Several hours before they rocked The Echo, I got a chance to sit down with Pepper Rabbit and chat about the recent release of their debut album Beauregard, their next album, and their currently hectic schedule. I was first introduced to the band by BnB Editor Leona Laurie’s album review of Beauregard (for the full album review, click here), and I was intrigued by her in-depth description of the psych folk band’s album and sound. After listening to the album myself, I knew that their live performance would either make or break my budding affection for the group. Luckily for me, their live performance was just as powerful and thought provoking as their ten track debut.

‘Harvest Moon’ was one of the first songs that they played, and I was charmed from the first time that singer Xander Singh strummed the first chord on the ukulele. With back up vocals provided by both the bassist and drummer, Xander create live loops of his vocals and other instruments (like the clarinet). They heaped sounds on top of other sounds until they had built a wall so high Xander stood on tiptoe, straining to make his voice heard over the din. The audience was absolutely dazzled, rewarding the trio’s efforts with the loudest applause of the evening. It was obvious to the crowd that the beauty of the music and secret to controlling such chaos is to keep the loops and sounds simple, layering them slowly until a mountain is formed. It was truly a fascinating experience, and with each approaching song I couldn’t wait to hear what they would build next.

In addition to ukulele and clarinet, Xander also played the guitar and keys. He switched off with the bassist, who would occasionally lend backup vocals while switching between bass, ukulele, and keys. I cannot compliment drummer Luc Laurent enough, and Los Angeles drummers could stand to take a page out of his book. He’s one of those drummers that’s so dead-on that he melts seamlessly into the backdrop of sounds, providing rock steady beats without intruding on the soft, warm glow of folk. He used his entire kit, but he wasn’t flashy with the cymbals. He provided the foundation for the rest of the band’s intricate and often off-kilter arrangements and tempos, and he did so with the ease and grace of someone who’s spent his fair share in the woodshed working on perfecting the basics. His sixteenth note snare drum rolls on ‘None Shall Sleep’ were absolutely heavenly, and it was such a pleasure watching and hearing someone play the drums and make it look so easy. But that could’ve been said for the entire band, because what they were doing was actually quite complicated. Somehow, they managed to blend folk and indie rock with a hard-edged psychedelia that would have made The Beatles proud. With gorgeous arrangements and powerful choruses, each song was memorable and glistening with emotion and beauty. I don’t know how they did it, but Pepper Rabbit managed to create as many different moods within songs as they created between songs. They manage to sound both nostalgic and hopeful at the same time, and their appeal onstage is just as strikingly obvious as it is offstage.

LK: I read a recent interview where you described your tour experiences in Texas, and I have to ask for a reprise as that’s where I’m from.

PR: Yeah, we had a lot of fun in Denton.

LK: No way! That’s exactly where I’m from!

PR: Really? Yeah, Denton was cool.

PR: That’s where we got introduced to Jimmy John’s subs. (chorus) Jimmy John’s! We’d never heard of it, and we went out with some kids from the university there who had come out to the show. Afterwards we went to this really big bar that was just packed. It was huge: they had an indoor and outdoor bar, foosball and pool tables. It was right by Jimmy John’s.

LK: Was it Lucky Lou’s?

PR: (chorus) Lucky Lou’s!

LK: That’s hilarious. Are you guys going back to Texas for South by Southwest this March?

PR: Yeah, definitely. I don’t know where yet, but we’re definitely playing several shows. Last year, we had four shows, but one of them got rained out. This year, I think we’re going to just hunker down and play as many shows as we can. We just got a manager, and we’ve been talking to him about it. He was like “Do you guys want to go nuts?” and we said yes.

LK: Where will you be playing next?

PR: Starting tomorrow we’re doing a few shows with Freelance Whales and Miniature Tigers. We’re doing San Francisco, Seattle, and Vancouver. It’ll be a lot of fun, and it’s nice because we have four days off before we start the Passion Pit tour. And Xander’s parents live in Seattle, so we’ll be able to spend Thanksgiving with them and just relax for a few days.

LK: When was your last break?

PR: Up until a few hours ago. We were on tour for about seven weeks and had about a week off. But we also had a record we needed to finish so we didn’t get to spend too much time off.

 

 

LK: Are you talking about Beauregard (now available on iTunes)? Or another record?

PR: Another one. We’ve been working on this next record for the better part of the second half of this year, whenever we’re home. We were originally going to go back into the studio to mix on December 1^st, but with all this touring we had to rearrange stuff. So now, we’ll finish playing with Passion Pit in Las Vegas and then fly to Seattle the next morning to work on it. So we’ll forgo our downtime just to get some stuff done so we can be ready for next year. But that’s how we like it, we really like staying busy. It’s a blessing.

LK: Were you working on the albums concurrently?

PR: We had finisihed up Beauregard last year, and then added some new tracks for it over the summer. Then Beauregard came out at the end of October. When Luc moved out to LA a little over a year ago, we just immediately started writing and demoing stuff. We weren’t very busy at the time, so we just wanted to get the wheels turning. We didn’t think Beauregard would be released, so we started writing for another album. But then it did happen, and we just had this other material. So now we have a little bit of a head start, and the album will be done in January. But we’re not sure when we’re going to release it.

LK: What’s the writing process like?

PR: We demo a lot of stuff at home. We’ll record an idea, then try to build something. We bounce ideas off each other, add instruments, get it to an arrangement that we like. Then we’ll try to rework some instrumentation, and we do a lot of that at home. Then we went into the studio and worked on making what we had sounds really good. For us, it’s a recording experience and then a live experience; we never play a song live that we haven’t created or rehearsed.

LK: Do you guys have any strange or humorous tour stories?

PR: Every day (laughs). When we were in D.C. we thought we’d be funny and put Obama’s name on the guest list, thinking we were so smart and original. But then the door guy was like “Another one?” Apparently all of the bands that were passing through on tour had done the same thing. Then the other band we were playing with, this rap/rock group, their lead singer came up to us and was smiling this big smile. Then he told us he had just written ‘Barack Obama’ on the guest list. So then we really didn’t feel so original after that.