Editor’s Note: This is the raw draft of the interview published by New Noise Magazine. This draft has not been seen by an editor. There may be errors.
Chumped have created the soundtrack to your future up all night singalong drink-a-thons with your best friends. The band have crafted simple, elegant and most importantly catchy pop-punk songs about the ideals that we hold dear in our youth and yet will resonate with those of all ages: friendship, growing and loss.
The band’s first two EP’s have garnered them extraordinary praise and an already intense following. Their full length debut, Teenage Retirement, is one of the most anticipated records of the year. We talk to vocalist Anika Pyle about relocating to New York City from small town Colorado, dealing with the praise, gigantic festivals and returning to The Fest 13. Teenage Retirement comes out this fall.
How does it feel to have come from small town Colorado, all the way to one of the largest cities in the world and to have found success, and more importantly do you view your current praise as success?
Wow. Success. How do you measure that? I’m really proud of what we’ve been able to accomplish as a musical unit. If you had asked me 5 years ago or 2 years ago if I would be making a record and doing what I love with my best friends and sharing a bill with bands that literally changed my life I would have laughed in your face. I think I measure these small but amazing things we do as success.
You guys came out of the gate and garnered a ton of praise for yourself titled debut. How does that early success effect the work you put into Teenage Retirement?
Teenage Retirement was a succession of beer drinking and Cheetos eating that began with the Chumped EP…a natural progression if you will. No, I think we put out that EP, with full intention of pressing it ourselves and giving it to our moms and when people other than us even paid attention to it, it floored us and really inspired us to keep making more music. I think we were all truly shocked that anyone other than us gave a shit. We wrote a full length record because we weren’t done writing songs, we had more things to say and more music to make, but it felt good to have one under our belt. Plus, there are way more Cheetos to be eaten.
It’s 2014 and we need to shed the idea of Male or Female songwriters and focus on just being songwriters, how do you work to continue to work to blend those lines? Do you have any interest in being a “role model?” and does that title frighten you?
I’m a woman in a band. There are many others. Get over it. I’ve never really thought of myself as being important enough to be a role model and thinking that someone might look up to me is a little terrifying. However, I had a lot of people in my life who shaped who I am as a musician and a person. So I guess if I was that person for someone else I’d be humbled by it.
You guys are a band that is right at home in my basement, yet you opened up Riot Fest Chicago. How was your experience being part of that gigantic machines?
Riot Fest was maybe one of the coolest things I’ve ever done. I think we definitely felt like a tiny blip in a giant universe but getting to see so many of my favorite bands while getting turnt with my best friends? Anytime. We were totally honored and would do it again in a heartbeat.
With so many of your contemporaries playing more and more of these larger festivals, how much is playing Riot Fest Chicago a kind of “Ghost of Festivals to come” experience for you, and what do you learn playing these giant festivals?
We were totally blown away when we got asked to play Riot Fest. There were zero expectations. It was definitely the biggest stage we’ve ever played to a big crowd of people we’ve never met before and I think we learned a lot about our comfort levels. It was a really different experience but honestly super inspiring. The biggest lessons we learned were “don’t be scared” “bring beer.” Our set time was so early that even the bars weren’t open.
This October you are returning to your proving grounds of the Fest, but with a lot more time, experience and fans under your belt. When returning, I imagine the band being like a bunch of kids going back to school after summer vacation. What are you going to be most proud of to show or tell all your friends?
We are incredibly proud of Teenage Retirement and we’re stoked to be able to play some new songs in Gainesville. Fest is a really magical weekend and I can’t wait to tell all my friends that despite the fact that they’re all idiots, we love them.
