Cover Story: Push Puppets • Risk Takers
Push Puppets – Photo: Gabi Bucataru
Erich Specht is a risk taker. Whether it’s using homemade backstage passes to meet one of his idols or adding a spicy horn section to his song, he believes in taking chances. That’s part of what drives his band, Push Puppets. The project began as a musical outlet for Specht, where he played nearly every instrument (aside from drums) on the first two albums, 2008’s A Living Experiment and 2020’s A Boat of Lies and A House of Cards. With an “everything but the kitchen sink” approach to his music, the project allowed him to explore whatever ideas, sounds, and melodies popped into his mind, genre be damned. The Push Puppets have since evolved into a fully realized band featuring Steve Frisbie (backup vocals and guitar), Kyle Magnusson (keyboards), John William Lauler (bass), and Greg Essig (drums). The band has changed over the years, but Specht’s approach to music remains the same.
“Whatever I think are the best songs are going to end up on the album. Maybe I should have a more strategic approach to it, but I collect ideas all the time and have a number of ideas for the next album already. As time passes and stuff gets worked on and developed more, I keep rearranging that list and literally moving the cream to the top.”
During the project’s early days, Specht admits he wanted to “push people’s buttons.” Though that’s no longer the focus of his music, he still pushes boundaries by refusing to play it safe. Rather than stick with one genre that works, Push Puppets thrive on exploring various styles and incorporating different sounds in their music. The band’s latest album, Tethered Together, sees them further exploring their sonic range.
The album is filled with lush guitars, gorgeous piano, buzzing synths, and swelling strings, sometimes all within the same song. One minute you’re bobbing along to a raucous anthem like “Similar,” the next you’re grooving along to the Latin-infused sound of “Shake It Like You Mean It.” For Specht, it’s a natural progression. He doesn’t set out to write songs in particular genres; he wants to do what is necessary to make the song great.
“I appreciate the Beatles and XTC, where the studio is an instrument, and they’re not really limited by the musicianship in their band. So that’s kind of the way I have always looked at music, just doing whatever is going to make the song better and make it live up to its potential. It’s never coming from something else that I’ve heard. I know a lot of people listen to something and try to write something in that genre or something like that. And that’s not all how I approach things,” he says.
“My favorite way to write stuff is when I’m away from an instrument, like in a car or something like that, and just get a melody – ideally a melody with a lyric already tied to it. I find that the natural melody of those words finds its voice. I think it feels natural the way you hear those words when you’re not putting an emphasis where the emphasis wouldn’t be spoken, that sort of thing. So, if an idea comes that way, I’ll have my voice memos going and just keep singing. Once I have a snippet of a melody or a lyric idea, I’ll keep playing it in my head over and over.”
Just one listen to the opening track “Similar” shows how the band can’t be pigeon-holed. It opens with a rocking guitar layered by swelling strings. Later, we are treated to light piano flourishes that build anticipation. There’s even a brief synth break to liven things up. On paper, it sounds disjointed and messy, yet it’s cohesive. To ensure each song came together in beautiful harmony, Specht teamed up once again with producer Doug McBride [Gravity Studios], with whom he had previously worked on **Allegory Grey.
“A lot of credit has to go out to Doug because I typically throw everything but the kitchen sink into the recording. A lot of it is just me going crazy on guitars or with synths at home. So, for him to be able to make sense of it is one thing. I was also periodically checking in with Doug as the demos were evolving, making sure he felt things weren’t stepping on each other.”
Incorporating complex instrumentation and varying styles into their music isn’t new for Push Puppets, but a notable change on this album is a greater emphasis on strings. Rather than emulating strings on guitar, as they’d done in the past, the band opted to work with a live string quartet, which can be heard on singles “Similar” and “Hearts Aren’t Souvenirs.” The band even performed with the quartet during their album release show in May. Though Specht knew he wanted one of the songs to feature strings, he didn’t enter the studio with the thought of having them throughout the album.
“It became a situation where as I was arranging things, I was talking with Doug and figured, as long as we’re going to have the strings there, we may as well throw it on a bunch of things. That’s been one of the most rewarding parts of this project. The strings have been a ton of fun and they’re amazing players. They’re playing with Herbie Hancock and Smokey Robinson. They’re pretty much top of the heap.”
Specht started working on the band’s fourth album two years ago while their last album, Allegory Grey, was being mixed. Lead single “Hearts Aren’t Souvenirs” was the first song written. From there, Specht spent the next eight months working on lyrics. While he still handles all songwriting duties, he invites his bandmates to throw out their ideas during the recording process.
“Typically, I put together demos of everything that I build out. I play bass and try to really define the parts. I try my best at keyboards and stuff. Then we record the bass and drums first. As we’re doing that, we’re looking at those parts under a fine-tooth comb. They’re pretty much starting with what I provided. But the band brings their own ideas to the table. I’m listening to everybody for their ideas, for musical harmonies and all that kind of stuff.
Once I have the basic tracks done, Kyle [Magnusson] and I get together and bounce ideas back and forth. He’s got incredible chops and is the nicest guy and just an amazing player. So, it’s always fun when he’s around to see these ideas come to life. At the end of the process, me and Steve [Frisbie] are very closely involved with working out harmonies. I tend to overwork him (laughs).”
At first glance, a very intentional theme seems to run throughout the album. From the album title to the striking cover of a great white paired with a small fish to songs like “All Together On 3,” “Similar,” and “This Whole Endeavor,” the album seems to be about the need for human connection, even despite our differences. While Specht can pick up on the theme, it wasn’t at the forefront of his mind.
“I just bounce ideas around until they kind of make sense,” he admits. “I’m not actively thinking I’m trying to write an album about this. But this one being written sort of after COVID, maybe there’s a little bit of influence there of just being detached, and the political climate and stuff like that. Though I try to avoid it these days, it’s certainly something I care about. It’s going to come out one way or another.
On the last album, I had a song about the spreading of disinformation called “October Surprise.” And a lot of people were giving me a hard time about going there. I felt it was a responsibility to point out something I felt strongly about. I didn’t intentionally avoid anything like that this time around but in the back of my mind, I am thinking when I go to a show, do I really want to be reminded of how crappy things are right now? I kind of wrestled with our album release show. Are we going to play that song? I want people to enjoy themselves. But I love the guitar solo, so we had to play it (laughs).”
He doesn’t overtly get political here, but the songs touch on various elements of connection. “All Together On 3” is about how we’re stronger when we work together. “Probably” is a poignant tribute to Specht’s beloved dog. Meanwhile, there’s Specht’s favorite track, “Tell Colleen To Clam Down,” a lighthearted ode about someone having a little too much fun at a concert, but letting her have her moment.
“I’ve been to a couple of shows where it just so happened I was standing next to the really annoying guy. The person bumping into you constantly and spilling beer on you. So, I was getting the imagery of being at a show and thinking, where is it going? Then it was a fine line I was walking because that title could easily be offensive to somebody. I don’t want to be misogynistic or anything like that. So, I wanted to be sure that “tell Colleen to calm down” was quickly followed by “no one’s gonna tell Colleen to calm down.” There’s no taking her down. The album was almost called Bouncing and Flailing from a line from that song. I’m hoping to have an animated video for that one, so she can come to life and lose her mind.”
Erich Specht appears July 29 at FitzGerald’s in Berwyn
-Ashley Perez Holingsworth
Category: Cover Story, Featured, Monthly
