Sugarcult is a band thats coming up in the world of punk that exists these days. Playing more to the kind of crowd that listens to Sum 41 and Blink 182 than the Misfits/AFI crowd, theyve set themselves up for a big career if they can be dealt a good hand. So far, its looking good. Having already toured with Blink 182 and Hoemgrown, and currently on the road with Unwritten Law, theyre looking to go places. In mid-January, with no advance warning or anything, I was told Id be doing a phone interview with Sugarcult very soon. Finally, the day came, and I thought I was prepared for the interview. Well... I wsn't but I still managed to make it interesting. In the interview, I talked to Ben Davis and Tim Pagnotta of the band, and managed to glean some interesting and useful info from them, including: how an appearance by Chris Shiflett of the Foo Fighters came to existence, how they survived the Warped Tour, and what the two guys would do if angels really did live among us.
1) How in the world did you decide on Sugarcult? The bio tells a story... tell me yourself, in your own words, the story of "The Sugarcult"...
TP: It was a group of lesbians that, lived across the hall from me... like I'd open my door and there was this group of like five lesbian girls, all my age, about 18. And I guess Sugarcult was slang for a group of lesbians.
2) Critics call your music punk-pop or power-pop or some such label. In ten words or less, describe what you hope to convery in Sugarcult's sound...
TP: Power pop punkish, I guess.
3) Is it true that you met Marko at a Superdrag concert in Santa Barbara, where you admired each other's suits, and asked Marko to join the band before you even heard Marko play a note on guitar?
TP: Yeah, it's all true.
4) Was there anything special you guys did to get signed to Ultimatum Records, or was it just the usual "Send Demo, Do Showcase" Type thing?
TP: Not really... we filled in an application, sent them the demo, and they did the rest. We played a lot of shows, sold demos, shit like that.
5) What's your favorite song on the new CD, Start Static?
TP: You're The One, cuz its fast and simple and took about a minute to write.
BD: Um... theres a song called Pretty Girl that I like.. we were just talking about this and how it's like picking a favorite child... each one has something special, because it's ours.
6) How did you guys come to work with Chris Shiflett of the Foo Fighters?
TP: Marko was friends with him, and we were recording the album and he came down and played over a couple of drinks... pretty mellow, but very cool. He's really, really good.
7) How was the Warped Tour?
BD: Really cool... a lot of work. We didn't have any crew, so we had to do everything ourselves. We'd wake up at 9am... no one knew who we were because our album wasn't out yet, so we'd go around telling people "Hey, this is our band, here's a sticker, we'll be playing here at 2:30PM or whatever time it was, and then we'd play and we did it ourselves. But it was still just a really cool experience.
8) Who are some bands that stuck out in your mind?
BD: Well we made friends with Good Charlotte, so when we needed a tour they took us out with them. Also, before the tour, I had no idea who AFI was, really. But when we went out there and they played, I was blown away by how huge they were, like thousands of people would come to see them. , The Ataris were doing good on there too. Lefty is another band we met... we were walking around and we heard them and it caught us and we all liked the sound, so we got to know them that way, which was really cool too.
9) What are some major sources of inspiration for you? Like, what drives you to write the music you write so damn well?
TP: Elvis Costello... anybody that plays music really though... be it negative or positive, it somehow influences the music, whether you want it to or not.
11) It's said that you're a multi-instrumentalist that goes far beyond drumming. Do you do anything else in Sugarcult?
BD: Well, I did dome producing and engineering for the record, but I don't, like, come out from behind the drums and sing a song. But the last few tracks on the album were from old recordings, so we had Tim come in, I'd give him a click, and he'd play them on an acoustic. But, you know, I was staying up at night and I'd add stuff... like some neat guitar stuff, then a little bass line, some drum tracks, and maybe even a little subliminal keyboards. So i guess I played everything on a few tracks.
12) What would you be doing if you weren't in music?
TP: I'd probably be a school teacher, because I like to make a jackass out of myself for.
BD: I don't want to sound cheesy, but acting sounds fun. But really... I hate to think what life would be like if I wasn't doing music... it doesn't sound good, whatever it is.
13) If some angel came down from the sky with a guitar and gave it to you, what would it be?
TP: I think it'd be an Epiphone... they're really good, and fun to play too.
DM: Really? I"ve never played one... maybe I should do that.
TP: Yeah. You should try one, they're great.
14) Who are some bands you put in your CD player these days?
TP: Well... our tape deck's busted so we have the radio... but everything from Palo Alto to Radiohead to Green Day, some classical, even some rap.
BD: When I can, I listen some of the things I'm working on, and we all like Lefty's CD. Flaming Lips were on the radio a lot and we like them... just some things you wouldn't expect.
15) Say some crazy -ass angel said you could tour with any 3 acts still alive today. Who would they be?
BD: I think No Doubt, the Foo Fighters, and Weezer. Actually, those are tours we're trying to get right now, so we might actually land them, which would be really cool.
16) Do you guys have a website?
BD: Oh yeah, it's www.sugarcult.com, and it's helped in so many ways. We keep out tour schedule there, we have some songs to download, and plus we have some pictures up there... so people can know who are are and what we do. It's helped in some really big and a lot of different ways.
19) Where do you see Sugarcult in ten years?
TP: Pulling up to some club in a broken down van trying to keep the band together, probably. You know these things never last more than a few years. But, I think we'll be doing what we're doing right now, and that's playing.
