Marcus Hughes speaks with Pixies drummer David Lovering about getting back together, and trying to keep it together.
“First of all, it was the farthest thing from my mind that the Pixies would ever be getting back together,” drummer David Lovering starts when talking about their reunion and their persistent popularity, “But when we did Coachella in 2004 it was the first time it became apparent to me that there was a sea of kids out there and the majority of them weren’t even born when we were a band initially. It was a surreal thing to see.”
Despite the warm reception they received from fans and critics in 2004 the band continued to tour their back catalogue without recording any new material for nearly ten years. This changed with the 2013 release of Indie Cindy, a collection of 4 EPs the band recorded at Monmouth’s Rockfield Studios.
“Indie Cindy was our first album since getting back together so there was some trepidation in doing that. Always in the back of my mind I knew people were going to judge that album more than any other. With the Pixies there’s not a formula to anything that we do but even when I listen to it now I’m still very happy with the songs.”
The album was met with tepid criticism at the time and was plagued with problems during production. Bassist Kim Deal reportedly announced her intention to leave the band one morning early in the recording of Indie Cindy in a Caffè Nero near their Monmouth studio. It seemed weird that the Boston cult indie foursome, who provided the spark to a decade of alternative music, should finally fracture in a quaint cafe chain in rural south Wales.
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The band quickly recruited Paz Lenchantin, former member of Billy Corgan’s Zwan and A Perfect Circle, to fill in for Deal on bass. Paz became a full member of the band shortly afterwards when she joined them on the tour.
“Paz is a wonderful musician and a joy to be around,” David says, “And honestly the audience loves her. She’s been around for three years now, and to Charles, myself and Joe she’s still the new woman so, because of that, everyone’s on their best behaviour. So the band is getting along famously.”
The acrimonious relationship between front man Charles Thompson, better known by his stage names Black Francis or Frank Black, and Kim Deal was said to have led Charles to break up the band for the first time in 1993. According to the band, the pair’s desire for creative autonomy steered them towards beginning their own solo projects. But the tension between the four always seemed to go slightly deeper than that.
The 2006 documentary LoudQUIETLoud followed the group during their early reunion tours of North America and Europe. It appeared to show the group with a largely business-like approach to their performances and little warmth behind the scenes. Towards the end, it was David who became the centre of attention, as the unexpected death of his father seemed to lead him towards drug abuse and subsequently erratic performances on stage.
I asked David how he felt about the documentary in hindsight: “I can’t even watch it. When I watched it initially I sank so low in my seat because it’s painted pretty heavy. I hid it from my mother for years but finally she saw it and she didn’t like what she saw. It was an interesting chapter.”
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In September, the band released Head Carrier, an album that has been widely received as a return to form. Royal Blood and Band of Skulls producer Tom Dalgety was hired to record the album, and the band also enjoyed the accompaniment of Paz Lenchantin in the studio for the first time.
It’s clear speaking to David that the process was much more straightforward this time around: “This was a luxury this recording because we had seven weeks of preproduction working in rehearsal studios. After that long you really get to hone the songs and be very comfortable with them. And Tom Dalgety said we only needed three weeks so I was like, ‘I better get my shit together!’ But we did. I think we had like two safety days.”
That confidence really comes across in Head Carrier. Um Chagga Lagga is a return to the up-tempo chaos of Isla De Encanta, or Oh My Golly!. And Paz is given a spot with a lead vocal on All I Think About Now, a track she co-wrote with Charles. The lyrics lack the intriguingly dark, troubled nature of early albums, but they always would. This is a band who are far removed from the angst that presumably fuelled Come On Pilgrim.
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With a back catalogue such as theirs I wondered how the band deals with the weight of success when creating new material: “I definitely think Indie Cindy broke a lot of things for us. We reunited in 2004, seven years passed and in 2011 we realised we had been doing this reunion thing longer than we were initially a band. So that was a kick in the pants for us also to realise we were a viable band. And we still feel like we’re a viable band. That’s what we do and I think that’s our mind set now.”
Pixies, Motorpoint Arena, Cardiff. Wed 7 Dec. Tickets: £30. Info: 029 2022 4488 / www.motorpointarenacardiff.co.uk