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Vancouver-based indie pop rock outfit Peach Pit has been hard at work this past year touring tracks off their last two albums, From Two to Three (2022) and You and Your Friends (2020). Known for a unique west coast blend of grungy but clean rhythm infectiously catchy lead lines, and a surprising depth of poetry from lead singer and lyricist Neil Smith, Peach Pit has continued to make waves across Canada and beyond. PAN M 360 caught up with Neil himself in advance of the band’s performance at this year’s Osheaga Festival in Montreal.
PAN M 360: How’s this last leg of the tour across the states been treating you?
Neil Smith: It’s been super fun. We’ve kind of been playing cities that we either missed on this tour or just on our last tour this year—places we wouldn’t necessarily always hit up. And so it’s kind of cool. But all sorts of different random places—like we played in Columbia, Missouri. We played in Urbana, Illinois. We played in a few places that, to be honest, I didn’t even know existed.
PAN M 360: Any new favourite spots you’ve discovered while touring some of these places?
NS: We played Albuquerque last week, and that was actually pretty cool. You know, that’s where they shot Breaking Bad and we’re all big Breaking Bad fans. So it’s kind of cool. Just driving around and like, feeling like we were in a G-rated episode of Breaking Bad.
PAN M 360: Seems like you guys have been playing plenty of festivals in this last bit, have you been able to catch any sets from other artists that you loved?
NS: Yeah, normally, I would say it’s mostly just like a work thing, we kind of get in and get out as quick as possible, just because, you know, it’s busy and we have crew members with us. And we just played this festival in Omaha, and we were playing on the mainstage right before Big Thief. And we’d never seen Big Thief before, but we’re obviously fans of them. And their show was like, mind-blowingly good. It was one of the best shows I’ve seen in a very, very, very long time. And I’m not even a huge fan or anything. But now, after seeing them, I’m a really big fan because their live performance is … I don’t even understand how they do it. It’s way different than what we do. And it’s just so cool. You go see the band live and then suddenly, like, why didn’t I know every single song they were playing? So I’m gonna have to memorize their records and go see them again.
PAN M 360: Anywhere you’re planning on hitting up while you’re in Montreal?
NS: Well, my girlfriend’s actually meeting me for the weekend in Montreal. So we’re going to play on Saturday and then Sunday we’re just going to enjoy the festival and see Kendrick play, and then Monday going to hang out in Montreal again. We like to eat food wherever we’re travelling, so maybe try to get a smoked meat sandwich. I’m hoping to eat like a half dozen bagels. Yeah. And just kind of wandering around Montreal. It’s so different from the rest of Canada, especially Vancouver I would say is kind of a baby city in comparison to Montreal. So it’s always fun, getting to the East Coast and kind of feeling like you’re in old Canada.
PAN M 360: Have you discovered anything new about these songs over the past few months of touring them and playing them night after night?
NS: I mean, what you kind of discover I guess is just which songs people like and which a lot of people don’t really like. One thing that was cool with that was when we put out You and Your Friends, because it was COVID. There were no shows. And when we finally did end up being able to tour a year and a half, two years later, it almost felt like while we had put out the record, we felt like people didn’t really like any of them. I don’t know why it felt like that. But it was just because you don’t get the people live at your shows like, actually singing along. We opened our show with “Brian’s Movie” for the first time, and it was just like, wild how every single person in the crowd knew all the words. And then yeah, you kind of see which ones people don’t like so much. But then you just don’t play them anymore, because they bomb every night.
PAN M 360: Was there one you had to leave on the cutting room floor lately?
NS: Oh, there always is. We have a song on You and Your Friends, it’s kind of a weird song. It’s called “Your Teeth” and I think it’s one of my favourite songs on that album. And I don’t think anybody else likes it. So we played it once, just because I needed to play it because I really liked that one. Yeah, I don’t know how often we’re gonna play that one again.
PAN M 360: Is there anything in particular that inspired the newer direction you guys have been taking with your latest stuff, or is it more a natural evolution of what you’ve been playing and listening to?
