The Pests Interview

 

The Cavern Club in Exeter is notorious for putting on shows involving the underground music scene, alongside some major artists so its no surprise that when an up and coming band gets booked to play there it’s a big deal.  At the end of March a very jubilant Torquay based band “The Pests” headlined their first big gig there after forming just over a year ago. 

Having seen The Pests a few times and being impressed with their vibe, loyal fanbase and their original material, we asked them if we could tag along and chat with them before their set.   They agreed and amidst the palpable excitement, the glitter, the consumption of possibly enough Red Bull (Mike) to actually give him wings and the odd game of Uno, we found out some more about this 5-piece. 

Rik – We just had to form a band.  We all loved music, albeit different stuff and each played different instruments, so it made sense, especially as there is not much to do in Torquay. 

Jason – Yeah it basically started when we decided to get together to have a little jam at my house and then it just happened and we formed properly.

Rik – Then it was months before we even had a name.  Actually we were booked to do our first gig before we had the name.  It came to the night of the gig and we were like “Mike, what’s our name” and he said “The Pests” and it just stuck.

Ella – We did actually think of lots of other names before that as well.

Rik – We had Colour Shine, The Narwhals and another one was Crap Charity [laughing] – but I think that should be a future EP title or something.

Pete – When we started we didn’t even have amps or anything at that stage; we had to borrow everything when we played out.

Jason – And I couldn’t really play drums at all to be fair.  I only knew 1 drum beat.

Rik – Yeah but now we have all our own equipment so we need to buy a van to take us to gigs, or lately I have been thinking about getting a hearse.

4TR – well HeartsRevolution have an ice cream van so a hearse could work I suppose!

Rik – For ages we used Ella’s little green Daewoo to get us around.  5 people, our instruments and amps in a Daewoo.  It’s been ramshackle but it’s been fun.

Pete –It was a few months before we unleashed the pests on the public. 

Rik – Yeah our first gig was at Rude Bar in Torquay during May Bank Holiday last year.

Jason – And it was a rude awakening for us and everyone there!

Rik – Actually it was just after Jason moved to London for 2 weeks [laughing].   I was like Jase please come back and play and he was like ok, I’ve run out of money!

Jason –To become an actor.

Rik – No you moved to London to become a Russell Brand impersonator.  Put this on record Jason moved to London to become a Russell Brand impersonator because he had a mullet like him [laughing]

Mike – But unfortunately he cut his hair and his dream died!

Rik – [still laughing] Yeah.  He even had a photo shoot done.

Ella – And his mum kept showing us the photos during band practise.

[the entire band are in stitches]

Jason – [holding his head in his hands] oh my god, no she didn’t

Ella – Yes she did Jason, she gave one to me!

Mike – Then he came out of the hairdressers and cried because he didn’t look like the pictures anymore.

Jason – Life was going pretty bad!

Rik – Well we have about 8 songs recorded.  We would love to do an album obviously or a 6 track EP first.  We have done live radio sessions as well and did one for Palm FM(local radio station) recently, which was really well received. 

Jason – its Ella and Rick mostly who write the music.

Rik – We kind of write then take it down to raw form and mess about with it the best we can.  It has been successful so far and we are really happy with what we have produced. 

Ella – We have found our approach really works for us and this way everyone can contribute and get involved in making the music.

Rik - Well if I had to label it I would say its pop music played at punk speed, with a new wave twist to it, or, as we like to call it ,“freak wave”.  I don’t think we sound like anyone really, I mean there are obvious reference points but no one you could put us next to and say we’re very similar.

Rik - Yeah this is pretty much it.  We love it!  I think we all just chuck our influences in there and make a tune out of it.  There aren’t enough bands out there who just want to write and play good songs.  It’s like there is always an agenda, but with us we just want to enjoy it and hope everyone else does.  It’s always good to see someone dancing at a Pests gig!

Rik – I think the boy/girl dynamic works.

Jason – And they each do lead vocals for quite different sounding songs.

Mike – It’s sexy and brings a bit of diversity to what we create!

