Passion Pit

Passion Pit

Passion Pit performing with Matt and Kim at The Complex in Salt Lake City, Utah in 2013
Background information
Origin Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States
Genres
Years active 2007–present
Labels
Associated acts
Website www.passionpitmusic.com
Members Michael Angelakos[1]

Passion Pit is an American indietronica band from Cambridge, Massachusetts, formed in 2007.[2] The band consists solely of Michael Angelakos[1] (lead vocals/keyboards), joined live by Chris Hartz (drums), Aaron Harrison Folb (bass/synthesizers), Giuliano Pizzulo (guitar/synthesizers), and Ray Suen (guitar/synthesizers).

The band released their debut studio album Manners in 2009. A second studio album entitled Gossamer was released in 2012, which debuted at No. 4 on Billboard 200 and gave the band their first top 10 album. Kindred, the band's third studio album, was released on April 17, 2015 and was preceded by lead singles "Lifted Up (1985)", "Where the Sky Hangs", and "Until We Can't (Let's Go)".

History

Name

The band culled their name from the Variety Slanguage Dictionary, a glossary of Variety's frequently used slang, which was provided by the Hollywood insider publication to help not-so-savvy readers decipher its content. The magazine used the term to refer to drive-in theatres, because of their privacy and romantic allure for teenagers.[3][4][5]

Formation

The first Passion Pit songs, which would later become the Chunk of Change EP, were written by Angelakos at Emerson College as a belated Valentine's Day gift to his then-girlfriend. At first, he wrote and performed all his material alone using a laptop. After one of his solo shows in the Boston area, Ian Hultquist, who was attending Berklee College of Music at the time, approached Angelakos and expressed interest in creating and playing music collaboratively.[4] They formed a group that consisted of Angelakos, Hultquist, Ayad Al Adhamy, Thom Plasse (bass), and Adam Lavinsky (drums). The band spent a considerable amount of time trying to flesh out a collaborative format and structure that would work best for them. Jeff Apruzzese and Nate Donmoyer joined the band shortly after they signed to Frenchkiss in 2008, replacing Plasse and Lavinsky, respectively.[5][6] In 2012, Adhamy was replaced by Xander Singh.

2007–09: Chunk of Change

The band's debut EP, Chunk of Change, was released on September 16, 2008.[7] The first four tracks were those that Angelakos had written as a gift for his girlfriend, which had already become popular throughout the Emerson College campus, where Angelakos was attending classes at the time, and had been passing out his own, self-produced copies. Two tracks, "Sleepyhead" and "Better Things", were added for the commercial release of the EP.[8] The same year of their debut EP's release, the band was chosen as "Best New Local Act in 2008" in the WFNX/Boston Phoenix best music poll.[7]

Passion Pit in 2008

The first and only single to be released from the EP, "Sleepyhead", received a good deal of exposure through its use in numerous media campaigns and advertisements, while the video for the song, directed by The Wilderness, was included on Pitchfork's Top 40 Music Videos of 2008 list.[9] "Sleepyhead" was also used for the release trailer for the video game "Little Big Planet 2". The song contains samples of "Óró Mo Bháidín" by Irish singer and harpist Mary O'Hara.[10]

Other songs from the EP received some exposure as well. "Cuddle Fuddle" was featured in E4's second series of The Inbetweeners and "I've Got Your Number" was used in an advertisement for the cash card from O2, Money in the UK.

2009–11: Manners

The band's first full-length studio album, Manners, was released on May 18, 2009 in the UK and May 19, 2009 in the United States and Canada.[11] In celebration, the band played their record release party on the 18th in New York City on a Rocks Off boat cruise.[12] In a preview article, ClashMusic.com commented that the album "has every chance to rank as one of the year's best" and that "it reveals additional nuances with each visit: a sure-fire sign of an album with true longevity".[13]

In order to obtain a specific background vocal accompaniment the band was looking for on Manners, Passion Pit enlisted the help of the PS22 chorus, who recorded vocals in-studio for three of the album's songs: "The Reeling", "Little Secrets", and "Let Your Love Grow Tall."[14] "The Reeling" was the first single to be released from the album and found success on the Billboard Alternative Songs chart in the fall of 2009, where it peaked at number 34 in October[15] and "Little Secrets" was the third single to be released and had success on the chart as well, topping out at number 39. "Let Your Love Grow Tall" was never released as a single but had some exposure being used in the sixteenth episode of the fourth season of the TV series Ugly Betty.

