Pick A Piper
The Singing Lamb: Pick A Piper is highly rhythmic, incorporating lots of percussion and drums especially in your music – how did this dynamic come about? Is rhythm the primary focus when you begin writing songs? Because live, there’s a definite sense of energy like a drum circle – it’s crazy good!
Brad Weber: Rhythm definitely tends to be the starting point to any of our songs. We wanted to write dance music, but in a sort of primal way. I started coming up with all these different rhythms, recording lots of drums and percussion and then bringing those ideas to everyone else to add on top of it. I guess that’s how we generally write songs… start with a rhythmic idea, record the drums/percussion first and then write the song based on the feel of that. Sometimes it’s just one loop and we expand upon it. Other times I’ve actually sequenced out percussion for an entire song before adding any other instrument. It’s been a fun way to write so far. Definitely different than the way I’ve approached songwriting in the past.
Of course I have to ask about the name – where did it come from?
After months of toiling over band names, it was between that and “Pickled Pepper” …but we didn’t want any Google searches to come up with images of Rue McClanahan.
You guys recently shot a video for “Rooms” in parts of Iceland and Canada – why did you choose to do that? How was it shooting in Iceland as compared to the good ol’ necks of Canada?
Iceland is probably my favourite country in the world. I went there for the first time in the summer of 2008 in between some Caribou festivals and was totally floored. I always knew I’d go back at some point and when some friends asked me to go in early October this year I jumped at it. PaP’s bass player, Dan, was one of those people. We had already shot tons of footage in Hamilton of Angus and drumming on floor toms in strange locations while covering our upper bodies in green. The idea was to key that green out and make our bodies flash with colours. We had those shots, we had some stuff from my parents cottage of us around a campfire. But I still wanted more and wasn’t sure what. Iceland seemed like the perfect way to show people my favourite place to travel while finally getting a music video together at the same time. Dan and I would just look for protruding rocks, stop the car, quickly film some shots and then jump back in and keep going. The day we shot most of the Iceland stuff was one of the windiest days I’ve ever experienced. It was a much more challenging shoot than Canada based on the elements alone!
All the members of this band have been in previous bands as well – what have you all taken from those previous experiences and brought into Pick A Piper (if you did bring anything to the band)?
I have been playing with Caribou since mid-2007 and it completely changed my life. Playing with those guys really helped my own writing more than I anything else I’ve ever done. As well, Dan Snaith turned me onto so many amazing records that I never would have found otherwise. He and Ryan Smith (Caribou guitarist) have been an endless source of new and inspiring music that I now can’t imagine life without. I owe those guys more than I could ever give back.
Angus writes solo records under the name Tenth of May. He has an awesome pop sensibility that incorporates really well into our stuff. Otherwise we’d probably just be banging away with no direction!
Dan has been in a couple of bands with me in the past (most recently one called Winter Equinox a few years ago) and has an awesome sense of rhythm and writes some of the catchiest basslines around. He has a really discerning ear for what he feels works and what doesn’t and isn’t afraid to speak up and I really appreciate it.
Clint is a good buddy of ours who has been hibernating in his room for a while, noodling around with various instruments. He’s a fantastic guitarist and singer, so we’re stoked to get him playing shows and love what he brings to the band.
Your MySpace page’s background is the infamous keyboard cat – like it much? Who chose that background? Future Pick A Piper-Keyboard Cat collaboration?
The actual keyboard cat has been put in his place. He/she was playing some lame Radio Shack synth in the comfort of some pampering home I’m sure. Our keyboard cat is rocketing off into space on an old ARP synth showing Jingles how it’s done (that’s what I’ll call the other cat).
And finally, if you were a singing animal, what would you be?
Maybe a singing ape because of all the flailing of arms that happens at various times in our live show. A singing lamb has a much nicer ring to it!
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For more Pick A Piper,
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/pickapiper
And don’t forget that they’re playing tonight at Rancho Relaxo with Corduroy and Ace Kinkaid! Tickets will be $6.00 at the door! Be there!
