Passion Pit - Passion Pop
It’s a small world. Last year, Passion Pit, a rad band out of NYC, released a 7 Inch through boutique label Neon Gold, a new label started by the guy behind the fantastic (now defunct) blog, Good Weather For Airstrikes. Now with a debut album, 3D’s Nina Bertok speaks with the electro popsters.
Passion Pit frontman Mike Angelakos won his lady over with the band’s Chunk of Change EP in 2008 and now he’s got his sights set on the rest of our country with debut full-length Manners. Far from good behaviour, Passion Pit bassist Nate Donmoyer describes the album’s recording session in New York as an experience not far from going away on summer camp.
“Oh, it was fun!’’ he enthuses. “It was like going away for the summer to a camp or something in New York and every day, all day, was a blast. Mind you, we worked very hard too, I don’t think we would have ever got this much done if we’d stayed at home [Massachusetts]. Actually, believe it or not, the entire album had been recorded the summer before I even joined the band but there were a few production issues. When we went back into the studio we dropped a lot of the music we’d put together on that summer session, it was just too under-produced. Still, we walked into the studio with a lot of confidence because we knew people liked the EP and if they did then essentially they’d probably like this recording too.”
The brainchild of Angelakos, the Passion Pit collective only came together in late 2007, yet by the time the band hit the stage the third time ever they were already voted Best New Act in the prestigious Boston Phoenix’s Best Music Poll. Not long after, New York-based record label Frenchkiss Records snatched the guys up and by the time 2009 rolled around, Passion Pit was the ninth band to watch out for according BBC’s Sound of 2009.
“One of the great things about this album is that it’s allowed us to work with some pretty incredible people like Cale Parks, Sofia Degli Alessandri and Paul Hogan from Frances,” Donmoyer insists. “The big monster, though, was getting a primary school choir to sing on our record. Mike has this natural ability to imitate a really high-pitched child’s voice so it kind of made sense to hire a real children’s choir if we had the money to afford it. The choir was made up of 55 really talented kids that love pop music so the harmonies were really spot-on. And they were so professional too. I think that energy and the vibe of youth really shows up on the album.”
Donmoyer promises Australia will have a chance to experience the Passion Pit grandness in flesh around Christmas time at the latest. “I’m really excited because I’ve never been to that side of the world,” he says. “And I think we’ll be staying a while.”
WHO: Passion Pit
WHAT: Manners through Frenchkiss / Sony
WHEN: Out now
MORE: myspace.com/passionpitjams