Passion Pit: from Boston with love

A Valentine's Day gift spawns one of 2009's most hyped bands

By Scott Thill

Special to Metromix

Boston-based son of a music teacher Michael Angelakos just wanted to make a Valentine's Day gift for his deserving girlfriend. But the next thing he knew, that gift became a highly buzzed electro-pop EP called "Chunk of Change," which has led to a national tour and plans for a debut full-length from his band, Passion Pit, on indie label Frenchkiss Records. (That debut, "Manners," is due out May 26.)

"When it rains, it pours," Angelakos says about the accelerating attention. “But I don't mind it. All of a sudden, I am relatively popular, at least in my eyes. It's awesome."

Angelakos understands that the pressure is now on to live up to the hype, and he's responded by taking little of it seriously. After all, the "Chunk of Change" EP and its signature single, "Sleepyhead," were born of sheer play. Even his ear-piercing falsetto is a primal shriek as fun as it is serious. So Angelakos is happy to stay strange under pressure, for the sake of a good time and a future in a transformed music biz.

Are you thinking of making Valentine's Day presents for everyone after how this turned out?
Good point. It worked. My girlfriend needed this album, and she really liked it. No one else was really supposed to hear it. I had written songs for people, but never a whole album. It's a lo-fi demo I did on my computer. No one mixed or mastered it. It was done in my bedroom. I had released it already myself. Frenchkiss decided to put it out there, and the next thing you know, here we are. We were surprised at the reception, and people started taking it seriously.

The wonder of tech. What did you use?
I used Ableton Live, ripped MP3s and created synths out of waveforms. But it was about the songwriting. It was so immediate, and not meant to be methodical. I transferred that thinking to the studio, where I go in with nothing prepared. It's similar to how I wrote "Chunk of Change." So you're right: with tech, anyone can do it now. The argument that it's too easy is missing the point. When music is saturated, it makes it harder to stand out; it poses a different challenge.

It's not always about the training.
How many bands don't know what the fuck they are doing? That's why music school kids piss me off. They know so much that they are ruined. The rest of the band went to Berklee [a prestigious music school in Boston]; we all grew up with music, but I was the one that played in school. Even my dad said I couldn't go to music school. I look back on that and say, "Thanks, Dad!"

Where does the band's name come from?
Well, it's not from the porno. I got it from a class on 20th century American fashion. Passion pit is a slang term for drive-in movie theaters, where everyone would just neck. It was a really funny name for my solo project, and I never thought it would be used. I wanted to be recognized more seriously. I thought it was such a lame name.

How high can your falsetto go? Can you break glass?
I don't know my top note, but the thing about that record is that I did the vocals in one take. I was like, "Fuck it." It wasn't exactly a very accurate performance. The whole point was to get that juvenile, childish screaming out. I wanted it to be euphoric, blissful and overwhelming. I never actually use my voice in that manner, but once it started working, it got cool. I've been playing in slowcore indie bands all my life using my mid-range. All of a sudden, I started singing way higher than I could. My dad, who is a music teacher, couldn't believe it. "What are you doing with your voice?" he'd always ask.

Are you bringing it with you to the full-length?
The way I bring it in is more sophisticated. It's utilized more tastefully; I explore it a bit more.

Are you feeling the pressure?
Totally. Especially when I have Columbia [which is releasing the album overseas] breathing down my neck, saying, "We're not going to impose any artistic boundaries, but this record better be really fucking good!" No, everyone there is great. They let me do what I want to do, which I first thought was the craziest thing in the world. I thought major labels would be more restrictive, but our deal is amazing, Plus, pressure puts my foot on the gas. I just write better when I am under pressure.

I think the labels understand that the days of signing artists and running the show are almost over.
l don't understand why they did it; they just trusted us. Actually, our deal with Columbia was more indie than any deals we've had with actual indies. We were lucky, at the right time in the right place. We know how lucky we are.