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Chicago's most modest popsters Pleasant Mob craft songs that feel like they may have always been there for you, existing in the ether and waiting to be discovered at just the right moment. We recently chatted with the band all about the pure and succinct pop smarts that radiate across their new self-titled debut album, blending those tuneful obsessions to protest workplace oppression, and linking up with Soup Activists' Martin Meyer for the release.
First tell me what you've been up to lately? What have you been listening to, reading, watching, or spending a lot of time doing?
Raidy: Listening to Marina Allen & watching Survivor!
Tess: I've been watching Survivor and want to go to the island.
Hana: I've been reading Chaos by Tom O'Neil. It's a deep dive into the Manson murders and the potential meddling and involvement by the CIA.
Tim: Listening to Soup Activists, new Dummy and Ulna records, reading 2666, watching Star Trek: The Next Generation.
Daniel: Listening to PilotRedSun and watching The Golden Bachelorette.
What can you tell us about the origins of Pleasant Mob? How did you all meet and decide to make music together? Also, what other bands do you all maintain atm?
Raidy: Pleasant Mob started as a project for some songs and ideas that I had been working on that weren't a fit for my other band Spread Joy. I got everyone (Tess, Hana, Daniel, and Tim) together as a band. Everyone pretty much knew each other already, either through music, as a friend, or as a friend of a friend. Tess and I are partners, and I was roommates with Tim when the band started. It was originally supposed to be solely a recording project, but we got the itch to play live. Daniel plays in the Lipshitz and his solo project Sunglow, and Tim plays in Bnny.
How exactly did that lead to your cassingle "Irene" b/w "Trees & Flowers" released on Feel It in 2022?
Raidy: I got some friends who play in other Chicago bands together to record those songs before the band's current lineup was formed. Lexi and Chris from Tobacco City, Eliza in Glyders, Maria of Fran, and Tyler from Spread Joy and Charlie Reed. Josh Condon recorded it. Chicago is like one big musical family.
Besides making music, what's something you love to do when you all get together or something that you’d like fans to know about Pleasant Mob?
Pleasant Mob: We love to eat ice cream and go to the beach.
Back in May, you played a really stacked show at the Empty Bottle in Chicago with Soup Activists, Sugar Tradition, and Answering Machines. How did that go and how has it been playing live as a five-piece?
Raidy: That show was awesome! Sugar Tradition are insanely talented. Answering Machines played a sick Wipers cover. The show kind of ended up being a de facto record release. Soup Activists are one of our favorite bands right now and we're very stoked Martin [Meyer] put out our record on his label (shoutout to Lumpy Records and his previous band The Dumpers!). I think PM and Soup Activists are kind of drawing from similar influences right now, kind of spiritually siblings.
Your debut LP is already one of our favorite records from this year. What can you say about how it all came together and when/where it was recorded?
Raidy: The record was recorded at Jamdek studio here in Chicago. It was engineered by Dave Vettraino and Doug Malone—two Chicago music and recording legends!
Do you have any favorite memories from when you were all recording the tracks and putting the album together?
Tim: Recording happened so fast! I think it all came together in 3-4 sessions. Raidy had a plan to try to record the tracks for each song in three takes. It maintains so much of the spontaneity of a live performance.
Hana: It was my first time recording in a studio. I think the simplicity of our songs benefited from not agonizing too much and keeping it rather simple. I love recording vocal harmonies! It's a joy for me.
Raidy: Both the Spread Joy records were recorded with Doug so naturally we wanted to work with him again. I love Jamdek Studio. That place just feels like home, it's magic.
Daniel: There was a Dragonball Z action figure in the vocal booth which was very inspiring to me.
How did the songs progress from their initial demos? Were there any that turned out entirely different than you had expected while experimenting with ideas?
Raidy: Most of the first songs actually came together the same way—I had a bunch of riffs and chord progressions and brought them to practice. We jammed them a few times and settled on parts. Writing is pretty much open to everyone. If someone has an idea, we jam and see if it works as a song.
Diving into some of the songs here, what can you tell me about the opening cut "#3 Dream"?
Raidy: This was the first song we all started playing together. So it kind of set the stage for what worked for us as a newly formed band. Lyrically, I had started going to a poetry club, never written poetry in my life. I've written lyrics before with previous bands, but they were in service to the music. So I wanted to flip that with writing words without the music to guide them which was very new and challenging. With Pleasant Mob, most of the songs that I wrote started with the words and went from there. This poem was basically about being vulnerable with a new lover and how simultaneously exciting yet terrifying that can be.
What can you say about "I Don't Know"?
Raidy: It's my response to those family members during holidays asking "But what do you REALLY do for money?" Feeling helpless in a system that rejects and uses artists juxtaposed with the need to make art to escape the system that causes us to struggle. The song is basically saying I don't know what to do other than make this.
What were the inspirations behind "Mob"?
Raidy: With Mob, I wrote the lyrics entirely while on the clock at my past Job. I would go to the bathroom stall and hum these melodies and write the lyrics. I wanted to write a Pleasant Mob band theme à la "Hey, Hey, We're The Monkees" but at the same time it's essentially a protest song against workplace oppression for all us toilers out here punching clocks.
How did "Thinking Again" come about?
Tim: I came to practice with the riff and a little chord progression. The song was shaped by jamming with the rest of the band. Lyrics take me a long time to write, but I'm working on not being too precious about it. Singing kind of freaks me out too. The song is about the anxieties that keep me up at night, and not being able to shut my brain off when trying to sleep.
What were the inspirations behind the cover art from Billo?
Raidy: When Spread Joy was in Europe, we played with Liiek and hung out a bit. I was super into their album art and they got me in contact with Billo. As inspo, we sent them the first Raincoats LP cover art among other images, I rambled a bunch of nonsense about '60s pop subversion. How much of that affected what they produced I do not know. Billo is so so talented. We are very lucky they worked with us to create what I think is a perfect album cover for our little record.
Have you been working on new songs for a follow up LP? If so, when can fans expect that to come out?
Raidy: We're working on a bunch of new songs this summer. We've been playing a few of them live. Also have a couple songs that were recorded but not released. Don't know when they'll come out!
What else is on the horizon for the Pleasant Mob crew?
Raidy: We have some shows down the road but mostly just working on a second record and enjoying summer in Chicago!
Hana: I hope we can record some covers that we goof about at practice.
Tim: I would love to play a few shows out of town and tour a bit.
Any final thoughts or advice you wanna share with our readers?
Pleasant Mob: Have fun, be kind!
Pleasant Mob is out now on Inscrutable Records.