The album's second single, "To Kingdom Come", was used in the Rhapsody commercial for its iPhone application.

"Sleepyhead" was the only track from Chunk of Change to be included on the album and was made available from iTunes for free as a discovery download in 2009. The song continued to receive additional exposure through its appearances in advertisements. It was used in a season 3 episode of the teen-drama, Skins and most recently in the debut trailer for LittleBigPlanet 2,[16] which led to the band's increased popularity amongst fans and players of the game, who eventually created an in-game instrumental version of the song to listen to in the first game. When the sequel was released, it came with the song's actual instrumental version used in the trailer.

The song "Moth's Wings" was used in the fourth episode of the third season of the CW teen drama Gossip Girl and in the closing credits of episode 36 of HBO's Big Love. It appeared in the FIFA 10 video game and was featured in the film Life As We Know It, starring Katherine Heigl and Josh Duhamel. Additionally, the track has been used as a background theme for Sky Sports coverage of the UEFA Champions League and as the music for a dance routine in Episode 5, Season 8, of the US television show So You Think You Can Dance, which received a standing ovation from the show's judges. It was also featured in two episodes of MTV's show Awkward (the pilot and Season 3 finale, respectively).[17]

In June 2009, the band performed at the Glastonbury Festival 2009 in Pilton, Somerset, England, where they dedicated the final song of their set to festival headliner Jarvis Cocker, who was to perform on the same stage later that same day.[18] Afterwards, NME, while favorably reviewing Passion Pit's performance, incorrectly reported the band as having dedicated their entire set to Cocker.[19]

On April 13, 2010, the band reissued Manners in a deluxe edition format which contained new artwork and three additional tracks: stripped-down versions of "Sleepyhead" and "Moth's Wings" and a cover of The Cranberries' song "Dreams". The deluxe release coincided with the extension of their North American headlining tour.[20]

The band released another cover in June 2010, this time offering up their take on The Smashing Pumpkins hit song "Tonight, Tonight" as part of a promotion with Levi's called "Pioneer Sessions".[21]

In September 2010, Passion Pit toured with the English band Muse as their opening act for eight shows during their fall tour through parts of the US.[22] Following those supporting shows, the band headlined the Campus Consciousness Tour, produced by Pretty Polly Productions in collaboration with Guster guitarist Adam Gardner's non-profit organization Reverb. The two-week tour featured stops at twelve college campuses and, in addition to the music, focused on promoting eco-friendly lifestyles. Opening acts for the tour included Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears and K. Flay.

2011–13: Gossamer

In an August 2010 interview with NME, Angelakos stated that work had already begun on the follow-up to Manners and that the band intended to release the album in the spring of 2011.[23] He then said that it will be released early in 2012, and finally that the release date was July 24.

Days after they have been presented in the Lollapalooza festival in Brazil in March 2012,[24] they announced the title of the album, Gossamer, and that it would be released on July 24, 2012.

On May 7, 2012, the first track from Gossamer was released, called "Take a Walk".[25]

On June 12, 2012, the second track from Gossamer was released, called "I'll Be Alright". The track leaked early on June 11 and was released as an NME premiere on June 8.[26]

On July 9, 2012, a third track from Gossamer, called "Constant Conversations", was reviewed and featured as "best new track" by Pitchfork. It was released with the review as streamed content.[27] Gossamer was officially released on July 20, 2012.

On July 16, 2012, Angelakos posted on the Passion Pit website that the band has cancelled the remaining July tour dates and suspended the tour in order for Angelakos to seek ongoing treatment for bipolar disorder.[28] A Rolling Stone interview stated that Angelakos was diagnosed at 17, undergoing therapy, hospital care, and taking medication ever since.[29]

On October 13, 2012, they performed on Saturday Night Live. They played "Take a Walk" and "Carried Away."[30]

On July 15, 2013, it was announced publicly that the band would be headlining the first ever "Coastline Festival" in Tampa, Florida and West Palm Beach, Florida with Two Door Cinema Club and Matt & Kim. Also included in the lineup are groups such as Fitz and The Tantrums, The Joy Formidable, The Neighbourhood, Capital Cities, The Mowgli's, Blondfire, Surfer Blood, The Royal Concept and St. Lucia.

