Pithy Sweet’s debut EP, Hole In My Pocket, is a cohesive trip down a psychedelic road, which is something of a contradiction until you realize singer/guitarist Benjamin Kent, bassist Evan Novorot and drummer/singer Robert Burrison have been playing together since they were in high school. The friends formed Pithy Sweet approximately two years ago and are playing songs from Hole at a record-release party at Fullerton’s Continental Room.
OC Weekly: Your bio says you don’t pretend to be something you’re not. So what are you? More specifically, what aren’t you?
Evan Novorot: We like to write music you can dance to, have a beer to and blow off steam to. I’d like to think, without sounding pretentious, that our music can create a mood. Above all, our music is really just the music we want to play, and if anyone enjoys it, that’s just gravy.
You’ve been playing together in some incarnation since you were 16. How do you know when one project is finished and the next one has begun when you are playing with the same members?
This is the first time it has only been the three of us. We don’t mean to, but we kind of force the other members out. I guess we’re just a collective pain in the ass.
I know what the word “pithy” means. And I know what the word “sweet” means. But I can’t seem to figure out what “pithy sweet” means.
Short and sweet, just like this answer.
Most bands who take hiatuses are really famous, and their fans know a hiatus really means they’re never getting back together. But you aren’t famous (yet), and you actually did get back together. What gives?
Ben really wanted to move to Big Sur for a few months to work and probably do hippie stuff. When you’ve played together as long and as much as we have, you can do this. It didn’t take more than a few notes to lock back in with one another. We told Ben we would be waiting for him to return. Not to mention, we played some amazing Big Sur shows.
You are the only band on the planet with a more complete page on MySpace than on Facebook. Keepin’ it old-school?
“Complete” is a relative term. Both our MySpace and Facebook pages look like absolute hell. The only difference is the MySpace is slightly less offensive to the eyes. I really wish I could say we were “keepin’ it real,” but the fact is we don’t bother to update it all that much. Until recently, we haven’t had any new or decent tracks to upload, so it really killed our motivation to keep logging in. You can change the color of the background only so many times.
Speaking of MySpace, doesn’t that new layout suck?
I can’t believe they found a way to make that site even less sensible. Good thing I log in once every three months.
Have you ever taken a bunch of mushrooms, watched the fireworks from Disneyland and thought the world was ending?
From our vantage point, you can’t see the fireworks, only hear them. Let me tell you, you don’t need drugs to make it sound like Anaheim is ground zero for the apocalypse.
What’s the most uncool thing about you personally and as a band?
Ben still has the wallpaper he had when he was a child; I think it’s dinosaur-themed. Robert still needs a glass of milk to fall asleep every night, and I can’t seem to go one week without getting the urge to pull out my old Legos. Aside from the way we dress, talk, think and act, I’d say we’re a pretty cool band.
Final question: Is Bristol Palin a MILF?
She’ll do until Christine O’Donnell has a child. I like my MILFs to be of MILF-y age.
Pithy Sweet perform with California Condors, Moonshine and the Drugs, and Drums & Color at the Continental Room, 115 W. Santa Fe Ave., Fullerton, (714) 469-1879. Thurs., Jan. 13, 9 p.m. Free. 21+.
Hey, Orange County/Long Beach musicians and bands! Mail your music, contact info, high-res photos and impending show dates for possible review to: Locals Only, OC Weekly, 2975 Red Hill Ave., Ste 150, Costa Mesa, CA 92626. Or e-mail your link to:
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This column appeared in print as “Get Pithy.”
