The LA garage punk band Together Pangea played a show at the Paper Tiger on April 1, 2022. KRTU Student Intern, Anna Shockley, met up with the band members for a pre-show interview. Here’s what they had to say:
Anna: Are there any artists who have inspired you in the past? Are there any artists who are inspiring you specifically today?
Danny: At the moment I’d say Buck Owens. New artists, I’d say our friend Lily who plays music as Lala Lala. I think she is absolutely excellent and an inspiration every single time we see her play.
Anna: What is the process you go through to write music? Do you have a particular place you get a lot of inspiration from? Do you feel like you work more together or individually? Are there certain songs where parts of the songs are written by certain people?
Eric: For a long time, all of the songs were written by William. So he will write lyrics and a melody on the guitar, and bring them to the band when they are semi complete and flesh them out. Then a few years ago Danny wrote a couple songs and we were stoked. Those are on the album Bulls and Roosters. Then for this album, I wrote a couple of songs. I was really stoked!
Anna: Do you have any advice you would give bands that are coming out of the pandemic trying to hit the road? Do you have any advice anyone has given you in the past that has stuck with you?
William: I can't think of advice that has stuck with me. I feel like we were just kinda figuring stuff out on our own for the most part. I don’t know what advice I would give people coming out of the pandemic. I'm hoping shows just get back to where they were, where people felt comfortable and free in the room, like okay bumping into each other and stuff like that. Which it seems like people are there, but for young bands, I think it’s just important for them to play. Play as much as possible and as often as possible.
Anna: What are some of the coolest shows you’ve played before and why did they stand out to you particularly?
Danny: I think anytime we have gone to Mexico City has been pretty awesome. Anytime we have played in places that are especially far and different. Playing in Eastern Europe, Hungary, but my favorite shows that we have done, that have just been stand out amazing experiences were Mexico City. We have played there three times now. We just love that city, it's been amazing to go down there and get a cool response from the crowd, and kids are really excited. It's fun to travel somewhere you'd want to travel to outside of playing music, and get to travel there because of music.
Anna: On your latest album, do you have any songs that particularly resonate with you personally?
Eric: I guess I could say that the song that I wrote resonates with me. It's a song called Little Line. It’s about a relationship, and what it takes to work things out. Sometimes you push each other's buttons, and it's that line where you might say something you regret. I do have a favorite song though that Willian wrote that's called Alabama.
Anna: When you’re on stage, how do you feel?
William: I guess it’s kinda like getting into a fight. You get all those chemicals going, but it feels good, like it's exciting. I recently stopped drinking, like period. So it's a little bit of a different experience to play live. It’s still the same, like you get all this energy and excitement, but you’re sort of more aware of the little things. I love playing music and it's good to be able to do it again.
Anna: Lastly, is there anything particular you want your listeners to walk away with when they listen to your music?
Danny: That's a tough question. Just enjoyment, maybe to be able to dance a little bit. To be able to enjoy the lyrics and rhythm. That’s an interesting question because I guess we write music for people to interact with in a live space, but I don't know what that means for the listener outside of that space.
William: I think for at least the time that you are at the show, you are hopefully just forgetting about how crazy the world is and you can just have fun.
Check out the full interview here: Together Pangea @ The Paper Tiger
Left to right: Eric, William, Danny, and Anna