Peepholes are super-determined, but so much fun you hardly notice. Like most noise-pop duos they are hell bent on proving they can be louder and more awesome than all of those other bands with their superfluous bassists and whatnot. Katia Barrett and Nick Carlisle spread their fewer-but-not-lesser resources well, swapping instruments and vocal duties from song to song, never allowing their quest for cacophony to submerge their stellar melodies.
The first release in Upset The Rhythm's new split vinyl EP series stars Peepholes and skronk nutjobs a.P.A.t.T. The Peepholes side is called "Kingdom," six tracks of righteous racket and delirious din, like their party hard anthem "Sleeping In The Shower." I spoke to them about drumming, trainers and church disco balls.
Download: Peepholes, "Sleeping in the Shower"
When was the last time you slept in the shower?
NICK: None of our songs are fact-based, we don't really bother trying to make sense with the words... this one just sort of went "CHEEP PAWNEE KAWAAAAH" for ages and eventually I changed it to "sleep in the shower" 'cause it fitted.
KATIA: A few minutes ago i nearly slipped in the shower. No joke.
You swap instruments a lot on stage. Which of you is the best drummer?
NICK: Actually we aren't swapping at the moment. I think we've settled with Kat on drums and me on synth for the time being. I think it always used to be that Kat was the more inventive drummer and I was the one who could hold a stronger beat but at this stage Kat has got so good at the drums that there's no real advantage for me to drum just now. Also we're using an old analogue synth that I've had for years and which I know like the back of my hand so it makes sense to have me making the noise. But we might swap round again at some point, I always liked to get Kat playing the keyboard or guitar cos she always comes up with something that someone who's been playing for years would never come up with because they'd think it was wrong or not complicated enough.
Do you own any Nike Air Force trainers?
KATIA: The song title (and not necessarily the song), was inspired by a friend who looks totally hot in those pumps. I on the other hand would look ridiculous in them.
Katia, please tell us about the video you made for "Airforce Trainer."
KATIA: the video is basically a collection of footage I've taken whilst on holiday in various places, mainly Massachusetts. Close ups of plants, and a spinning disco ball that i hung in a church. If you stare closely at the reflections you should be able to make out a giant hanging cross. Towards the end there are flashes of red which was Nick's main specification for me. To him, the song feels red. I wanted the video to gradually get more and more abstracted, just forms and colours pulsing by the end. I could tell you who is under the silver cloaks, but that would spoil the mystery.
Nick you are in Thee Four Horsemen with Stuart from XXJFG and they put out your EP on their label Hungry For Power. They are the best blog ever. Tell us/or make up a story about Stuart.
NICK: I've known Stuart for years... it was at Stuart's house that I met Kat for the first time. He's been Air Guitar Champion something like 5 times running and in fact they won't let him enter anymore he's so good.
Tell us about a.P.A.t.T who are on the other side of your new split EP. Was it Upset the Rhythm who put you together? It's quite a contrast.
NICK: We didn't know a.P.A.t.T. actually—we really wanted to do this split so we could have something out on Upset The Rhythm as we've been aware of them for some time and been to some amazing shows they've put on. The John Maus/No Age/Dan Deacon show a couple of years ago was probably one of the best gigs I've been to.
Your new EP sounds like it was an awful lot of fun to make.
NICK: Thanks! Yeah it was loads of fun. Most of it was recorded on four track but some of the stuff like the basis of Carnivore was just us jamming and recording it on my phone, so it was very immediate, and I think we surprised ourselves with that one. All the songs came pretty quickly whereas we had a bit of trouble with some of the songs in the past, like ìLairî, which is one of my favourite songs of ours, but it went through a few awkward phases before ending up how it did. We're in the middle of making music for what will be the next record(s) now. We're going to do a cassette for MILK and also a full albums worth of stuff too. We have another cassette called Slime Time coming out soon on Nail In The Coffin Records, that's Eyes' record label in Chicago. We're hoping to play some shows with them in the New Year too.