On September 24, 2013, Passion Pit released the Constant Conversations EP, originally released through Spotify, but was then made available on iTunes. The EP featured an alternative version of Constant Conversations from their 2012 album Gossamer, in addition to a formerly unreleased B-side called "Ruin Your Day". The final track on the EP was a remix of "Carried Away" by Dillon Francis.[31]

2014–2016: Kindred

Passion Pit released Kindred on April 21, 2015 through Columbia Records.[32][33] On June 24, 2014, Angelakos announced through Twitter that Passion Pit are working on their as yet to be titled third studio album.[34] Angelakos confirmed that the third album would in fact be released in 2015. In anticipation of the release, the band posted several coded images to various social networking platforms. Soon after the release of the Morse code image, the official Passion Pit website, which had been under construction since the end of the 2013 tour, came back up. It is now known as "KindredTheAlbum.com". The website includes a short 13 second clip titled "That flickering light's just a flame" and a picture of Angelakos jumping in the air. On February 16, 2015, the band uploaded the lead single for the new album "Lifted Up (1985)" onto its YouTube channel. The band then followed up by releasing the names of the rest of the tracks and by announcing the album would be available for pre-order the following day (Tuesday February 17, 2015). The third track, titled "Where the Sky Hangs" was also released on the Passion Pit Vevo in the early hours of February 17, 2015. Following the release of their new album, Passion Pit had announced a tour across the United States, part of Canada, and even a stop in Tokyo, Japan. Angelakos continued to tour throughout the year until July he had slowed down due bronchitis and pneumonia. However, since then he has continued to tour and is expected to end in October.

2017: Tremendous Sea of Love

During February and March 2017, several new Passion Pit songs were uploaded on YouTube on the account The Wishart Group (from the name of a project started by Michael Angelakos and dedicated to supporting musicians by providing them with legal, educational and healthcare services, with a focus on mental health, a topic on which Angelakos has been especially forthcoming), foreshadowing a fourth album for 2017. Because all the videos for those new songs have the same background photo (a woman wearing a white dress, located in the middle of the sea, turning around as though she had sensed she was being secretly observed from behind), it is suggested that said picture will be the front cover of the fourth album, tentatively titled Tremendous Sea of Love. The songs have since been taken down, but Angelakos announced that he will give a downloadable copy of the album for free to anyone who retweets neuroscientist Michael F. Wells' tweet on the importance of science and research.[35]

On July 11, an official release for the album was announced for July 28 on all streaming services. [36]

Awards and accolades

In 2012, listeners of Australia's alternative radio station Triple J Hottest 100 voted "Take a Walk" as number 46 of the hottest 100 tracks of the year.[37]

