Interview Pale Young Gentlemen and Sleeping In The Aviary

Pale Young Gentlemen’s elaborate stringed indie-pop and Sleeping In The Aviary’s frazzled smear of punk, folk, and pop don't sound alike, but the two bands share Madison roots and a record label (Madison's own Science Of Sound). Both recently got back from separate national tours promoting their second albums—Pale Young Gentlemen behind its Black Forest (tra la la), and Sleeping In The Aviary behind Expensive Vomit In A Cheap Hotel. Decider caught up with PYG’s Mike Reisenauer and SITA’s Elliott Kozel and Michael Sienkowski before their homecoming show at the High Noon Saloon this past Saturday. They talked about how touring is like stock-car racing and why being home can be boring.

PALE YOUNG GENTLEMEN
Decider: Did the tour exceed or fall short of your expectations?
Mike Reisenauer: Both, but I think time and perspective will really tell us how it went as a whole. When you pull into a town, you never know how it’s going to be, and we played some excellent shows to great receptions, but our van broke down twice. And it got towed once. So the van took rides on three separate tow trucks.
D: PYG’s songs are emotionally and musically lush. Was it tough keeping this up through 40-plus shows over two months?
MR: Definitely. The first week there was a huge learning curve. I freaked out a little bit and realized, “I can’t sing like this every night.” After a few nights I learned to be cautious, find a middle point, and figure out where I could go all-out. Kind of like a NASCAR driver conserving fuel.
D: After all the critical praise PYG has received, did you feel pressure playing for people who’d never seen you before?
MR: Strangely, we felt it most when we were playing for fewer people. When there are three people in the audience, and two are from the band that played before you, that’s when you really think about it. You don’t want to let them or yourself down.
D: PYG’s sound often defies a pithy descriptor. Is this a conscious effort to sound different, or does the music just come out how the music comes out?
MR: It’s actually a weird combo of both. We’re certainly aware of what’s going on in the indie scene, so we try to see what we can offer to be a little different. But also, some of these things just come naturally. It’s certainly a nice blessing to have a different sound, though.

SLEEPING IN THE AVIARY
D: How’s the response been so far on tour?
Elliott Kozel: People in Atlanta were excited to see us. They bought us pizza right when we got there. They sang along and pumped their fists and didn’t care we were out of tune for the first three songs.
Michael Sienkowski: Our topper flew off on the highway in Florida. Someone ran over [bassist Phil Mahlstadt's] suitcase and totally destroyed it. That wasn’t good.
D: The songs on Expensive Vomit In A Cheap Hotel are less punk-sounding than those on Oh, This Old Thing?. How did this evolution come about?
EK: It was a conscious response to Panic At The Disco’s last album. They weren’t keeping it real so we thought we’d try to add some flavor. Ours was going to be a folk-hop album, but we took out all the scratching.
D: What about adding Celeste Heule’s accordion and saw to the band?
MS: We just thought a trio with drums, bass, and guitar was boring. We needed something else. We try not to be boring. Sometimes we are, though.
EK: We thought there should be less swearing so we could sell more copies. Pale Young Gentlemen have no swearing and they’re selling 13,000 more copies than we are. The next album will have no swearing and we’ll see if that helps. Maybe we can get it carried at Wal-Mart and Target.
D: Is it good to be back playing in Madison?
EK: It’s kind of boring because there’s no pressure. Except to dance extravagantly and get a real job and make more MySpace friends.
MS: The truth is we could get drunk and play horribly and everyone would still say we were great. Maybe we should get drunk.