For the last decade or so, Toronto's pop punk rangers, Pup, have been making thoughtful yet super catchy tracks about loss, depression and exploration of feelings. Since seeing them three years ago in Nola, the band has only gotten bigger. Where Y'at's Landon Murray recently traded questions over email with the band's guitarist Steve Sladkowski to talk about the tour, life after Covid, and how the band's progression has only made them more popular and fun to witness live.
WYA: Having played New Orleans in the past, how does it feel to be able to graduate in a way to playing a larger venue like the Civic?
STEVE: New Orleans is one of the greatest music cities in the world. To feel like our little punk rock band from Toronto has gained an audience in the city is so meaningful! It's a joy and a privilege to visit and perform whenever and wherever the city will have us.
WYA: For those who haven't seen the tour yet, or perhaps have never seen Pup before, what can people expect from this leg?
STEVE: We've really been trying to include material from all four records and the EP. Some nights, peoples' favorite songs get left out but we feel like we're playing at a really high level and in great tour shape. It'll be sweaty, loud, in your face, and also hopefully rewarding people who want to listen or mosh or both. And the opening acts, Palehound and The OBGMs, are truly incredible and well-worth showing up early for!
WYA: I saw you in Denver and then Atlanta this year, and both shows were spectacular. My question is, do you approach a normal show differently from a fest? In what ways?
STEVE: Festivals are obviously a little more of a time crunch, so we tend to tailor our sets toward the most amount of music and least amount of talking. Crowd interaction at a headline show is much different because you have different speaking breaks and moments to engage people both with and without the music. At festivals, you just have to keep playing so that you keep peoples' attention and they don't leave to see someone else after a few songs.
WYA: When I interviewed Stefan a few years ago, right before the Denver Morbid Stuff date, we talked about how personal and somewhat autobiographical the lyrics and songs were. That seemed to be even more elevated on the most recent record. Was that just a step in the natural direction or more of a purposeful move?
STEVE: Our band has always sort of gravitated towards writing about what we know, whether that's lyrically or musically. While I won't speak for Stefan regarding specific lyrics, certainly it feels as though this entire record is a natural next step both in tone and tenor of the music and lyrics.
WYA: What's a show day like for the band? Are you hyper focused all day on the night show or do you like to explore the city and have fun?
STEVE: We definitely try to explore the cities we're in as much as possible. We recently have been fortunate enough to tour on a bus, which affords us more time during the daylight hours to explore the cities we visit. It's a great opportunity to check out anything from botanical gardens to record and book stores and the best coffee shops and restaurants near the venues. New Orleans will, obviously, be ripe with these opportunities!
WYA: The new record is absolutely fantastic, with " Robot writes a Love Song" and "Cutting off the Corners' ' being two of the standouts for me. How'd those songs take shape, and what inspired them?
STEVE: Both those songs took shape in our rehearsal space but in radically different ways. "Corners" was a piece of music we worked on on and off for months and months and it only fully came together in the recording studio while we were working with Peter Katis. On the other hand, "Robot" was a song that emerged from our jam space fully-formed inside of two weeks; there are actually parts of the recording of "Robot" that contain material recorded in our jamspace when we were making the initial demo of the song.
WYA: With the return to the world after Covid, have you noticed things that perhaps are different, or is it just people so happy to be back at shows?
STEVE: It's both. Things are different by the very nature of the fact that the pandemic fundamentally isn't over. We still are masking backstage and in enclosed spaces because we literally cannot afford to get sick. Unfortunately, there are seemingly fewer and fewer opportunities to encourage masking in public throughout the United States and Canada and that is just a fact of life. Having said that, people are so grateful to be back in the venue spaces that we all took for granted prior to 2020 and we are doing our best to continue creating the safe spaces for the myriad life experiences of the people who come to our shows.
WYA: One of the things I enjoy most about your shows is how the band is so close and bonded. How do you and the guys manage being in a band with responsibilities and still being such close friends?
STEVE: The four of us never had any expectation that the band would grow beyond Toronto and the small scene in Southern Ontario that made us who we are. Having not really had those sorts of expectations has allowed us to grow together and confront the difficulties of life on the road - being away from our friends and families for months at a time - in a way that has prioritized the safety and well-being of ourselves and our crew. The only way to get through the ugly realities of the music business is to surround yourselves with people who are positive, caring, and willing to make and appreciate the sacrifices necessary to ensure the show happens every night. This is not as easy as it sounds but we wouldn't trade it for anything in the world.
PUP performs Monday September 12 at the Civic, with openers Palehound and The OBGMs.