NS: Yeah, I think it’s just natural. With From Two to Three, we went into it listening to a lot more records like Harvest by Neil Young, and Bob Dylan records. There are lots of Beatles songs that fall into that same category of vinyl, rock folk songs or something like that. It just has to do with what we were listening to. Yeah, we were listening to lots of George Harrison solo stuff. And we just wanted to make a bit more of a sleepy record.
PAN M 360: What do you think changed to create the difference between You and Your Friends and From 2 to 3?
NS: Well, I guess for You and Your Friends, I would probably give the credit to John Congleton, who recorded that album. And John is a super interesting dude. He has, I would say, a lot of very strong opinions when it comes to making albums. And that’s what makes him a really great producer. I think everyone that works with him ends up coming out with something that they wouldn’t have been able to do on their own in any way. And especially for us, we recorded that album, we were still pretty green with the whole process of making records, especially on an actual record label, like we have now. And so I think it was really his guidance that kind of shaped that record.
We’re working with him again, actually on a new record right now. But we definitely knew more about what we wanted from the third record, and we kind of knew how to express that, I would say. It’s just all part of growing up, and making music together and figuring it out. And just kind of trial and error, I would say. And that’s how you learn how to do it.
PAN M 360: And are you expecting the next thing, whatever that is, whenever that is, to have like another shift in style like that, or is it too soon to say?
NS: Yeah, definitely. I would say we’re always going to try our best to make a record that is different from the last one or the last couple. And I don’t really know if we know exactly what that is right now. Sometimes it’s kind of happened as we’re recording and writing. But I never want to make the same thing twice. So yeah, it’s always to make something new and then, at the same time, we’re still the same songwriters and instrument players and stuff like that. So it’s always gonna sound like us—we won’t be able to avoid that for sure.
I think that’s just a matter of us growing up. When we started playing together, we were kind of like, you know, 18, 19, 20 years old. And now, you know, we’re in our late 20s, early 30s. So it’s kind of just naturally how it happens: you grow up and your tastes change, and what you want out of the band changes. So, you know, I think when we first started the band, we were definitely idolizing what Mac DeMarco was doing. And like, we’d never really seen an indie band like his before. And so that’s what we wanted to do. And then as we grew up, you know, your things start to change.
PAN M 360: The music of Peach Pit has got so much appeal, even just as instrumentals. But the vocals and your delivery always take it to a deeper place. What’s the process for writing the words for your tracks like?
NS: Yeah, I mean, it really is just a matter of me sitting down with my guitar, and kind of just making stuff up on the spot, I don’t really know how to explain it. Other than that, it’s a really kind of a weird process, or more like an embarrassing process. But I like to do it by myself. Because while you’re writing, or while I’m writing anyway, I write a lot of really stupid corny lyrics, I would be embarrassed to perform it.
And I just sit down and maybe I’ll have like, a nugget of an idea of what I want to write about. I keep a lot of notes in my phone, and maybe it can be a phrase, it could be a couple of words. Just something that I might hear somebody say in conversation that I haven’t really thought of. Like a lot of words phrased that way before that could inspire a song, and so a lot of the time, or most of the time anyway, our songs are just about, you know, my friends, family, things that have happened to us. And then you sit down and kind of just make it up on the spot, try to make a song. I don’t really know any other way to explain it.
You know, I’m pretty sure every single songwriter for the most part does it the exact same way. Even like, not at all comparing us to like, you know, legendary bands like The Beatles, but it’s in their documentary that just came out a couple of years ago that Peter Jackson did. In the part where they’re recording “Let It Be,” it was so cool to see the process of Paul McCartney writing a song, watching him not know what the words are and singing these weird lyrics that don’t really make any sense. And then finally singing that lyric that made it into the song.
PAN M 360: You’ve mentioned before that you often have the instinct to go kind of emo when you’re initially working songs out on your acoustic. Where does that shift normally happen where they transform into the more upbeat tracks we wind up with?