Rik – Yeah we think it sounds different and our sound is quite unique, plus Ella is a lot prettier than me so it works out nicely.  

Rik - New York! New York! We love loads of the New York bands like The Velvet Underground who I’m pretty sure everyone in the band loves, Mike and Ella love Blondie, then there is The Moldy Peaches and The Strokes.   I love big orchestral pop bands, not being scared to sound massive is inspiring and if you can do that but still keep it personal at the same time, it’s a winning combination.  Bands like Pulp and Belle and Sebastian do that brilliantly.  There’s also quite a few modern bands who probably influence us but we sound nothing like, for example Arcade Fire, who are just insane, The Long Blondes who never get the credit they deserve and The Cribs who are just ace.

Who would you see as competition in the South West?

Jason – Hey Molly!

Rik – It’s not really a competition though is it!

Jason – Hey Molly!

Rik – The Romance!

Ella – Yeah I think The Romance.

Jason – We like The Romance, they are also playing tonight.  Shout out to The Romance.

Rik – But we don’t sound anything like them so it would be hard to put us together as competition.  We also don’t sound like The Wurzels though so I don’t know how we are going to make it!!!

Pete – Technical hitches yes, a few of those!

Rik – Well we are already barred from the Hub in Exeter.  We played a club NME night with a band called Cage the Elephant and it went quite well but some of our supporters got a little rowdy, so now we are banned.  It was good fun though!

Rik – [laughs] We also had our drummer banned from Rude in Torquay for an incident involving our drummer and a bouncer and the toilets – but that’s another story. We managed to smooth that little incident over now especially as Pete and I have a little sideline DJing for the ‘I Love Indie’ night there every week.  

Jason – I would love to tour all the time!

Ella – I think it will be hard but fun at the same time, but we are totally serious.  As a band we would love to put our music out there.

Rik – It’s difficult at the moment though as Ella and Mike are at uni so we don’t get to gig as often as we would all like.  Mainly it’s in the university breaks when we play out.  This week we have done four gigs!  But yeah we are wholeheartedly serious, although I don’t like to think of it as a career as that can bring down the fun side a bit.

Mike – [lost in thought] I think my stomach is reacting to all the caffeine!

Ella – How much Red bull have you had now?

Mike – Erm this is my fifth.

Ella – Really are you joking?  You could have got drunk instead.

Rik – You could have a heart attack.  Imagine if you died during a Pests gig.  Would you guys carry on playing?

Mike – [laughing] You could at least try and resuscitate me!

Jason – Nah sorry Mike, we would definitely have to keep carrying on.

Mike – This is show business I suppose.

Jason – What’s a rider?

Pete – Mike said he doesn’t want one.

Jason – A stripper please!

Mike – Ha ha, I would like little animals like rabbits to play with.

Rik – What for?

Mike – For relaxing.  We could have like a menagerie in there.

Jason – So we have a rabbit and a stripper, what else?

Mike – [excitedly] An aquarium or a circus on the tour bus, and in the end we could have our own zoo.

4TR – Extravagant rider, although the circus theme is very Patrick Wolf.

Ella – Yeah but Mike is thinking long term here so when we are not working he is going to have his animals.

Mike – We could even ride animals on stage as our entrance.

Rik – What like come out on a horse?

Ella – Haha yeah Mike wants to ride naked onstage on a horse.

Mike – Like that play with Harry Potter, Equus!

Rik – Well I would have to ride out on an elephant or something in that case.  Or maybe a white tiger whilst wearing my tiger t-shirt [laughing].  

Ella – I would also like glitter on the rider.

Mike – And maybe a glitter paddling pool.

Ella – And water from the Alps blessed by nuns.

Rik – Its pretty good, its pretty amazing!

Mike – Yeah definitely – it’s the best place we have ever played!

Jason – [excitedly] We can’t wait to get on stage!

Rik – So many great bands play the Cavern, so to headline is amazing.

Mike – The Long Blondes were here this week.

Rik – Yeah we came to watch the Long Blondes who were brilliant!

Jason – We are as good as the Long Blondes now.

Ella – Er no we’re not. Yet!

Interview by Francesca Strange