Socialism
Sophomore albums
THE FALL
FRED ARMISEN
A chat
with
piroshka
The last time I was lucky enough to interview Miki Berenyi it was to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Split, the second album from Lush, her first band with childhood friend and co-founder Emma Anderson. Two years later the band reunited for a world tour and a brand new EP that seamlessly closed the gap of years since their final album Lovelife, released in 1996. The reunion was short-lived, however, and though it's unknown if its end was by design or not, it felt premature. Lush had the talent and support to sustain a new era of music as other shoegaze bands had been doing, including genre stalwarts Slowdive and Ride, so it felt like they had been torn away from us again. It was strangely devastating.
Fast forward two years and hints were being thrown into the ether that something new from Miki was coming - thanks to her recent "embrace" of Twitter - but never did I think it would be a project this cool. Not only do we have Miki again taking the front-person role tackling both lead vocals and guitar, but add in Justin Welch from Elastica on drums, Mick Conroy from Modern English on bass, and K.J. "Moose" McKillop from one of the original shoegaze acts, Moose, who were lesser known here in the United States. In between their busy personal lives including full-time jobs both at home as parents and the daily office grind, the new band dubbed Piroshka have not only been able to squeeze in time for a fantastic debut LP called Brickbat, out now on Bella Union (founded by Simon Raymonde of Cocteau Twins), but they've also been so generous to answer a few questions for The Daily Ghost about the new project. Many thanks to the entire band for lending their time, and many MANY thanks to Miki for always being so incredibly kind, outspoken and just an all-around breath of fresh air.
For those who are just getting acquainted, tell us who Piroshka is, how it come about, and what influenced this unique band name.
Your debut album 'Brickbat,' out on 15 February, sounds very fresh and adventurous, like all of you were breaking free from the bonds you had with previous bands. It also sounds like a true collaboration, where everyone brings their biggest strengths to the table, and the result to me is a modern, yet retro sound with an exotic tinge sprinkled throughout. You even have additional band members for the live set up. Is this how this project felt for everyone - a new sense of freedom, or perhaps liberation that allowed you to get back into the music scene?
Mick: We had in some way or another worked with each other in the past. I had played occasionally with Moose, and then I played in Lush many years later, so I knew the others ‘musically’ But we have all known each other personally as friends for many years. The prospect of being in a band with old friends was very exciting to me.
One of the things we agreed on from the start was to be open to anything that anyone suggests. In fact, at our first rehearsal, Moose mainly played a Moog Synthesiser. Great fun! I think we are very comfortable in each other’s company, anyway.
Some songs happened really quickly. Never Enough, for example. Miki sent the chords with the lyrics sang on top. It was basically a complete song. Everlastingly Yours went from pop to swampy to a total re-write by Moose. Justin got the ball rolling when he sent Bedlam to everyone. We ‘routined’ the songs in rehearsals quite thoroughly, then recorded them as live as possible. Most of the takes have the drums and bass playing together live in the same room, with Miki and Moose in the room playing along – which is quite old school!
Moose had been working on a song called ‘Village of the Damned’ for quite a while and had sent me various incarnations along the way. It sounded like Moose to me. I had added bits of bass to it, but Moose wanted something different. It was the
last track we recorded for the LP. Moose programmed a drum pattern in Logic and the song became completely different – summery, even. It’s one of my favourite tracks, and a good example of how some of the songs developed.
Miki: For the live shows, I didn’t think the songs would make sense without the
harmonies, and having them on a backing track just seems a bit naff. It’s been brilliant to have Mew Welch (Justin’s wife, who was also in Elastica) and Sukie Smith (old friend of Mick and Moose who has her own band Madam) along for keyboards and backing vocals. That’s a lot of people to fit on a small stage, but it sounds great!
Mick: Each of us had input into the songs, often in our own spaces adding our parts or sending off first ideas. Quite a few of the songs were written on Logic and simply emailed to each other for us to add to. It was when we met in the rehearsal studio that the songs were de-constructed and put back together again. There was so much energy in the rehearsal rooms. That to me was when we started to sound like a band. Not thrashy but very LOUD! Moose had got some new FX pedals that sounded incredible.
Miki: The writing process was a real free-for-all. Different songs started from different people, both me and Moose wrote lyrics - one track Justin sent me had only drums, guitar and a repeating vocal of him singing “This must be Bedlam.”
We were self-funding at that stage, so we couldn’t afford extended studio time. We had to book in 12-hour sessions and squeeze as much as we could out of them, so we would be coming up with keyboard parts, bouncing ideas off each other and recording them right away – no time to spare! Some of the songs were recorded months after the others and we just hoped that the
overall sound would come out of the performance.
What influences do you think had an effect on the sound of this album? For example 'This Must Be Bedlam' has some rockabilly and even Motown vibes sprinkled throughout - which doesn't necessarily seem to come from any of your backgrounds, generally speaking.
Justin: We all bring many musical influences to this band, most of which will be undetected. And we’ve all dipped our toe in a number of bands over the years, and have been influenced by so much great music, so you could say it’s inevitable our sound will surprise a few listeners.
