Phone a Friend: Advice from Slow Pulp.
Phone a Friend: Advice from Slow Pulp.
"I can't describe a level of closeness with other people like we have. Having lived together, toured together, worked together, and written together, we learned so much about each other so quickly," Slow Pulp's Emily Massey shares about the bond she shares with bandmates Alexander Leeds, Theodore Mathews, and Henry Stoehr - and it's this friendship which built up to the release of their debut album, 'Moveys', following on from their 'Big Day' EP in 2019.
When reflecting about their close-knit bond, they reminisce on an early tour: "Everything that could have gone wrong with the van on that trip did. We ended up on the side of a curved stretch of highway for hours around sunset, eventually eating beans on a camping stove top at a rural car repair shop late at night somewhere in Ohio. The tire got fixed and we made it to Philly just fine. The day we were supposed to leave though, we ran into transmission issues and had to extend our trip a couple more days. The shows were fun but the trip quickly brought us closer together and made us all realise we worked well together (and had a lot of fun) even in seemingly stressful situations. It’s been great ever since and we couldn’t imagine this band without her :)"
About the writing of one of the album's highlights 'Falling Apart', Massey shares: "When I was writing this song my family and I were going through a pretty tough time. I found myself in the position as a caretaker for my parents after they got into a really bad car accident. I was avoiding expressing any emotion for a long time. I got so fed up, I wanted to have a break down so bad but couldn’t. It was such a juxtaposition to how I was the year before, where I felt like I was falling apart constantly. I hadn’t thought of this song so much in the context of self-deprecating conversations we have with ourselves in times of success, but that is absolutely behaviour I revert back to time and time again. I certainly have not figured out how to curb this thinking. But something that the past 6 months has taught me is to let go more, and to really try to feel in the moment. For so long I wasn’t letting myself celebrate myself. It wasn’t till I found everything around me crumbling and out of control that I was able to step out of myself and see the world a bit differently. Everything is so random, there is no predicting, might as well take hold of moments of joy and love and celebration while you can."
Their 'Track' music video showcases hand-drawn animation made by Corinne James - and Massey has a love for animation, telling us: "I was and still am into the animation in 'James and the Giant Peach', it's so visceral and strange especially for a Disney animated movie. My favourite movie when I was a kid was 'Yellow Submarine', which is such a classic. We are all really into Jamie Wolfe’s work, who made a few videos for King Krule that are really amazing."
Though the idea of performing live at the moment feels like an faraway idea, Slow Pulp are enthused at the thought: "It would be really fun to figure out a way to play the last song on our album, 'Movey' off 'Moveys' haha. We figured out a really beautiful live version of 'Falling Apart'. Our friend Willie reinterpreted the strings from the recording on slide guitar and it sounds so cool."
Slow Pulp have kindly put together a few pieces of advice below for us...
ADVICE FROM A GROUP OF PEOPLE WHO ARE NOT QUALIFIED TO GIVE ADVICE:
1. Trust yourself, first idea sometimes best idea.
2. Listen to your body.
3. It's ok to say no.
4. Drink lots of water.
5. Cut your own hair at least once.
6. Stretch.
7. Don't overthink things too much.
8. Take naps if you need to.
9. Eat something green once a day, don’t eat too many donuts. Sometimes we eat too many doughnuts and it doesn’t always feel so good.
10. Call the people you love often.
Slow Pulp's album 'Moveys' is out now - watch a live performance for KEXP below:
