The Van Pelt


An interview with The Van Pelt (September 1997).


*question one* Can you give us a brief history of The Van Pelt?

Chris: It's difficult to say exactly when The Van Pelt began. The force that eventually became The Van Pelt began in the basement of a New York University dorm in the Spring of '93. Charles Maggio (ex-Rorschach singer and owner of Gern Blandsten Records) once co-owned a non-profit record store in NYC which I worked at on Tuesdays. I met this guy named Barry through working there who said that he needed a bass player for his band. At this point Native Nod [Chris' other band] was on shaky ground and I was living away from the rest of the band anyhow, so I said I'd do it. Our first drummer quit the band after our first practice because she said she was bored. She later went on to date Eric from Art Monk Construction (record label), but apparently found him boring too.
When the school year resumed in the Fall of '93 we tried again with this long-hair I had met at a Native Nod show on drums named Neil. Unfortunately, what would become the Saga of The Van Pelt, as one problem is resolved a new one arrives. Barry and Dave (the other guitar player) couldn't write any songs so Barry and I switched instruments. Barry bought a bass and I hooked up my acoustic guitar to a Rat pedal. It wasn't until next Fall (1994) that I had secured my own guitar and we began to take this band seriously. It's also around that time that we settled on a name.
We recorded a demo at WGNS Studios and put out a split 7" with the now defunct Radio To Saturn from New England. My younger brother (from Native Nod) played drums in that band with the Amish guitar player from Rorschach. Unfortunately, Barry and Dave were no longer getting along. It's hard to say who was at fault, either way one of them had to go because they were driving Neil and I crazy. Barry went and Toko came. We did a short tour and recorded our first full length with this line-up.
It was at this point that we started getting major label propositions. They never got as high as $3 million (as rumoured), but I must say that over the course of the past couple of years we got around 20 offers. Woopdedoo! That doesn't mean much being a New York band. Those leeches have the city saturated. The only way it affected us was that they were the only offers we were getting. I'll get back to my story now and you'll see how this problem resolved itself.
After a scuffle with our roadie on our first Summer tour, Dave threatened to quit the band. This all happened before our first show. To Neil and I that meant Dave was out anyhow. We knew he wouldn't be able to deal with the pressure ahead if something so small like this could push him to call it all quits. We recorded "Stealing..." with him because we wanted this band to be documented and then we broke up. This is when Toko joined Blonde Redhead.
Two or three months of sitting around after the break-up, Neil and I decided that a band that he and I are almost entirely responsible for shouldn't have to break-up as the result of some irrelevant incendiaries. We tried playing as a three piece for one show with this kid named Todd Chandler on bass but it just didn't work. That's when we stole Brian and Sean from their (great) band, The Cathode Ray. The Cathode Ray got themselves stuck in some sort of funk and, for one reason or another, froze. Once Charles (Maggio) was sure that we were serious again he released our first full length. Then we toured the States and recorded our second full length, "Sultans...", with that line-up. Sean (who we call Chorn) then left to follow his girlfriend out to school in California. Enter once again, Toko! And that's that.

*question two* The bands that you have all been previously involved with were or have since been championed by a lot of fanzines and are often used as reference points to describe the sound of new bands. Did you feel at the time that you were making a difference to the hardcore scene?

Chris: Native Nod played a total of 15 shows in our existence. We were slow moving because we had high school concerns and then I was in college during our last year and it became even more difficult. So no, we had no idea that word of mouth alone could carry us so far. To this day it still amazes me. I see so many incredible bands with many more releases than we had go nowhere. Maybe the power of the buzz just isn't what it used to be - or maybe the bands carried by it these days are just worse.

*question three* Toko, why when Blonde Redhead were just starting to really break big did you decide to leave for The Van Pelt?

Toko: My task in Blonde Redhead was done. I got what I needed out of it. I should clarify though, I didn't leave for The Van Pelt - Sean left TVP after I had already left BRH. I was preparing to go to art school in Baltimore when I found out that Sean was leaving TVP. I weighed my options and decided that I would rather play in The Van Pelt.

*question four* Are any of you in other bands just now or is all your time devoted to Van Pelt duties?

Chris: Brian now plays guitar in Sean's new band. Things didn't work out for Sean on the Left Coast so he came back and now sings and plays guitar in the Sean P. Greene Band. He'll be playing bass in the new Chisel band that's touring with us in Europe. Danny (my younger Brother from Native Nod) will be playing drums in that band. I think they'll be called The Sin-Eaters.

*question five* There is a big difference in musical style between the first and second albums. Did your influences change during this time or was it just a natural progression?

Chris: Though the music is different on both albums I hope you can see that it's still the same band. There are a few factors that brought about the change. First of all, only half the members on the second played on the first. Secondly, NYC got 116 feet of snow the winter I was writing most of those songs. That will naturally slow you down. Also, who wants to make the same record twice? How many Jawbreaker albums do you really need to be content? Changing for change's sake isn't necessarily a contrived event.

*question six* You will be touring in Europe soon. Have any of you been here before?

Chris: Toko has been there with BRH. She has constant visa problems in the U.S. too. Once she had to fly to London for a weekend to switch her visa status. I don't think the other guys have been. I went to Lubeck, Deutschland in 1990 for a month. I was studying German in school and I had some friends there so I thought it might be a good chance to perfect my German. Unfortunately, the Germans thought it would be a good chance to perfect their English by talking to me. I spoke to them in my poor German, they spoke to me in their poor English, and we both wound up ruining each other's ability to communicate.

*question seven* Finally, what exactly was the van pelted with?

Chris: We were pelted hardest with the "EMO" thing. In the age of plastic, culturally regressive Jon Spencer Blues bands there's a lot worse things one could be called. My heart's deeply entrenched in the American cause, too bad you didn't give me more chances to shit talk our multitude of cultural deformers! Ain't no half-steppin' - see you soon.