When we started Piroshka, we had no idea what we’d sound like. There was no plan, only to sound like ‘us’, and enjoy the process of working together. We’re all very open-minded about music and listen to any number of genres. Moose listens to a lot of drum & bass, whereas Mick is always suggesting new bands to check out.
You mention ‘This Must Be Bedlam’ – it’s funny how you’ve picked up on the Motown and rockabilly. I was brought up on Motown & Northern Soul – my parents are avid vinyl collectors (they still have two jukeboxes stacked with records at home). When we were growing up, my brother and I would often experience our parents playing Motown tunes at weekend house parties with dancing in the kitchen. In fact, it’s still a bit like that today in their house so it’s definitely in my make up!
The Rockabilly drum thing really comes from my love of The Fall and not necessarily Chuck Berry, although I do like the sound Chuck made. It’s funny, when Elastica recorded with Mark E Smith (How I Wrote Elastica Man EP – and, by the way, there was no official arrangement to have him sing on this track, he was just in the pub next door to the studio at the time, so we asked him!), he turned up at the studio, had one listen to the track that we’d decided would work and therefore wanted him to rant over, and then he immediately insisted I change the drum pattern to the rockabilly beat, even though the rhythm track had already been recorded a couple of days before. The best bit was him trying to show me how to play the beat. Hilarious! I just looked at him and started laughing. Of course, It’s the only beat he knows – The Fall beat that he had adapted from rockabilly. If he was going to rant on our track, then it had to be his beat on it too! You gotta love him….
'Brickbat,' Piroshka. Bella Union, 2019.
Miki: Piroshka is me on vocals/guitar, Moose (KJ McKillop) on main guitar and a ton of effects pedals, Mick Conroy on bass and Justin Welch on drums. Justin and I got reacquainted on the Lush reunion tour in 2016, and Mick stood in for Phil for the final Lush show. Poor Mick – it was a lot to learn for one gig – 21 songs, and they’re not straightforward! Moose and I have been together for over 20 years, so it was an obvious move to have him join on guitar!
There was no grand plan – just a vague intent. Justin sent everyone a handful of song ideas and we started work on them over Christmas – sending files to each other, adding bits and pieces. Then we got together and started rehearsing, working on the songs, rearranging them.
Finding a name took ages, and we’d gone through a ton before we settled on Piroshka (Hungarian for Little Red Riding Hood). Everything we came up with had already been taken. Oh look, there’s a Scandinavian heavy metal act called that who had an album out in 2005. Nope, that’s a blues covers band based in Miami. Oh look, a dance duo from Slovenia, etc.
New projects from established musicians tend to - at least to me - focus on finding one new cohesive sound and move forward with that. But on 'Brickbat' I can hear everyone's influence throughout each track. It sounds like a conscious effort to get everyone represented. Did this result from a more piecemeal approach to writing and recording?
Miki: I was quite terrified recording Blind Spot – it had been such a long time since I’d been in a studio that I really doubted myself, so it took an immense amount of concentration. Lovelife was recorded with Pete Barlett, our livesound engineer, at a time when we had done a ton of touring, so I felt pretty relaxed on a lot of the vocals.
I was nervous about the Piroshka vocals but I got a lot of encouragement from the others. Each time I’d complete a song, or experiment with a backing vocal, I’d look up to see the response from the control room and the rest of the band would all be excitedly signaling thumbs-up signs and telling me it sounded “fucking amazing”. That helps!
Miki, your vocals sound reminiscent of tracks 'Ladykillers' and 'Single Girl' from the final Lush full-length 'Lovelife' released in 1996, even when compared to the harmonious sound of the final Lush EP 20 years later, 'Blind Spot.' Was this a conscious thing or did that approach come naturally? Perhaps its a vocal style that's more comfortable for you?
Miki, we've stayed in touch for a few years now and I've always found you to be funny and incredibly whip-smart, and of course generous with your time. So it doesn't surprise me that your lyrics continue to be, let's say "wickedly delicious" when it comes to various types of human relationships and interactions, but never as direct as on 'Brickbat.' Does singing feel like a good outlet for you to get stuff off your chest or have you just moved on from more abstract lyrics that were present in the Lush days?
Miki: I tend to think of Emma’s lyrics as the more abstract Lush ones – Thoughtforms, Desire Lines, De-Luxe. They have a strong visual quality, rather than a narrative. My lyrics often start from whatever warpath I happen to be on, but once I’ve spewed them out and it’s sunk in that I’m going to have to publicly stand by them and repeatedly sing them, I start to spot some of the possible flaws in my thinking and rewrite and rewrite. For every finger you point at someone, there will be several pointing right back at you, and I often realise that I may have my own shit to sort out before I start making stabs at others. So yes, my lyrics are often a way to get stuff off my chest, but then I think it through and recognise that the original sentiment could just as easily be turned around and applied to myself. That’s pretty much every song I’ve ever written. So maybe therapy and reflection, rather than an outlet!
'Ricochet Days,' Modern English. 4AD, 1984.
Two of your members' former bands, Modern English and Lush, were signed to 4AD and utilized the label's long-running artistic collaboration with v23. What made you decide to work again with Chris Bigg and his team again?
