Power-pop / indie-rock band The Persian Leaps have released their latest album Pop That Goes Crunch.
In a unique forging of their own path, it comes as the band’s debut full-length, but also as an 18-song “best of” anthology release. A selection of seventeen choice tracks were taken from across the band’s five EPs, and revisited with full remix and remastering work, alongside re-recorded sections. Glide Magazine premiered the release, saying “at times blistering and raw, and polished at others, the album captures the full spectrum of The Persian Leaps.” Pop That Goes Crunch is a reflection and celebration of the band’s music to date.
In this interview spotlight, I catch up with The Persian Leaps (who we have featured before) to discuss the new album, motivations, challenges and much more.
Full Q&A along with links and music below.
Where are you from and what style of music do you create?
We’re from Saint Paul, MN. Some people draw comparisons between our sound and late Husker Du or Bob Mould/Sugar, who got their start here. It’s a fair comparison but we’re really not part of that tradition or directly inspired by those bands, although I definitely like their music. I was a teenager when Husker Du was getting big, but I was always FAR more interested in music from the UK (like The Smiths, New Order, and Echo & The Bunnymen) or R.E.M than local bands like Husker Du or The Replacements.
Early on, I tried hard to convince people that our music was “noise pop,” but no one seemed to buy into that tag. I really resisted getting pigeonholed as “power pop.” It’s my favorite genre, but it seems to get very little respect or attention. But after a few years, I accepted that our music is 100% power pop. We now wear that label proudly on our lapels, with all the rights, responsibilities, and disadvantages it entails.
What led you down this path of music and what motivates you to keep going?
I’ve wanted to be in a band ever since junior high, and I’ve been writing songs about that long, too. Except for a few brief attempts that went nowhere, I spent a couple decades just writing and recording songs for myself. It actually took me until around my 40th birthday to work up the courage to form a band called Small Engines with two other friends. It lasted a year or so, but that was the experience that built up my comfort and confidence in sharing my songs with other musicians and performing them publicly. You’d be hard pressed to find a less direct, less ideal way of doing it, but here I am. As for what motivates me, in the absence of commercial success or widespread support, I have to believe in the songs. As long as I can write songs that excite me and then execute them successfully in the studio, I’ll keep at it.
How is this new release Pop That Goes Crunch different than previous ones? Were you trying to accomplish anything specific? It’s your debut album – what changed after 5 EPs?
Pop That Goes Crunch is basically the culmination of those 5 releases and 5 years as a band. I wanted to take my favorite songs from the EPs, refine them in some cases, and present them to the world as the distillation of that phase of the band. If you haven’t listened to The Persian Leaps before, this anthology would be a great place to start. It also offers closure because from here on out, I’ll be doing something different. As we all got busy with family and careers, Mike McCloskey, Adam Brunner, and I very amicably decided to hang it up as a full live band. However, I’m bringing The Persian Leaps back to its roots as a solo studio project for myself. This past year, I’ve been recording new songs in the studio with my friend, Jon Hunt (who designed the cover art for our last few releases) playing bass and singing backup. We plan to release a full-length album of all new material in the fall of 2019.
Name one or two challenges you face as an indie musician in this oversaturated, digital music age? How has technology helped you (since we know it does help)? What’s one thing that you wish could be different?
Although I’ve seen the changes of the last few decades as a music consumer, I didn’t start releasing material until we were well into this digital age. So, I have no firsthand experience with “how it used to be.” The upside of the new normal is that it’s never been easier or less expensive to get Persian Leaps material out where it’s accessible worldwide by millions of people. But that’s also the downside–thousands of other musicians are doing the same thing and there’s no easy way to stand out from the crowd.
And yet, despite all the digital advances, it seems like college radio is still stuck in an analog world. We’re in the middle of a digital-only college radio campaign for Pop That Goes Crunch. We’ve gotten some airplay, but it’s pretty clear that many stations still prefer to receive physical submissions and don’t take digital seriously. Mailing 300 CDs gets expensive, so I just won’t do it anymore, but I wish college radio would hurry up and transition completely to digital.
Distribution and PR issues aside, I really appreciate how easy it is for me to create fully-fleshed out, decent sounding demos on my laptop. I’d never try to release those demos as the finished product, but it’s incredibly easy for me to work on ideas and figure out arrangements long before I go into the studio, which saves me money and translates to a better result.
What was the last song you listened to?
It will surprise no one, but something by Guided By Voices. I downloaded a couple of their recent singles that apparently will be on next year’s album. Even better, though, I finally got around to checking out another Robert Pollard project, Lexo and the Leapers. They released a one-off EP (called Ask Them) in 1999 that’s fantastic. I’m sorry it took me almost 20 years to buy it, but Pollard releases so much stuff that it’s easy to miss an album or ten.
Which do you prefer – Vinyl? CDs? MP3s?
I’ve always been a pragmatist, not an idealist when it comes to media format. Vinyl has never really appealed to me, although we had a record player when I was growing up and I literally wore out my mom’s copies of two Simon & Garfunkel albums. I came of age in the 1980s and was fully into cassette tapes. I transitioned to CDs in the 1990s and still have a huge collection sitting on shelves in my basement. But I ripped them all to MP3s years ago so I can listen to them anywhere and anytime on my iPhone. I can’t remember the last time I listened to something other than an MP3. If musicians and independent record stores are making money from vinyl sales, more power to them, but it seems vastly overpriced and inconvenient. I’ve never seriously thought about releasing Persian Leaps material on vinyl.
How about this one… Do you prefer Spotify? Apple Music? Bandcamp? Or something else? Why?
I’m definitely no Luddite, but I don’t spend a whole lot of time on any of those platforms, although I have the accounts. Typically, I listen to our local college radio station during my commutes. When I hear something I really love, I’ll buy and download the song on my iPhone, but just can’t get into streaming on a regular basis. It’s funny– if you’d told me when I was younger that someday I’d have access to nearly any album ever recorded and I wouldn’t take advantage of it, I’d never have believed it. It’s just too much music that it’s overwhelming and paralyzing, in a way.
Where is the best place to connect with you online and discover more music?
We’re on all the social media platforms. I should probably post more often than I do, but I’m responsive to questions, comments, etc. You can stream our music on any of the digital platforms. Bandcamp remains the most direct way to buy the music and support us.
Anything else before we sign off?
I just got done filming a music video for “Time Slips,” the new single from Pop That Goes Crunch. Look for that in early 2019 after the holidays.
