Could you tell me the story of how P. Noid formed and how you got to where you are now?
Saskia: I had been writing on my own for a few months and then my friend Jason Shapiro was booking a folk show in October and needed another band to play it and I was like I have a new project that I could potentially fill some time with and yeah– Jack played bucket drums and I played acoustic guitar and then we recorded the tape and it was a lot of fun and we just kept going!
Jack: Yeah yeah, Saskia was looking for a drummer and I could hear them writing songs because they live right above me. I heard all the songs and I was like, I guess I'll do them this favor.
SL: Nice, nice, yeah and Jack's been trying to get into drumming so I just thought I’d help him out.
What were both of your first experiences with making music?
JA: I was in a band in high school and then that broke up, then I just started recording stuff at home and I really started doing it when I got a four-track cassette recorder I’d write songs by starting with the drums–
SL: I learned how to play guitar and then it was just really discouraging, I didn't really know what to do with it and then I met Jack and he kind of got me into DIY stuff and I realized that it was pretty simple to write my own music. That was super encouraging and I think that made me write things that I liked more.
JA: Yeah, music is pretty easy.
SL: Anyone can do music!
You mention using the four-track– what drew you to start recording to tape as opposed to digital?
JA: I personally like Guided by Voices but I don't know about Saskia. I got into that and then when you're recording on the computer, it's too sterile for me, seeing every single wave or whatever. Pressing buttons is more fun than computers for me.
SL: Recording on a computer is so vast and you can get stuck tweaking the smallest things that don't end up really mattering whereas on a four track it's a lot more hands off and fun.
JA: Also our favorite records are all on–well the majority of them–are recorded like that!
What are some of those records that you really like?
SL: I mean, what comes to mind is like I really like the band BB Eye! You?
JA: I like Beat Happening, the first record, and I like hardcore punk rock… yeah.
What's your favorite place you've ever lived and what do you love about it ?
SL: Easy! Chicago. I met some of my favorite people in the world there and that's where I started making music so I don't know… happy memories, happy associations, happy community! It's also like a really beautiful place to be.
JA: I like Chicago.
SL: Whattt?
JA: Yeah, I lived in Texas and it was pretty boring. Well, it used to be cool, but the music got kind of bad. But in Chicago, there's a lot of cool people. Our neighbors are all our friends in our other band, so it's a nice situation.
I know that both of you are also in Bungee Jumpers– how did that project come to be?
SL: I think that's kind of how I started making– that was the point where I realized that I could make music. I literally don't remember how. We talked about making a band for so long and then one night we sat down…
JA: We lived in a dorm together– and well, we made a bunch of movies and then we were like, oh, we should write punk songs!
SL: I guess over a few months we compiled a lot of inspiration and at some point...
JA: We just got– my old guitar used to have a drum machine in it, so you could just plug it straight in and play guitar and drum machine at the same time and we would just smoke a bunch of weeds and just write silly stuff.
SL: Yeah. And it felt really easy from the start and I think that's a good feeling and then once our friends joined the band, it got even more fun.
When was the last time you wore a costume? What did you dress up as and why?
SL: Oh my god Adelaide– Our friend Adelaide, who's the drummer of Bungee Jumpers, had a Minecraft birthday party and there was a mandatory Minecraft costume and I was a tropical fish and Jack was a villager [laughs]
JA: I looked just like a villager.
SL: Yeah, he actually killed it. He wore a browtfit and was like [mimics minecraft villager noise]
JA: Yeah we actually watched a part of...
SL: Oh, yeah. We watched the CGI-less Minecraft movie.
JA: The leaked version of it.
SL: All the villagers didn't have their hats on so it was these giant cute people with tiny little heads.
JA: Just normal ass guys.
SL: It was so funny and Jack felt at home. But my costume kind of flopped. I think I could have done better.
Can you describe a perfect day for you from start to finish?
SL: Shit. I feel like wake up at 11, that’s a really nice time to wake up. Cloudy. No, no, sunny. with some nice humidity. Drink a coffee. Go outside. Do you have any contributions?
JA: Probably when you have nothing to do and then there's a fun thing happening. And it's nice outside. And it's a free thing and it's a cool thing.
SL: Yeah, and you go out–
JA: And all your buddies are there–
SL: And you hang out with your friends and have a lemonade–
JA: And stray cats–
SL: Three stray cats.
JA: We love stray cats.
SL: Yeah. And have one of them follow you for a few blocks. That's a good feeling. And then a little baby possum maybe. Then get home before the sun goes down so you can bask in the sunlight for an hour on your bed… Maybe that's just me. And then...
JA: I'm just waking up at this point.
SL: Yeah, it's 5 p.m. Jack's getting up. Yeah, I don't know. And then just...
JA: Go to Skylark.
SL: [Laughs] Go to Skylark. And then electric scooter back. Yeah, that'd probably be a pretty good day.
check out p.noid's wnyu session (filmed by me and engineered by jamie):