Mick: Vaughan Oliver is generally responsible for all of the Modern English artwork. We worked with Vaughan from his very first design at 4AD – the 7in for Gathering Dust in 1980 – up until our most recent release Take Me to the Trees in 2016.
We’ve always considered his work to be the completion of the project and, over the years, Vaughan has worked with many collaborators - Chris Bigg being a major part of V23’s output. Personally, I have the utmost admiration for what Vaughan brings to the bands he works with, and Chris has the same connection in that he responds to the music he is working with. Always, the visuals are beautiful. Chris worked more with Lush on the whole than with Modern English, and produced amazing work for them.
When it came to Brickbat, I knew that I would like to have a v23 connection. I was delighted to hear that Chris liked the songs that we had sent him with a view to doing the LP. His initial ideas were pretty much what we ended up with – perfectly reflecting the music. Vaughan recently told me that Chris and Piroshka were a good match and that he particularly liked the logo!
Miki: I was blown away that Chris was up for working on Brickbat. I only asked him as a ‘might as well try’ – I thought he’d be far too busy to bother with our piddling project. But he loved the tracks – and this was before they were
properly mixed!
'Black Spring EP,' Lush. 4AD, 1991.
Anything else on your mind you'd like to say? Television recommendations, killer jokes, parenting advice?
Miki: There’s a great podcast called Dear Joan and Jericha, with Julia Davis and Vicki Pepperdine – I cannot tell you how much I love these two comic talents – playing a pair of agony aunts who are just appallingly nasty and have terrible poisonous views. I had to stop listening to it on the tube to work because I was snort laughing and people were looking at me weird.
There was a great series on Amazon Prime called Forever that Moose and I just loved. It stars Maya Rudolph and Fred Armisen and I just don’t want to say anything about it because one of the joys of watching it was I had absolutely no idea where it was going – the plot was so unexpected – but I laughed and I cried. I hope they make another series!
Moose: Get your kids to look after their teeth; they’ll thank you for it in later life. Ditto for reading.
Do you feel the shoegaze resurgence of the past decade - with countless new bands emerging and inspired by the successful returns of genre legends like Slowdive, Ride, My Bloody Valentine and Swervedriver - has paved the way for this project to come to fruition?
Mick: Not at all. I see Piroshka as a totally new band. When we came together, we didn’t have a musical agenda. If anything, I thought it would be quite thrashy punk rock!
Miki: Without the Lush reunion, Piroshka would never have happened. So in that sense, there’s a direct connection with shoegaze. But in terms of the music, as Mick says, we had no agenda at all – no plan! And we kept it completely private for a very long time - didn’t talk about it to anyone – partly because it may have come to nothing but also because we wanted to give the band a chance to evolve before any unreasonable expectations or negative comments started circulating.
What music are you all into these days, new or old?
Moose: Recent releases from Jon Hopkins, Low and DJ Koze and old stuff that’s never off my iPod – Serge Gainsbourg, Charles Lloyd, Glen Gould and Dusty Springfield.
Miki: It’s not a deliberate decision but I seem to be listening almost entirely to female vocals – Belly, Breeders, Pumajaw, Tamaryn, Ruby, Courtney Barnett.
I heard Weyes Blood Andromeda the other day on the radio – sounded like The Carpenters – lovely! But actually in a completely different direction - Kebab Spider by Sleaford Mods –well, everybody loves Sleaford Mods, right?!
No question the album is "topical" and "current," so let's get political for a moment. From your perspective in the UK - what the hell is going on in the United States right now??
Moose: This has been a ‘logical’ progression from assorted crises that go back to the 1970s. People talk about parallels with earlier eras; I just see a straight line.
Mick: I noticed about 3 years ago that the TV in American hotel lobbies was more and more tuned into Fox News rather than CNN or the local stations. And that news stopped being news and had become opinion – loads of talking
heads shouting, not debating. Trump was a godsend for TV revenue but he was striking a nerve, even scratching a scab. Of course, quite a scary prospect then.
Miki: Given the shitstorm that’s raging in the UK, we’re not in any position to make lofty observations on the problems of the US. My feeling is that the problems stem – on both sides of the pond – from out-of-control inequality.
When you’ve reached a stage where a handful of individual Americans have more wealth that the bottom 50% of the population, you know you’re in trouble.
And please, can we stop with the argument that the wealthiest 10% make a disproportionate contribution to the overall tax bill. Of course they fucking do. Because they HAVE all the money. And suggesting that someone pay more
tax while still allowing them to earn in one year what most of us will never manage in an entire lifetime is NOT socialism. Not by a fucking long chalk.
Now, having answered that, any plans to bring Piroshka to the US or Canada in 2019?
Mick: Obviously we would really like to play in the US and Canada!
Does it feel like you'll leave the door open for more from Piroshka, or is it kind of a one-off? Having enjoyed this album all week to prepare for this, a sophomore album would be most welcome.
Moose: A sophomore album is already being discussed. Tentative musical ideas have been going back and forth. One thing we all agree on is using a similar approach to Brickbat – recording quickly, getting a dynamic/live feel to
the songs and being open to everyone’s input.