NS: Yeah, it really just happens when I bring the song to Chris, and Pete, and Mikey. And so I would say that is one thing that maybe makes our music unique or just kind of makes it our own. The way that we write music together is that, most of the time I come up with some chords, and then write some verses and choruses to make up a song on my guitar. And then once I bring it to the rest of the guys in the band, we really start to shape it together and change it into something totally different.
I tend to fall into lots of the same patterns and stuff when I’m making songs, and so having Pete, Chris, and Mikey to turn the song into something new, and help arrange it, and even write new parts for it, I think is really kind of our secret sauce. Because those guys are really awesome. They are super great musicians and they really know what they’re doing when it comes to making music that I like. So yeah, it’s very collaborative.
PAN M 360: Your Vancouver roots have always shone pretty clearly through your work, and that extends to your involvement as well like doing shows with smaller DIY artists from the city too—how did you get involved with the Kingfisher Bluez charity Christmas event in Vancouver?
NS: Yeah, so Kingfisher Bluez is run by this guy named Tim Clapp, who also goes by Tim the Mute, and is a songwriter in Vancouver. We met him at the Biltmore in Vancouver one night while opening for this band from Winnipeg called Yes We Mystic. We were walking on Main Street and went into Neptune Records. And that happened to be where Tim was working. After we went looking through the stacks of vinyl, we met him and we said, ‘Hey, we’re playing a show tonight.’ And he said, ‘Okay, cool. Can I come?’ And actually, I’d heard of him before and heard of his record label, Kingfisher Bluez. And I remember when I was younger thinking, wow, that’s so cool. I wish I could be on that record label.
And yeah, Tim came to the show. I think he showed up late, which is pretty common for Tim. And after the show, he was just so cool. And so nice. And I remember he stood on the sidewalk out front of the venue after everybody had left. And he was like, Okay, let me hear like what kind of music you guys got, and he made me awkwardly play him a demo of our song “Sweet FA” that I had recorded. And we stood by my iPhone, just with it up against our ear listening to the song, and he didn’t talk to me. He just listened to the whole song all the way through. And he was like, “That’s cool.” And then he asked us if we wanted to put out a record with him. And that’s how we met him. And he’s been one of our biggest supporters since day one. We wouldn’t be anywhere without Kingfisher Bluez. And he’s still supporting the Vancouver music scene, and just like Canadian music in general, and putting out awesome records from all kinds of different bands, all sorts of different genres. Tim is a really, really cool guy.
PAN M 360: You guys have mentioned in the past about some of your older songs just not fitting your current stage of life anymore, such as “Seventeen.” What is it about other classic tracks like “Tommy’s Party” or “Alrighty Aphrodite” that still feel authentic for you all these years later?
NS: I think, to me personally, those songs are just better overall. People can agree or disagree with me on that point. But, you know, like with anything, not everything that you make or create is going to come out and be like some sort of timeless piece of art. And I don’t feel like I do that very often. But to me, I would say, especially with regard to “Tommy’s Party,” I feel like I somehow tapped into some sort of other thing when I wrote that song. At the time anyway, I think I made a better song than I really knew how to make, somehow.
For whatever reason, whether it be the arrangement, the lyrics, Chris’ guitar playing on that song, it connected with people. It’s just stood the test of time, and I don’t really know why or how.
Like, “Seventeen” is great when you’re 17. And I really love that. We do have lots of young high school fans, and it makes me so excited to see kids all the time, maybe they’ll wait to meet us after the show or something. And they’ll be like, “This is the first concert I’ve ever been to!” I love being a part of that.
PAN M 360: What kind of animal would you be for a day?
NS: It’s kind of a boring answer, but I really like cats. And my parents have two cats that I really like named Harold and Maude. And so I think I’d like to be a cat. And I just would you know, rip around my parents’ neighbourhood with Harold, and then maybe … my dad would give me the love and affection that I’ve always wanted.
Opening photo by Mackenzie Walker
