Q&A: The Soft Pack (Part 2)
By Lauren Barbato on February 3, 2010
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The year started with a whirlwind for Southern Californian natives The Soft Pack, a Fender-wielding foursome whose roots run deep in surf and garage rock.
Initially formed in 2007 by vocalist/guitarist Matt Lamkin and guitarist Matty McLoughlin under the moniker The Muslims, the dynamic indie outfit, which now includes drummer Brian Hill and bassist Dave Lantzman, has quickly made its music—and new name—known everywhere from Los Angeles to Berlin. And there seems to be no sign of slowing down in 2010.
Following a mini West Coast tour last week that included opening for the electro-rock group Phoenix and several in-store performances in San Francisco and Portland, The Soft Pack took up the almost unfathomable task of playing 10 shows in Los Angeles on Saturday—and succeeded. The band members returned to their hometown of San Diego to celebrate the release of The Soft Pack, their latest full-length album that was released this week on Kemado Records, before kicking off a nearly two-month tour throughout Europe.
Yesterday, FILTER spoke with McLoughlin about the band’s influences, upcoming European tour, and move to Los Angeles. Today, McLoughlin discussed The Soft Pack’s growing “buzz,” the joys of returning home, and even divulged his most anticipated acts at this year’s Coachella Music and Arts Festival.
When looking at the whole process, from writing to recording to touring, which would you say is the most enjoyable?
Matty McLoughlin: The most enjoyable [part] is when the record’s done, like when it’s mixed and mastered. We go through and think a lot while we edit the songs, so when it’s done and you don’t have to think about it anymore because you can’t change anything on it and you just don’t care anymore—that’s the best part. But also, playing songs live, especially new songs. It’s cool to see everyone’s reaction.
Now that the album’s done, how would you sum up The Soft Pack LP in one sentence.
Ten songs long.
The Soft Pack has easily become one of the biggest “buzz bands” of 2010. How do you handle the expectations that come along with the hype?
Honestly, we don’t care. Once the record’s done, we can’t control any of that. We’re just concerned with writing and work on new songs. In terms of like, where the record goes and what critics say, it’s hard enough trying to be a good band as it is without worrying about things that are out of our control. If someone likes it, they like it; if they don’t, they don’t.
But as the band becomes bigger and goes on tour, what’s it like returning home? Randy Randall stated last year that when No Age played a homecoming show at The Smell, it felt like “we were in our home, but there were strangers in it.” Does it feel that way for you?
Not at all. We always enjoy coming back. San Diego, Los Angeles, and New York are probably where we’ve got the most people coming to our shows and that’s always nice, because the people in Omaha, Nebraska, don’t know who the fuck we are or why we’re there. It’s always great to play at home and see your buddies—we look forward to those shows.
The band is lined up to play Coachella this year. Do you approach a large-scale fest like Coachella differently than you would a smaller venue?
Well, we’re a bit thrilled to be playing Coachella, especially coming from Southern California. It’s a really big deal for us. I remember going to the very first one when Pavement played and had a really good time. We’ve played a few festivals in Europe—we played Glasbury—and we just try to play well and see that bands we want to see. We’re not really spooked by [playing] bigger stages, so we just try to play as well as we can and have fun. We’re looking forward to Coachella because it’s not too far from where we live in L.A. I think it will be a nice, relaxing thing after what will be two months on the road. It’ll be a nice little cherry-on-top of our tour.
What are some of your must-see acts at this year’s Coachella?
Pavement is probably one of our favorite bands, so Pavement and Sly Stone are definitely, like, 1 A. and 1 B. Julian Casablancas, I want to see his live show. Thom Yorke—I only saw Radiohead once, like, five years ago. And Jay-Z.
For more info on The Soft Pack, check out their official website: http://thesoftpackofficial.com/
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