Spring Break
THE BEST DUDES IN TOWN
Surf-pop group Pumpkin bares all
Sally Tunmer
Issue date: 10/24/08 Section: Music
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Back in 2004, Leigh Aucoin and Jeff Penick, along with now honorary Savannah, Ga. based member, Chase Chauffe, laid down some beats and lyrics in between video game sessions in the small bayou town, Luling, La. What they didn't know was that they were planting the seeds of a pumpkin patch of sonic glee. Across the river, long-time roommates Mike Wilkinson and Alex Woodward were busy taking classes at Loyola and working on Force Ghosts, their recording project based on their alter egos from outer space. By some intergalactic intervention, the guys from opposite river banks found each other, and united they formed Pumpkin.
The foursome not only create a blend of 60s surf and psychedelic music, they used it as a soundtrack to their own homemade movies they incorporate on stage. Comprised of countless splices of cartoons, celebrities' faces and vintage-Atari style text and characters, the videos spell bind audiences and fuel high-energy performances.
Pumpkin explained the mystery behind their magic to The Wolf.
Wolf: How did Pumpkin come into being?
Jeff Penick: Pumpkin is Chase, Leigh and I's abstract creation. It started out because I, for one, wanted to get into recording.
Leigh Aucoin: We first recorded in late 2004. We would hang out and make goofy raps.
Wolf: So it was pretty spontaneous?
JP: Yeah, it was all improvisation. We had a couple songs about magic, cause we're all into cartoons and weird Japanese culture and magic. We had a song about magic tricks but then after a while it didn't go anywhere. We made a Myspace page and just let it sit. And then Chase left and Leigh and I thought it would be cool to have a band. And then we thought who would be the best dudes in town to join our force?
Mike Wilkinson: Let me ask you this, Jeff: Why are we the best dudes in town?
JP: Well, Alex wears some really sweet shades.
Alex Woodward: They're fake. I got them from Target.
JP: I've known Alex for a long time. He was always a cool guy and we're into the same movies and stuff and plus I knew he could play guitar really well. One time I heard him play a surf guitar part and I was like "woah." I knew Mike was a cool guy, and played guitar, too.
MW: Plus we had that Force Ghosts song.
AW: Yeah, as far as Mike and I getting involved, I remember this party at our apartment and Jeff and Leigh were there and we were showing them songs that Mike and I made. We kind of just messed around a lot making songs that we thought were really funny. So we thought, let's start a surf pop band.
JP: When we heard it [Force Ghosts] we just thought it was awesome so we said "Would it be cool if you guys like joined our band?" We're all into space. We're not like physics majors or anything.
MW: It's like the childhood idea of hanging out in space and flying around in space.
MW: Also, you and Leigh had the idea when we were talking about joining the band about the kind of shows you wanted to put on. Like having people playing video games and having all this weird shit. And that was just interesting to me because no one else was really doing that, plus we had to totally start from scratch.
AW: Yeah, there was no point of reference.
Wolf: So it's a multi media concept?
JP: Yeah, that's the idea. Multi media, grab attention in two ways. If you're watching a crazy video and you have music accompanying it, it's like art and music kind of moving the art along.
Wolf: How far back do you guys go?
AW: How Pumpkin formed is a good example of how Luling and New Orleans came together. There's two microcosms of two groups of people with the same sense of humor and our minds are on the same wavelength but we never met each other until later.
JP: Yeah, you kinda filter out people and eventually get to the people that are the same and you make the unification.
Wolf: How did you choose the name Pumpkin?
LA: It was just this solitary word that came into my mind.
JP: We used to be in a band called the No Good Flies and the only song we have now from that is "Crazy Bike Trick" so we carried that over because that was too good to let go.
Wolf: What's the story behind that song?
MW: Leigh and Chase were riding down the street and saw a kid do a crazy bike trick and rolled down the window and said "Dude that's an awesome trick, man!" and then they were like, let's write a song about that. And they did.
Wolf: Who is in charge of what with the song writing?
MW: Well Leigh, Chase and Jeff wrote all the original stuff but what we work on as a band mostly comes from one person's idea and then we all work on it together. Everything that we play we [Alex and Mike] write and then as far as structurally we almost always do that together, the four of us.
AW: We all have the same idea of what we want to do; short pop songs that are easy to get into. We like elements of surf rock, like early 60s surf records, we're all really into that - fast guitar and cool drums.
Wolf: How do the projected video clips in your live show work? How do you choose which clips you use?
AW: The Jefferson Parish Public Library VHS section.
MW: Someone will have an idea for a video, and we pretty much leave it up to that person to make it but we collect all the source material together.
LA: We just pick the most ridiculous thing we can find. We found this train video for kids - it was absolutely ridiculous. Sometimes we try to find something relevant to the song, or if it suits the feel of the band or if we can manipulate it to suit the feel.
Wolf: What's the future of Pumpkin? Any tours or albums in the future?
JP: I would like to do a cool vinyl pressing of a pizza and I'd like to have t shirts.
MW: We're going to do a recording of some sort and include something else like a comic book with us all in it.
LA: Oh, the toils of being in your twenties and balancing daily life with what you like to do. I'm totally positive about this band, though. I can see us still being a band years from now.
Wolf: What are some of your favorite local bands?
LA: Spring Break Shark Attack. They're from Baton Rouge and they have a really good take on surf music. Also Maddie Ruthless. She has her own take on ska and institutes folk music. You don't really see that. She's very innovative.
AW: Rougarou and Belong.
Wolf: If you could describe Pumpkin in one word what would it be?
JP: Pumpkin.
MW: Dudes.
LA: Fun.
Wolf: What are your top influences?
AW: As far as figuring out how the video was going to work, Dan Deacon was a big influence. I like to gloat about how we can play different styles but we're still Pumpkin.
JP: If you told us to play a country-western song we could probably pull it off but it would still have our own style.
Wolf: If you could be any mystical creature what would it be?
JP: I'd be Falcor The Luck Dragon.
MW: Dog Man.
AW: A Rainbow Rider.
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