Caturday With Pacifica

• Beanie Stopler: The new album ‘In Your Face!’ feels like a mix of bravado, humor, and heartbreak, how did you land on that balance without losing your edge? If ‘In P: Your Face!’ were a long night out, what happens the morning after?

  Pacifica: We definitely went on a big introspective journey while writing ‘In Your Face!’. It’s funny that you ask that actually, because when we first started the recording process the album did kind of lose its edge, but when we went back and listened to it we started looking for it back. If the album was a night out, the morning after would be full of regrets, haha! Definitely a good time to write.

  BS: Your sound has that confident, sun-soaked energy of HAIM and the cheekiness and edge of Wet Leg, but it still feels totally your own. How do you take influences and make them unmistakably Pacifica? Is there a specific chord, instrument or sequence that is a Pacifica signature that we may not know?
  P: We love Haim and Wet Leg, they’ve been big inspirations for us on our journey as a band. When it comes to our own writing, we like to focus on melody first. We tend to love a hooky, jumpy melody that sticks around in your brain. Then we find the story that we want to tell and ultimately that’s what makes it Pacifica.

  BS: Friendship drives your music. Have you ever hit a creative or personal boundary with each other, and how did it change the record?
  P: Our friendship is a big driver for our music, yes. We’re super honest with each other and for this album that pushed a lot of the lyrics and themes forward.

• BS: You’ve played with Kim Gordon, St. Vincent, and Måneskin. What’s the biggest lesson or advice those artists have given you?

P: All of those shows were incredible, and taught us so much. Måneskin has such a big stage presence, that inspired us a lot. So does St Vincent, she moves so effortlessly around the stage and we actually copied some tech stuff from her. Someone that really welcomed us was Alex Kapranos from Franz Ferdinand. He was super kind and watched the whole show from the side of the stage. Ever since that show we’ve taken that as a standard for our own shows.

BS: Your debut ‘Freak Scene’ was raw and chaotic, what did you want to explore this time that you couldn’t then? 
P: The whole start of the band was quite eclectic. It all happened very fast and we maybe didn’t put a lot of intention into it. We really just wanted to make music we liked. For this one we tried to get our own stories more into the songs. It feels a lot more autobiographical.

BS: ‘Indie Boyz’ is playful but honest about overstimulation and bad decisions. How much of Pacifica is catharsis versus confession?
P: Well, we feel like both of those kind of come hand in hand. Sometimes you admit to doing or feeling something and that makes you reflect and get into a more cathartic state.

BS: Touring across three continents is intense. How do you stay grounded and more importantly sane while traveling the world constantly?
P: We really try to take care of ourselves on tour. The main goal is to stay healthy so we are able to give it our all during the shows. We try to vocalise, exercise and journal often and we like to make friends in every city to keep us company.

BS: I love your A-ha ‘Take on Me’ performance – the rock edge really turns it into a totally different tune and introduces legendary songs to a younger audience. You’ve been called part of the “new alt-rock vanguard” How would you define this new wave of guitar music? 
P:Guitar music right now feels very nostalgic. It’s like we’re all pulling from the past trying to hold on to that moment where guitar lead music was the most popular. It’s not mainstream right now so being a part of it feels very special.

BS: You’re uber cool, t-shirt–loving girls! If we don’t already know you, we should! Think Vanna Youngstein mega-cool slogan diamante tees and vests. What would your slogan t-shirt say for each other?
P: I think we’d both have one that said ‘Lucky Girl’. We feel so grateful for everything that’s been happening to us. We’re always saying wow we’re so lucky!

BS: You’ve shared a stage with Måneskin, I recently spoke with Victoria about DJing for Dolce & Gabbana, where she had total freedom and was the ultimate ‘Dolce girl.’ If you could play at any runway, which designer’s world would you want to soundtrack?
P: Hmm, that’s a good question! We’re about to play shows in Japan and we’ve been obsessed with Nana. I think for sure right now we’d love to soundtrack anything for Vivienne Westwood.

BS: Female, UK, rock, you obviously think Chrissie Hynde. Argentina – who’s your ultimate rock icon? 
P: Marilina Bertoldi, no doubt!

BS: You’re cool, casual girls who love a pop of color, what does it take to get you in a dress and heels? Are you all about comfy all the way, because personally, it takes a lot to get me even a couple of cm off the ground!
P: We love any excuse to dress up. Our height difference is significant so Martina ends up wearing heels a lot while Inés opts to stay closer to the ground!

BS: You’ve got a sold-out run in Japan this December, what’s it like playing to a full house night after night? And with all this world touring, have you ever played London? The city’s got such a huge gigging culture and a punk revival vibe right now.

P: Honestly doing our own tours is the best feeling ever. We can’t wait for this Japan run, it feels like it’s gonna be so different from what we’re used to. We’ve played London twice, we always do our biggest shows over there and in Paris. The crowds are great, we’re so looking forward to our next UK/Europe run!