, just juvenile euphoria. That’s essentially what we’re going for. We don’t have the happiest lyrics but that’s the point, it’s split. You’ve got super happy pop and you’re talking about some extremely personal issues like depression, making things better for your life and opening yourself up and loving other people. It’s a very positive album. I’m really surprised at myself (laughs).
It’s interesting that you see your music as split like that because some people have been using some weird terms to describe your sound. Some critics have even been calling it ‘electro-twee’. How do you feel about that?
The earlier stuff and what everyone knows now was lo-fi, but it wasn’t even mixed or mastered by anyone. ‘Electro’ is about right but ‘twee’ I don’t really get. I kind of understand where they’re coming from.
What about the new stuff?
The new record is just pop – like, bliss pop.
‘Bliss pop’? Is that what we should be calling it?
Ah, I don’t know if you can quote me on that, as I have no idea how the hell the sound will work out! I would rather not describe it as we’re only 50 percent into it so far!
Your original EP was made in your bedroom for your girlfriend. How did it get out into the public?
I passed it on to some friends, I was like, ‘Hey dude, check this out, I did it for my girlfriend, isn’t it funny?’ And my friends thought it was pretty awesome. I was like, ‘Ah, what a pity I couldn’t sell this!’ (laughs).
You should have!
I didn’t have any money to do it! I thought, if my friends like it, maybe other people will like it. But that would have never of happened unless I played loads of shows and stuff. I never sold any CDs in the end. But it got through to Frenchkiss.
The whole year has gone amazingly fast for you in terms of sitting in your bedroom making tracks to now being named as one of the buzz bands of the year. Has it felt like it’s all happened really quickly?
Oh my God, yeah! I stopped reading stuff as it just freaks me out having all these things written about you but most of them have been positive and I’m very pleased. It never works out the way you think it’s going to work out. You always envision yourself going into music and it being a completely different ball game.
In what way?
I never thought I’d be playing in an electro band, playing synthesizers and stuff. It’s so strange and now in terms of being in a buzz band, there’s so many of them that we’re all clumped into the same category. Looking at all of them is pretty interesting as well. Like who’s doing this [similar kind of electro pop] and everyone’s supposed to have different roles. It’s like we’re being pigeonholed. The hilarious thing about that is everyone that works with us is trying to figure out why people relate us to MGMT. Is it because they use synthesizers and well – ?
They’re guys in a band as well?
Yeah! People are lazy when they compare bands and that’s okay. I’m not going to fault them for not digging deeper, but who the hell cares about a buzz band?
Have you got anything good planned for it?
Yeah I’ve always been a huge fan of Aloha and Cale Parks from Aloha is touring with us. It’s the biggest dream come true for me as in high school it was like the transitional band for me, them and Mogwai. It’s a huge deal for me to be touring with them.
What are your hopes for the album you’re recording?
I hope it’s what I had in my head this entire time it’s been recording. You have this idea and you just pray to God it’s somewhere close to what you intended, which is never ever the case, but if you can get close to your original intentions with the album, you’ve done a pretty good job. I’m really happy with where it’s going. I hope I don’t lose my momentum (laughs)!END
