Pupppy are from New York. The best way to introduce the band is to say that Pupppy is an outlet for front man Will's song writing. They started when Will's former band Poverty Hollow split up after 6 years of rocking and rolling. After gaining the confidence, Will was ready to put new songs out, the sentimental songs he's been writing on the side for so long. Pupppy was born, and Third Outing were lucky enough to catch up with them before the release of their début Shit In The Apple Pie.
3rd: Pupppy. Hello! It's great to see you and it's great to talk to a NYC band. Tell me what's the latest happenings there in NYC and where do you fit into that?
Pupppy: There's always a lot going on in and around the city. Our college has a really supportive community of musicians and artists and a long history of cool music and art, so it's a good place to learn and experience and absorb. As to where we fit in with all of it, I don't really know. There's a big scene in Brooklyn of bands that we have a lot of friends in, and there's such amazing work coming out of there right now, but I've always felt that it can be kinda strange and bubble-y. We also don't live in the city. There's a weird stigma about being a Purchase band that's like a double edged sword because we do have a long history of such quality bands and artists and it's awesome to be part of that, but at the same time it kinda makes me feel that not only are we being pigeon-holed to the stereotypes associated with the previous sounds that have come out of here, but it feeds into the idea of bands existing in exclusive bubbles and scenes, which we just don't feel part of. We do what we want, I guess. 3rd: So how did Pupppy come to be? Do you have a definitive idea behind the band? Pupppy: Pupppy is meant to be an outlet for my song writing, pure and simple. My only goal is to continue to push myself as a songwriter, all of us as a live band, Sam as a producer and engineer, and really just experiment with new and different things that I feel my songs are gravitating towards. The songs for the next record are much folky-er than SITAP but Sam and I are excited to experiment with dirty sounding synths and heavy distorted guitars to see what kind of unique timbre we can give the record and how it will effect our execution of simple folk songs. It might be our 'punk' record. 3rd: So it's a song writing project, starting as Will's solo project, right? I remember you declared that the songs on the record are songs you had neglected for a long time due to feeling insecure about them. Things you shouldn't be writing, recording, and performing. What changed your mind to release them? Pupppy: What changed my mind was pretty much when my old band, Poverty Hollow (previously Suns), broke up. We had been doing the thing for like 6 years and my writing became so specific in that context so when we ended I finally gained the confidence to just be like, yo fuck it. I'm putting these songs out, and I don't care if anyone judges them for being poppy sentimental songs because I'm a poppy sentimental person, so whatever. 3rd: In that case, then. Describe Pupppy's sound in one sentence? Pupppy: The sound of someone who doesn't know whether they are about to start laughing maniacally or crying hysterically.
3rd: Tell us about the processes of making the new record Shit In The Apple Pie, then?
Pupppy: I bring in songs, the band learns them, we make some changes, play with dynamics, and sit on them for a while and let them just kind of mould themselves. As for recording, it's pretty much all Sam and I. He's an amazing engineer and mixer, and he and I are a really solid producer team. He and I spent 14 months recording, rerecording, scrapping, and mixing for SITAP and really got to know each other's styles. Neither of us like to rush anything, which is an unfortunate thing I think a lot of bands do, even if they don't realise it. 3rd: If we were to come from Scotland for a few days to NYC, where would you take us to show us the Pupppy way of life? Pupppy: We'd get really high and then go to the movie theatre down the street from my house, see something really dumb and waste money on snacks because why not? Then if there was a show at The Stood on campus we'd go, but we'd probably just go back to my house, listen to the new Pile record, and have some drinks. 3rd: And your life changing record? There are some exciting bands around right now. Pupppy: Damn, a life changer...Lifted by Bright Eyes showed me for the first time that you can do so many amazing things with really straight forward songs. I was really young and had heard The Beatles and shit, but I just didn't get the idea that arranging and composing things for a simple band could work so wonderfully. Also, the emotion on that record is so overwrought yet genuine in it's conviction that my young self and current self will always be able to relate in one way or another. Other records would be Pygmy Lush Mount Hope, Brand New The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me and Sparklehorse Vivadixietransmissionsubmarineplot. The most exciting band right now is Pile. Without a doubt. They are colossal yet intimate, catchy yet complex. They're just fucking amazing. 3rd: Good choices. So if we gave you the choice of which band's to headline this year's Glastonbury, who would you choose? Or would you keep this years head-liners? Pupppy: Foo Fighters are kinda dumb but I actually like Dave Grohl so fuck me and them, right? Lionel Ritchie had a hit or two, he was on I love the 70's I think, so sure, why not? I think it should be a Green Day cover band, an Elliott Smith hologram that is actually a hallucination induced by mysterious mists that are sprayed all over the crowd, and Pile. 3rd: You speak the truth. What's 2015 going to look like for Pupppy? Pupppy: Small Spring tour of the north east in late March, 6 week full US summer tour with our friends O-Face, and then we're going to record LP 2 in September. Just trying to play as much as possible, and I'm really excited to write more for the next record even though I've already got about a little more than record's worth of material. It'll be fun and refreshing to throw songs out once I write some more. 3rd: We can't wait for Shit In The Apple Pie released this April 21 on Father/Daughter Records. Cheers for the chat. Finally, what's your desert island drink? Pupppy: Probably just a gin and tonic, but if they had something more exotic and still on the cheap side I'd probably go for it. Comments are closed.
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