Interview
Interview
Pixies: “We’re The Grateful Dead of alternative rock”
David Lovering talks the past, present and future of the Pixies ahead of their new album and UK tour
It’s hard to find any fresh superlatives to bestow upon alt-rock icons, Pixies. Their influence is the stuff of legend, and without them, there’s a case to say Nirvana, Radiohead and countless others might not have taken their craft into such weird and wild directions.
For all their plaudits, however, grumbles persist about Pixies’ extensive second life. It’s as though the frisson of excitement that surrounded their 2004 reunion has been replaced by a perceived dulling of their lustre, or, worst still, apathy. Their crime? The consensus that this latter-day period has paled against their first run between 1986 and 1993.
As with much in life, closer inspection reveals a slightly different reality. In all honesty, Pixies are in finer fettle post-reunion than many cooler-than-thou commentators would have you believe.
Their state of rude creative health has not come without dalliances with rock cliché though. Retaining personnel on four-string duties has proved so tricksy that Spinal Tap’s revolving door of drummers springs to mind.
Founding bassist and co-vocalist Kim Deal bailed in 2013 just as the group started work on new material. The Muffs’ Kim Shattuck was drafted in as her replacement only for her contract to cease at the end of a single European tour (personality clashes aplenty, apparently). A Perfect Circle’s Paz Lenchantin then came onboard and seemed like a perfect fit.
Lenchantin could not only replicate Deal’s lilting vocals and inventive basslines for the old material, but she brought keen songwriting chops for the three Pixies albums she appeared on (2016’s Head Carrier, 2019’s Beneath The Eyrie and 2022’s Doggerel).
Earlier this year, however, after nearly a decade, she was suddenly no longer a part of their plans (“My departure is a bit of a surprise to me as it is to many,” she said in an email to Rolling Stone). Emma Richardson, formerly of British noiseniks Band of Skulls, has since taken her place.
Previews of upcoming ninth album The Night The Zombies Came are encouraging for the band’s next chapter. Signs are that Black Francis’s impressive melodic sensibilities – his inner “psychotic Beatles,” as fan David Bowie once called them – and esoteric lyricism remain gloriously intact. New songs such as ‘Motoroller’ mine classic Pixies terrain, but there are signs elsewhere of the palette stretching into uncharted lands.
Speaking backstage shortly before a riotous set at London’s All Points East festival in August, Pixies drummer David Lovering told us why he’s so excited for what’s to come. He also reflected on Lenchantin’s departure and why he thinks Pixies continue to endure.
How does The Night The Zombies Came differ from Doggerel?
I am even more excited for this album. Honestly. The reason I like it so much is because everyone played exceptionally, and the songs are very good. That’s what makes it different from our previous albums, I think, even going back for a while.
How would you describe its sound?
Some of the songs are more traditional and much different from the Pixies’ sound that we’re known for. ‘Mercy Me’ and ‘Jane (The Night of the Zombies Came)’ are two examples. ‘Mercy Me’, in particular, is a more traditional [type of] song. That song surprised me, but it’s one that I love.
You returned to the eco-friendly studio, Guildford Sound, in Vermont for the second successive time. What makes it such a good place to record?
It’s an old, 500-acre farm with a state-of-the-art studio. It’s amazing. It was our second time there with [producer] Tom[Dalgety] as well, so it was a very comfortable experience all round: being in a place that you’ve been before, and with a producer that’s worked with us for four records now.
Speaking of Tom Dalgety, like you say, he’s produced all your post-reunion albums bar 2014’s Indie Cindy. What does working with him give you?
The best producers are ambassadors for the bands they work with – they don’t only know your craft, but they have a rapport with you and know how to handle you. There’s a comfort level all around with Tom: we know him, and he knows us.
How did the record come about?
We weren’t planning on going into the studio, but we had free time and Tom was available, so we went in.
Is the album made up of entirely new songs?
More than half of the songs that ended up on the album we’d had floating around, but we did them on the spot. There was a little residential area where we could rehearse in the morning and then run over to the studio nearby to try to get them down.
You recently toured Bossanova and Trompe Le Monde in full. What was it like revisiting those records?
It was wonderful. I hadn’t realised how many people liked Bossanova and Trompe Le Monde. A lot of the songs from those albums were never played live. Well, we might have played them back in the day when the records first came out, but they’d fallen by the wayside in the years since.
We had two weeks of rehearsal before the tour – it was the first time we’ve had that – but we had to learn the songs, and they got better and better as the tour went on.
We now play a lot of those songs in our set that we never did before, [partly] because we know how to play them.
Subsequent generations keep discovering Pixies’ music. Have you any insight or understanding as to why you’ve endured in the way that you have?
The only thing I can attribute it to is that younger people may have found out about Pixies through the bands we supposedly influenced.
Is that reflected in your audiences?
Yes. Our shows are now mainly filled young kids in the front row that weren’t even born when we were initially a band. I feel very fortunate about it.
I look up at these young kids not only know the old material, but the new stuff too… And then you have the old people like me at the back, by the bar, going, ‘I want to hear the old stuff!’. I always say that we’re The Grateful Dead of alternative rock. It’s great. We’re very fortunate.
This second period of the Pixies has now outstripped your first period. What is it that keeps you going?
It’s still a wonderful feeling playing to an audience that has never seen us before. Also, we’ve been playing together for so long that we’re better musicians now. Our shows keep getting better, and that, combined with a love for what we’re doing and seeing the audience, is what keeps us going.
I must ask about the departure of Paz Lenchantin. She seemed to be so well established in the group. Yet, from the start of this year she’s no longer part of Pixies. What can you say about what’s happened?
It was just unfortunate. I can’t explain it all. Paz would be the one to ask. It would be for her to explain. But we’re a very happy family, and we’re doing very well now.
Did things end okay between you all?
Yes. (Pauses momentarily). All I can say is that we tried to rectify everything.
And Paz’s replacement, former Band of Skull’s bassist, Emma Richardson, has been a good fit so far?
Yes. Emma’s fantastic. She’s making me play better because she’s so good. We were very fortunate [to find her]. We were in a bind.
Do you have a roadmap for what will happen next?
All I know is that the album comes out in October, and we’ll be supporting it all next year. That will take us to at least January 2026.
You’re tireless with your touring!
Well, we don’t do as much as the Foo Fighters! I feel that there are other bands out there that do a lot more than us, but we do our share. And I love being on tour.
Do you like being on the road more than being in the studio then?
Oh yes. I get to travel; I get to eat. I’m happy!
Where would you place The Night The Zombies Came in Pixies’ catalogue?
I think that it sits right after Trompe Le Monde. That’s how happy I am with it, both sonically and song-wise.
When I think of Indie Cindy, Head Carrier, Beneath The Eyrie and Doggerel, this goes before them and right after Trompe Le Mondein terms of how much I like the album.
Pixies return to UK stages in May 2025. Find tickets here
The Night The Zombies Came is released on 25 October, available for preorder here
