Interview with Paz Lenchantin of THE PIXIES
Enter for a chance to win a pair of tickets to Night 1 at House of Blues Friday 5/19 or Sunday's show at Paradise Rock Club 5/21 below!
DO617: Did you contribute to writing on this new record (Head Carrier) as well as performing on it?
Paz Lenchantin: Head Carrier was a collaborative effort. We had six weeks or so pre-production on the songs. The songs mainly came from a skeleton that Charles (Black Francis) had come up with. Some of the songs didn’t make the cut at RAK Studios in London.
We were inspired there, we had a little apartment, Charles and I, we were adjacent, attached to he studio. We were like a family. We made dinner, we made coffee in the morning, talk about music, listen to music while we weren’t in the studio.
While we were there, some other songs came up. These last minute gems. One of them didn’t make the record. However, this song was very important to me because this song inspired another song that I wrote that DID make the record, which is called, ‘All I Think About Now’.
This song features me singing lead on vocals. The lyrics were written by Black Francis. He asked me what I wanted to sing about. I thought, this is an exciting moment…I’m being asked what I want to sing about…
…In The Pixies!
…in The Pixies, right? That’s an exciting moment. One to take note of, one to remember. And I do remember this moment, in slow motion. Because this was a question would become a permanent answer on a record that made the cut. I said, I want to sing about Kim Deal, because if it wasn’t for her handing over the baton to me, I wouldn’t even be in the moment here, being asked what I want to sing about.
I felt like I wanted to give a thank you, a tip of the hat to her.
And you get to capture the intensity of the moment. I was going to ask you if it’s been intimidating being part of The Pixies and how did you even end up being there?
I have no idea! I have no idea how to answer that question. I do have an idea of my person and my person kind of has no idea. The idea is someone else's and I’m just trying to show up. I just show up.
I’ve been playing music a long time and it’s not like I came out of nowhere, maybe for some people I did, but I’ve been in the business for a long time. According to their story, they asked around for recommendations for a bass player, all the fingers pointed to me and everyone said “Paz, Paz, Paz…”.
But to tell my side of the story for a little bit, I did’t know that part. I’ve been in The Pixies family since the ‘90s in a sense. I got a phone call from Joey Sanitago around 1997. One of the most exciting moments that I can remember. He doesn’t really remember! Who am I at that point?
Joey Santiago calls me on my landline and he heard of me as a local LA bass player and he asked me if I was available to play some shows with his side project, The Martinis. With his wife (at the time) Linda. We played some shows going up the coast, up north all the way to Portland and back. This would make my first tour outside of Los Angeles. It was about two weeks, we played only a few shows. I learned about nine songs or something.
It was an exciting beginning, I like to think Joey Santiago discovered me. Later on, I joined forces with, I was an original member of, A Perfect Circle and Zwan, The Entrance Band.
Almost two decades later, I get another call from Joey Santiago, this time to see my availability to perhaps join The Pixies.
Wow! That’s amazing, an amazing story and you have been around some great bands, and I didn’t know that part about him discovering you and bringing you on that The Martinis tour. I think people will find that fascinating.
I definitely do, especially one thing I know about myself is that I don’t really know anything but there are signs and he showed up before anyone else did, Joey Santiago. That’s definitely a sign.
You are bringing kind of a breathe of fresh air to a band, that I wouldn’t call them stale, but rather you are bringing something new to The Pixies. How have people been reacting to Head Carrier?
It is always great to see young faces, young new faces out there, teenage kids, male, female. It makes you think, these are the next generation of Pixies lovers, that is a very rewarding feeling.
I wanted to ask you about the 'Classic Masher' video, how fun was that?
Oh gosh, I do have a passion, a love, a hobby, however you want to say it, for making films. Particularly Super 8 films and animation. It is a little bit how I met the Tool guys from A Perfect Circle, Maynard (Maynard James Keenan). I was working on the animation on the Tool videos that Jones was directing. Then they find I played bass, and go on to form A Perfect Circle and so on…
Film has always been a passion. I’d like to get more into making music for film but I was so so happy to let me produce, direct 'Classic Masher'. I starred my father as the Classic Masher, got my girlfriends involved, my old classic car, Daisy I like to call her. Dodge Dart Swinger, a smoke machine, a little animation, and I made a video.
I also made another one, I get asked to make different videos on the side. Something I really like to spend my time doing. I just finished another video for a fashion line called Sister Jane.
It’s a little short film, 2 and a half minutes. I really enjoy doing that, I hope I get to do more.
Lastly, I want to ask you what is the thing you are most proud of when you hear Head Carrier, when you hear the music for the new record, is it a song, a particular lyric, a memory about a song? What is your favorite part about the new record?
'All I Think Bout Now' is definitely a mystery and a proud moment. All the Saints, the last song on the record. The song went through a lot, the song figured out what it wanted to be, and so close to not even making the record because it was a bit of a problem child. Right before we were going to record it as a stripped down, acoustic song, which didn’t resonate well with me…I hear what the choice was, making it just acoustic and vocal but it didn’t sound right to me. If there was something missing for me was one of the different Pixies styles. The Pixies have a lot of different styles it was missing the the dreamy/surfy element.
We challenged Tom (Dalgety) the producer to try a different approach because the song didn’t have a chorus and didn’t have a verse, it was just two sections, like a poem with a dreamy landscape. Sure enough that’s how it ended up being, and it’s exactly right. We had to search it out, reach its potential and it is a beautiful song to end the record.
It is a beautiful song with beautiful lyrics it’s one of my favorite Pixies songs of all.
Thanks for joining us!
Follow THE PIXIES on SOCIAL MEDIA
