Pivot

On the eve of their first major UK tour and on the back of the release of a very fine debut album (review – here), Pivot’s Laurence Pike took a phone call to discuss fraternal years in the music business starting to come good.

Given that you’ve been playing together for almost a decade, does it feel strange to be touted as a next big thing?

"The band feels like a new band and as if we’re only a couple of years old. This album also feels like a debut album, even though had a previous album in Australia but it was a while ago and when it was released and even then it was a couple of years old to us. The band’s changed a lot since then and the only reason we kept the name was that Richard (Pike, Laurence's brother) and I were always the driving force. But even when we made the album it felt like something new so I guess we’re as excited and keen as a new band would be."

Having grown into a three piece, did Dave’s (Miller) inclusion bring with it any drastic changes?

"Very gradual actually and it felt very natural to us. We had known Dave earlier and started playing with him in 2006, still with a couple of original guys from the band. I had been doing some other things with him on the side before that too so we had a natural kinship and as things started shifting direction in Pivot, he just seemed like the right person to be doing it with. The other guys are doing other things, pursuing their careers outside music, leaving the country so it quite naturally turned from one thing into another."

With releasing the record on Warp, had you been in contact with them before or was it a case of let’s just get it them and see if they’ll do it?

"Kind of – I think we’ve always been reasonably determined and pretty focused and it was much the same with who we wanted to mix the album. There was a couple of names, Joe McIntyre (Tortoise/Sea and Cake member), was one, and we thought let’s call him up and ask him and go do it and we did. Then we thought who do we want to release it, we want Warp, so we went to London and met them and gave it to them. It wasn’t like a terribly romantic rock story or anything.

"We really wanted it to be on Warp and that was our number one priority and in fact they’re probably one of only two people that we played the album to. It just seemed very logical to us that they were a label we had loved for a long time, had a huge respect for and were hugely influenced by them obviously – nearly growing up listening to their releases. It was just one of those lucky things that they liked the album and saw potential. Lucky us."

As well as being a dream home, it’s probably exactly where you want to be in terms of finding your audience?

"That’s exactly it. In Australia, for example, we’ve never really fit in. There aren’t labels that exist that champion the kind of challenging music we make. There are labels but they’re very, very small and more cottage industries. But like you say, we had identified Warp not just as the one’s who put out progressive and interesting music but the one’s who have the most potential to do something with us. And there were some connections there, I don’t know how much influence they had because I’d done some stuff with Prefuse 73 before that. I know Steve Beckett from Warp was a fan of my drumming but it was mainly the fact that we made the effort to go there."

When you mention Prefuse 73, there’s quite a long list of cool people yourself and Richard have worked with – Damo Suzuki, Bill Callaghan, Prefuse etc – you’ve been busy for some time?

"Personally, I’ve been working as a musician full time more or less since I left university. I never really had to have a day job which has been a really blessing, a privilege. I mean I was doing all sorts of shit – I don’t know if I’d use the term prostitute because I do consider it a privilege to be able to play the drums for a living but I’ve done everything from sessions with other artists to jingles and weddings. The whole bit, you know. But amongst that, we’re naturally curious musicians and have always drifted towards working with new people. And that’s part of what you said earlier about feeling like a new band, it’s just nice to be able to knuckle down on one thing because we haven’t really been afforded that chance yet. Finally the band’s been given a chance to be a band."

Have yourself and Richard always played music together?

"We started playing instruments from barely in double figures and probably started our first band together when we were something quite cute like 12 and did a couple of gigs in our living room for our parents and their friends… I don’t know. We were always in bands together and did things separately from each other but there’s always been one project we were in together and Pivot’s the most long-standing one of those."

With a like-minded band like Battles, and I don’t know if you’ve tired of the comparison, but is it encouraging that they’ve broken through so much?

"I think the music world’s in an interesting time where people are looking for different things and the fact that a band like Battles can have big crossover success, for us, although we don’t want to be lumped in as a Battles clone, I think it’s really encouraging and has paved the way for bands to come from a small place and achieve similar things. And again although we don’t want to be considered the same as Battles, we’ve a lot of different things going on, it’s always nice to be compared to a great band."

They’re one of those bands who have risen through a fierce live reputation and having been impressed ourselves with the Pivot live show, is this something you focus a lot of attention on?

"That’s been the big focus actually - not to be an electronic-based band who have nothing to offer in terms of performance. We are as much electronic as we are a band so we want it to be interactive, want it to organic and to provide something of the unknown and unexpected so people will want to come back and see us again or at least they’ll hear the record and get something different from the show because that’s what we like and what we want from a gig."

And finally, are you particularly looking forward to returning to our shores now that people have heard the record?

"We feel like we've been playing reasonably well but there's that big missing piece to the puzzle where nobody had heard the album yet. We're really looking forward to now doing gigs where people have heard it and have a context for the songs. We've played to a lot audiences who have really freaked out and loved it but there's been a component who have thought 'what the fuck is going on here!' and you could tell, had they heard the record, they might have got it a bit more. That's part and parcel of establishing a band though."

Pivot begin their UK tour next week and take in a couple of dates in Ireland as part of their European leg.

O Soundtrack My Heart is out now on Warp.

Oct 1, The Deaf Institute, Manchester with The XX.
Oct 2, Bodega, Nottingham with Munch Munch.
Oct 3, Nice & Sleazy’s, Glasgow with Munch Munch.
Oct 4, Korova, Liverpool with Munch Munch.
Oct 5, Cockpit, Leeds with Snowman and Worried About Satan.
Oct 7, 100 Club, London with Snowman and Vessels.
Oct 8, The Louisiana, Bristol with Snowman and Bronnt Industries Capital.
Oct 9, Rainbow, Birmingham with Einstellung & Cellar Door.
Oct 22, Whelans, Dublin.
Oct 23, Roisin Dubh, Galway.