Hello, My Name Is J.P.
Q&A with Surfer Blood’s J.P. Pitts
IE: Describe the EP: stuff you’re playing live, a tip of the cap to Kanine Records before diving into Warner Bros.?
J.P. Pitts: A little bit of everything. We did want to release something to bridge the first record and the next, which we’ll start as soon as we get back from this tour. The second [album] will be released by Kanine and Warner Bros., too, though.
IE: With the Trail Of Dead/Surfer Blood tour, will you get a lot of disoriented metalheads showing up?
J.P.: I’m not sure what to expect, honestly. Musically, we’re a lot different, they’re a fair amount older than us, and we’re all going to be on the same bus, apparently. A lot of metalheads seem to like Surfer Blood, too, so maybe we’ll make some more fans.
IE: You don’t want the cutters that some black-metal bands acquire.
JP: That would bum me out if I saw that from the stage. I’ve never listened to music and felt like that, so I guess I don’t understand the impulse.
IE: You guys have done several tours; do you hang out with the other bands?
JP: We’ve always gotten pretty close with them. When you’re traveling together, you can’t help get to know somebody. I love all the dudes in my band, but after 200 days on the road it’s nice to talk to somebody else and realize there’s a world outside of your bubble.
IE: Do you have stacks of plans to collaborate after a tour?
JP: It comes up, but everyone’s pretty realistic about time. It’s pretty hard keeping up with a tour schedule, writing new music, and making records. It’s all day, every day. We’re probably really bad at it. “Yeah, we should do this tour, get together, collaborate,” when in the back of our minds we know it’ll never happen. But it’s not a bad thing to dream.
J.P. Pitts and Surfer Blood co-headline Bottom Lounge (1375 W. Lake in Chicago) with And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead on May 7th, and will release the I’m Not Ready EP this spring. Q&A by Steve Forstneger.
