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Plushgun - Band With A Gun

Author: Nina Bertok
Monday, March 16, 2009

Brooklyn’s Plushgun must have got their name from the bullets of soft synths they fire from their instruments, right- (rhetorical question.) Frontman Dan Ingala gives the lowdown on his band’s debut album to 3D’s Nina Bertok.

Sometimes assembling an album is not unlike writing a novel, according to Plushgun founder and vocalist Dan Ingala. And the Brooklyn native should know, having just dropped the band’s debut full-length, Pins and Panzers, to overwhelmingly positive reviews from U.S. fans and critics alike.

“During the writing process you can get really inspired by something but you just don’t know where to take it,” Ingala says. “I like to compare it to writing a novel because it’s not very different from just sitting there in front of a typewriter and managing to write out all these chapters that are good but which just aren’t going anywhere.”

And while Ingala admits songwriting can be a most frustrating affair, working on Plushgun’s debut album was more of a good experience than a bad one. “Well, actually, I can’t really say that much about being in the studio because most of these songs were pretty much done by the time we even started recording, which was a good thing,” claims Ingala. “When it came to the studio it was more about the art of putting the right songs in the right place on the album. So, because most of the album was done out of my bedroom at home, including laying out the guitars, all that was really needed was to record the drums so our experience in the studio was probably different from most other bands’.”

And the best way to soak in Pins and Panzers- With a pinch of salt, Ingala recommends.

“It’s crazy that it’s even out, just the idea of having it out there still spins me out,” he says. “A lot of people have had their own opinions about it but I think the music speaks for itself. It is what it is – it’s poppy and it’s genuine and it’s music that was made in a bedroom for you to listen to in a bedroom with a bit of a dance thrown in. I think the people that will really dig this album are those that just want to have fun and not necessarily sit there at shows and analyse it.”

And it’s that very quirkiness that comes with Plushgun which immediately caught the attention of one Andrew W.K. who jumped at the chance to join the likes of Jesse Novak and Justin Strauss in remixing selected tracks off the album.

“It’s a pretty elite group that did our remixes, right-” Ingala chuffs. “It’s all on the second disc of the package and it’s really great and dance-y and everyone’s done such a great job. Andrew W.K. is so super nice, he is just an awesome guy. We actually played a show with him once and he is so polite and all like, ‘thank you so, so much for playing the show’. So he’s a little strange but totally down to earth and nice.”

Considering the enthusiasm with which Pins and Panzers was received by synth-pop lovers of America, it’s a safe bet that Aussie audiences will take to Ingala’s bedroom project just as much.

“I would love to go to Australia, personally, but right now I have to wait and see the response to the album. I want to make sure people like us first, and if they do, then we’d like to be there within the year.”

WHO: Plushgun
WHAT: Pins and Panzers through Tommy Boy / Stomp
WHEN: Out now
MORE: plushgun.com

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