Soft Paws have been on our radar for a while now, and we're thrilled to have them coming in to The Banana Stand to record live next Saturday, June 26th (a rad show that will also feature Alex Arrowsmith & his Pugs). Brandon, Justin and Ethan answered questions via email for this post (thanks dudes!). Soft Paws is currently separated by travel, hence the split responses.
Banana Stand: How long has the band been together in its current form? How did it come together?
Justin: Soft Paws has been together since March of 2008. The band first came together to record a song for the Bucket Brigade cassette comp from Parapop Records Germany. We recorded one of Ethan’s songs called Scorpion Tomahawk. We were billed as Shout the Tiger. This process seemed so easy that we decided to start Soft Paws as a result.
Banana Stand: How would you describe your sound? What are your key influences?
Justin: I would describe our sound as Gypsy/Surf/Punk/Pop, but in all actuality we aren’t really any of those things. The songs I bring to the band vary in influence from 60’s pop, to early 80’s post punk and indie pop. My favorite bands at the time right now are The Kinks, The Cannanes, Go-Betweens & The Temptations.
Brandon & Ethan: We are a bizarre brand of pop music. It is melodic and catchy, but sometimes dirty in ways that we enjoy.
Banana Stand: Tell us your thoughts about recording live. What made you want to record a live show at The Banana Stand?
Justin: I’m very excited about recording live. I feel like our music comes across much better live than any of our previous studio recordings. I heard about the Banana Stand from my old roommate Tony Ong, who has done some poster design work for the Banana Stand. He told me about it and I’ve wanted to do a recording there ever since.
Brandon & Ethan: We are fans of live recording, whether or not it is live in a studio setting or elsewhere. We saw that Banana Stand has worked with a friends of ours (Sam, Tiger House), which made this project sound like a fun and interesting way to promote independent music.
Banana Stand: What's your favorite memory of a live show? Least favorite?
Justin: My favorite memory of a live show is probably when I saw My Morning Jacket play in Newport Kentucky back in 2002. They were supporting their album At Dawn. There were maybe 20 to 25 people there in this really big space. I remember them setting up and completely rocking the house. It was incredible. To me it felt like what I think seeing Neil Young and Crazy Horse in the 70’s would have been like. That was an amazing show. My least favorite show was probably when I saw the Pixies first reunion tour. It seemed really forced. I think what put me over the edge was how much Joe relied on all of his fancy petals during the noise bit in Vamos. It was really stupid. He pressed a bunch of buttons and set his guitar on his stand and walked away. The crowd ate it up. I spit it out.
Brandon & Ethan: …A memory of one of our shows: A few months ago we played at the Ella St. Social Club with Les Etrangers and Cat Stalks Bird. At some point during our set people began to chant, "Soft Paws! Soft Paws! Soft Paws!" The chanting grew with a bizarre sort of intensity and took us by surprise. Keep in mind that we are not well known and we don't play particularly loud. It was strange. We felt cool for a minute. There are a lot of fun times that we can recall. Another was the Halloween of 2009. We played two alcohol fueled sets as ZZ Top, beards and everything! That was fantastic! This year's Halloween will be held at Slabtown. We aren't sure who we will play as yet.
Banana Stand: What are your favorite live albums?
Justin: Wire - Live at CBGB’s 1978, Boyracer - Live at Statches 1996, Talking Heads – Electricity (Live at the Agora in 1979), B-52’s – Do Somersaults 1978, Young Marble Giants – Live at Hurrah.
Brandon: Fandango by ZZ Top (which isn't entirely live), Yes-Songs, Too many Grateful Dead live albums to mentions, Springsteen and the E-Street Band 75-85, The Who Live at the Isle of White, Iron Maiden Live After Death, Cheap Trick-Budokan, Coltrane / Shepp-New Thing at Newport, Coltrane-Village Vanguard, Allman Brothers Band at the Fillmore, Zappa at the Fillmore, and many others.
Banana Stand: What other projects are you all involved with?
Justin: I had a short lived country project with Brandon called James Louise James and Burch. Life got in the way and it was swept under the rug. I also record by myself as a solo project. The name changes all the time. MySpace link: myspace.com/justinburchandhisexperimentalellipses.
Brandon & Ethan: We like to collaborate with as many people time will allow. Although nothing has come of these multiple collaborations, you will soon see our various side and solo ventures, as some are currently in the works.
Banana Stand: What are you working on lately?
Justin: Soft Paws has been playing some out of town shows in Seattle, Olympia and Boise. We have also been working on some new material for our next record. We just finished recording an EP called Street Paws. That should be out sometime this summer. We also just got copies of a 7inch comp we did with Cheap Red, Summer Cats, Tricia Yates Fanclub and the Cannanes. It's great! You should ask me for one at the show. I have 40 free copies left.
Brandon & Ethan: As Justin stated, we are getting ready for an upcoming full length album. It's really a matter of finances, as we all have a lot of good material to work with.
Thanks again to Brandon, Justin and Ethan for participating in the interview. Make sure you're here at the 'Stand Saturday, June 26th to see them record live. Doors at 8:30pm, music around 9:00pm. It's going to be a great show, don't miss it! Also, be sure to like us on Facebook, sign up for our email newsletter and follow us on Twitter!
