Ebru Yildiz
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, a retro-washed indie-pop band led by songwriter Kip Berman, have been critical darlings since their jangly, heartfelt debut in 2009. The band — currently featuring brothers and longtime members Christoph and Anton Hochheim, along with newer additions Jen Goma and Jacob Sloan — was heralded by the AV Club as “sensitive and sublime.” Their fourth album, The Echo of Pleasure (due out July 14), retains Berman’s knack for infectious hooks and evokes ’80s-era pop without being defined by it. The band launched an international tour in late May and plays Madison’s High Noon Saloon on June 23. We caught up with bandleader Kip Berman during rare down time between the band’s dates overseas.
You became a father pretty recently. How does it feel?
I don’t know how to say this without it sounding ungrateful, but this last year I’ve been home with my baby daughter, and it’s been the happiest year of my life. I’ve never felt less excited to be leaving home.
Over the course of four albums, your music has grown from fuzzed out and lo-fi to embellished and lush. How do you explain that evolution?
That’s a tough question, because I don’t think things getting more complex, sophisticated or thoughtful always make them better. But I’ve always written all the songs, so I guess I’ve accidentally improved at it — if you think those qualities you mention make things better. Some people don’t, and I respect that.
I couldn’t write songs like “Come Saturday” or “Everything With You” [from the Pains’ debut album] now; it would be fake, an approximation of a perspective that is no longer mine. But I really think if you’d played these songs [from the new album] to me in 2009, I’d have been surprised, but happy. Like, “Woah, these songs are still three chords, but like, cool sounding.”
The first two Pains albums landed on Pitchfork’s “Best New Music” list. How did it feel going into Days of Abandon and now The Echo of Pleasure carrying a legacy of widespread acclaim?
I don’t know about legacy — it’s sort of egotistical to think that way. There are a lot of constraints that govern my life: I can’t be a heroin addict, or ride a motorcycle or even curse too much in interviews, though I sometimes do by accident. My grandma has Google alerts. And I’m an only child. And now I have a baby. So all the superficial trappings of rock and roll, those are pretty much beyond me. I just want my daughter to be proud of her dad.
The Echo of Pleasure voices a complicated understanding of love and relationships. Is this a personal perspective?
It’s very much about my life in the moment I was writing it. My wife was six months pregnant when we made the record, and I just didn’t know if I’d ever get a chance to make music again. Music is the thing I’ve loved more than anything in my life — but that still isn’t as important as being a good dad and a good partner. I think there’s no solace in making art if it means people closest to you think you’re an ass.
