Interview Dreaming big: Pinegrove

It's sort of tough to know! When ‘Cardinal’ came out in the US it was the first time any press outlets had been paying attention to us, and I have to admit I was a bit of glutton in reading the reviews. But by now I'm a little less eager to read what every reviewer has to say, the thrill of it has worn off somewhat, and I don't really track our progress in any active way. But it has been great to connect with so many people at our shows. And it seems like people are excited for our tour coming up in Europe, so that's terrific.

I have always loved travelling and definitely it has helped give me perspective on where I come from. Just as meeting new people and personalities helps you understand better who you are. It situates you more firmly in the world. ‘Cardinal’ deals a lot with communication - how information can travel, by letter, by language - and how that can reinforce or confuse identity. It's funny, I'm finding right now that it's actually sort of hard to think about. I haven't listened to ‘Cardinal’ in a while. And most of the travel we've done has been in support of ‘Cardinal’, which is to say, has happened since its release and was after it was written.

I do think I've learned something by meeting so many different people out there - in general the folks we've met have been kind and generous and full-hearted. They believe in the equality of all people. Even though there's some pretty scary stuff going on in the world right now, our experiences has affirmed the goodness of people everywhere. This project, the Pinegrove thing, is an investigation of communication, vulnerability, love, empathy. I will say that the experiences I've had out here are helping me refine the sorts of things I want to investigate.

Truthfully it's really hard to write on the road. The main reason I want to tour so much is that it's the most direct way to spread our message. But I've found it's basically at odds with developing new material. Travelling at first was unbound, limitless, impossibly exciting. But travelling as much I have recently is not romantic. It presents true logistical challenges in maintaining relationships, which is the ore of writing.

For some people maybe, but I tour primarily to reach new listeners. Don't get me wrong, seeing so many new places through music is an immense privilege and it's cool as hell. But arriving for sound check at 4pm every day is not freedom, exactly.

I participated in the scene mostly because it was fun and I needed something to do. It was exactly what I needed at the time, and it's not an exaggeration to say I owe my life to it. And it's exciting to see friends making cool stuff. But ultimately I write for myself… so I would say as a writer, I don't feel dramatically impacted by the capital S Scene.

Again, travelling with my music is really just a way to facilitate this project. It's important to me to reach as many people as possible. But this is exhausting work. I would love to just chill out, hang out with my girlfriend & do nothing. But it's when people let me know that what we do matters to them it's tough to just sit around. Writing songs is what attracts me to this whole thing. Travel is a cool aspect, and it's part of what makes this thing an unusual and exciting job. But it is a means, not an end. Really for me it's about writing songs that feel good to me.

Tags: Pinegrove, Features, Interviews