Band members

Current members

Live members

Former live members

Discography

References

  1. 1 2 "Passion Pit Interview". YouTube.com. 2014-05-24. Retrieved 2015-04-24.
  2. ↑ Ambrose, Anthony (December 2, 2009). "Phoenix / Passion Pit / Jack's Mannequin / Manchester Orchestra @ NYC 12/2". inTuneMusic. Retrieved December 5, 2009.
  3. ↑ "Slanguage Dictionary". Variety.com. Retrieved 2015-04-24.
  4. 1 2 "Passion Pit: Pop Not Porno". The Agit Reader. Retrieved 4 December 2010.
  5. 1 2 "An interview with Passion Pit's Nate Donmoyer and Ian Hultquist". The California Aggie. 19 April 2010. Retrieved 5 January 2011.
  6. ↑ "Kind of incredible". Southern Maryland Newspapers Online. 4 September 2009. Retrieved 5 January 2011.
  7. 1 2 "Chunk of Change release date". Prefix Magazine. 8 September 2008. Retrieved 15 December 2010.
  8. ↑ "Passion Pit". Frenchkiss Records. Retrieved 2010-06-30.
  9. ↑ "Pitchfork Staff Lists: Top 40 Music Videos of 2008". Pitchfork Media. 8 December 2008. Retrieved 29 December 2010.
  10. ↑ "Sleepyhead Songfacts". Songfacts. Retrieved 4 December 2010.
  11. ↑ "Passion Pit". MySpace. Retrieved 2010-06-30.
  12. ↑ "Passion Pit's Boat Show: We Wanted To Celebrate In A Different Way". MTV. 19 May 2009. Retrieved 30 June 2010.
  13. ↑ Diver, Mike (2009-03-26). "Passion Pit Album Preview". Clash. Retrieved 2010-06-30.
  14. ↑ "The PS22 Chorus Records Vocals for Columbia-signed Passion Pit's Full-length CD Debut!". PS22 chorus. 18 January 2009. Retrieved 10 December 2010.
  15. ↑ "Passion Pit Chart History". Billboard. Retrieved 10 December 2010.
  16. ↑ "LittleBigPlanet2 trailer". GameTrailers. Retrieved 10 December 2010.
  17. ↑ Archived September 3, 2011, at the Wayback Machine.
  18. ↑ "merry england". Passion Pit. 30 June 2009. Retrieved 28 December 2010.
  19. ↑ "Passion Pit dedicate Glastonbury set to Jarvis Cocker". NME. 27 June 2009. Retrieved 28 December 2010.
  20. ↑ "Passion Pit announce deluxe album release and expanded North American tour details". NME. 17 March 2010. Retrieved 2 January 2011.
  21. ↑ "Passion Pit Covers Smashing Pumpkins For Levi's Pioneer Sessions". Under the Radar. 23 June 2010. Retrieved 10 December 2010.
  22. ↑ "Passion Pit with Muse On Sale Tomorrow". Passion Pit. 23 April 2010. Retrieved 10 December 2010.
  23. ↑ "Passion Pit working on 'fantastic, beautiful, gorgeous new record' – video". NME. 23 August 2010. Retrieved 2 January 2011.
  24. ↑ Mendes, Letícia (29 March 2013). "Em sua 2ª vez no Brasil, Passion Pit tenta conquistar público do Killers". G1 (in Portuguese). Globo.com. Retrieved 29 July 2013.
  25. ↑ "[LISTEN] Passion Pit - Take A Walk". Indieshuffle.com. 2012-05-07. Retrieved 2015-04-24.
  26. ↑ "[LISTEN] Passion Pit - I'll Be Alright". Indieshuffle.com. 2012-06-11. Retrieved 2015-04-24.
  27. ↑ "Passion Pit: "Constant Conversations" | Tracks". Pitchfork. 2012-07-09. Retrieved 2012-08-17.
  28. ↑ Murphy, Chris (16 July 2012). "Passion Pit Tour: Performances Canceled, Lead Singer 'Improving Mental Health'". Huffington Post. Retrieved 6 December 2012.
  29. ↑ Hyman, Dan. "Passion Pit Singer on Battling Mental Illness and Taking New Songs on the Road". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 6 December 2012.
  30. ↑ "Passion Pit Get 'Carried Away' on 'SNL'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved October 20, 2012.
  31. ↑ "Constant Conversations EP". Passion Pit. Retrieved September 24, 2013.
  32. ↑ Gordon, Jeremy. "Passion Pit Detail New Album Kindred, Share "Lifted Up (1985)"". Pitchfork. Retrieved 18 February 2015.
  33. ↑ Kreps, Daniel. "Passion Pit Detail New Album 'Kindred,' Share First Single 'Lifted Up (1985)'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 18 February 2015.
  34. ↑
  35. ↑ Gaca, Anna. "If You Retweet Passion Pit to Support Science, You’ll Also Get Their Album for Free". Spin. Retrieved March 24, 2017.
  36. ↑ "Passion Pit Announces Tremendous Sea of Love Official Release". Pitchfork. July 11, 2017. Retrieved July 12, 2017.
  37. ↑ "Hottest 100 - 2012; triple j". abc.net.au. Retrieved 2013-04-19.
  38. ↑ Michael Marotta (2014-10-28). "Talking A Walk: Passion Pit founding guitarist Ian Hultquist announces departure from the band". Vanyaland.com. Retrieved 2015-04-24.
  39. ↑ Kevin Bronson (2015-01-06). "Ex-Passion Pit keyboardist Xander Singh dissects all in podcast series 'Teach Xander About Music'". Buzzbands.la. Retrieved 2015-04-24.
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