In the most recent issue of Magnet there is an article on the
magazine’s hometown of Philadelphia which pays tribute to the
past and present Philly music scene. As I read through the
article I kept expecting to turn the page and see something about
the vibrant DIY indie scene that currently inhabits the city which
is touched on briefly below. There was no mention of Surefire
Broadcast, I like to think that it is probably only
because they don’t actually reside in Philadelphia, because
certainly the band’s pension for perfect low-fi pop songs should
be getting alcolades from much less obscure places than this blog.
If you read these pages regularly you are quite likely
already familiar with Surefire Broadcast, since they were featured
in my One
Last Kiss recompile this past summer and also showed up in my
favorite singles from last year. The trio is based
in southern New Jersey about 30 miles from Philadelphia. The’ve
just self-released a 7 inch with two songs they recorded out in
Portland with Dustin Reske of Rocketship fame,
and have eight more songs ready to put out as a mini-album,
which are available from their website (links below).
They have a fuzzy, jangly sound that is easily reminiscent
of many the great bygone bands of the mid 1990’s like the Blake
Babies, Small Factory and Velocity
Girl. This past summer when I heard their heard
their five song ep, Live From the AM, I was immediately a fan.
The boy-girl vocals and the bright, sunny, innocent pop are
infectious and will brighten even your most dour mood.
There is a comprehensive interview that the Dagger
zine did a few years back that you can read here.
It’ll bring you up to speed and ready for this little interview
they were so gracious to do with me.
Surefire Broadcast is based in Hammonton, New Jersey
which is a small town. Small towns are usually not synonymous with
indie pop unless they are college towns. Do you feel exiled
from the rock world? Do you guys ever play in Hammonton, or
anywhere in South Jersey?
No, we don’t feel exiled because we live 30 minutes from the
sixth largest city in the US, a short car or train ride to
be exact. We have played in Hammonton twice besides our annual
pool parties that we host every summer. I think our parties have
actually put Hammonton on the map for the indie scene. We have had
bands from New York, Philadelphia, Sweden, Belfast, and Virginia
to name a few. We sometimes play Atlantic City, but there
doesn’t seem to be much of an audience for indie pop in South
Jersey. We are trying to slowly change that.
With your proximity to Philadelphia, and the city’s
amazing indie scene with so many great bands right now (Creeping
Weeds, Brown Recluse Sings, Scary Monster, Ports of Call, A Sunny
Day in Glasgow to name a few), do you feel like you’re a
part of, or have an affinity with that scene?
Absolutely. We have played the majority of our shows in
Philadelphia and have made great friends with many of the bands.
We really consider Philly our stomping ground since we are there
most of the time.
Your songs have a sound and aesthetic that evokes the
early 90’s indie pop scene of SpinArt and Slumberland. Are you
guys fans of (and influenced by)bands from that era?
Yes. We have a wide range of influences amongst the three of
us, but we all love the early 90’s indie pop. Our favorites of
that era would be Henry’s Dress, Lily’s, Black Tambourine,
Swirlies, Go Sailor, Holiday, Unrest,and of course Rocketship.
In 2005 you self-released a five song ep, and now a
single this year. What has happened between then and now and
why so long between releases?
Well, we are very busy people, and all have careers. After
recording five more songs in summer of 2006, we received the mixes
in January of 2007 from Dusty and we weren’t sure what we wanted
to do with the recordings. We were talking about recoding 5 more
songs to put out a full length, but our careers put the project on
hold. We finally decided to release 2 of the 5 songs on a 7 inch,
and released it this fall 2008.
The new single is from a session you did with Dusty
Reske (Rocketship) out in Portland. How did you connect up with
him, and how was it recording with him?
Dusty and I (Lisa) met back back in the 90’s when Rocketship
played a Slumberland showcase at the Frying Pan in New York City.
We recently reconnected via MySpace and Dusty offered to record
us. Being a huge fan of Rocketship, we were honored, and flew out
to Portland for a short session. We recorded 5 songs and played a
house party while we were there, and made time to visit with some
friends. It was a lot of fun, even though it was extremely hot
that week, and we had to stay cool by drinking lots of milkshakes
and cold microbrews the whole time.
Up to this point you have put out everything on your
own, is that what you plan to continue doing?
Yes, we will continue to put out our own recordings until a
pleasing offer is made.
It seems like being in a band and while holding down
jobs or going to school can be a delicate balancing act.
Does your daily life ever get in the way of being in a band?
Do you ever get frustrated because you can’t devote as much time
as you would like to the band?
All of the time. Early mornings and late night shows seldom go
hand in hand. We wish we had more time to spend writing and
touring, but unfortunately we all work a lot. It sort of comes
with the responsibility of being homeowners. Lisa is a teacher and
teaches dance at a high school full time and a college part time.
“My schedule just doesn’t give me much free time, and it can
be frustrating when we have to turn down shows because of my
jobs”.
What do you guys have in store for 2009? I heard
you had a CD-R with new songs for sale at the New England Popfest.
Are there any album plans ahead?
Yes, we recorded 8 tracks. As soon as the mixes are complete
and mastered we will have an official release. We brought some of
the current mixes to Popfest to get the tracks out there. We are
really hoping to record more songs in 2009 and play out as much as
possible.
