Interview: Push to Talk

Personally speaking, I tend to avoid any band that reeks of obvious "emo" tendencies. It's just not my thing, and besides, most bands of that genre reek of mediocrity. But that's not to suggest that nothing good can come from a band aping the trends of the day. It's what you do with the sound of the genre that makes or breaks you. Such is the case of San Francisco's Push to Talk, who just released their debut record on Doghouse. Though this young band might seem to play that "emo" music, their music contains a smart, literate pop underbelly that's downright addictive. We're talking Joe Jackson smart. We're talking Andy Partridge smart.

Seriously, Push to Talk really is that good. Thanks in part to the slick, radio-friendly (and this is not a BAD THING, friends) production of Tim O'Heir (whom you might remember from such productions as Belly, Dinosaur Jr, Sebadoh, and Folk Implosion) this young band's debut is actually quite impressive. Sure, one or two moments are slightly winsome, but it's to their credit that they never become too whiney or too emotionally indulgent or too teen angsty or too emo cliché, and besides, very few records are 100% perfect. I've listened to this record pretty much on a daily basis, and it never lets me down. This is a wonderful record that any band would be proud to make; that it's a debut makes it even more impressive.


Bass player Nate Higley took a moment to tell us about…

...how Push to Talk became Push to Talk

We basically all knew each other from various bands in the Bay Area punk scene growing up, and eventually after we attempted some college (Brett and Nate) and some of us graduated from college (Arjun and Peter), we decided that we would be best suited for the rock n roll.

...emo in general, being considered an emo band, and what emo means to thee…

I don't necessarily know what "emo" means anymore, I know that growing up we all listened to bands like the Get-Up Kids and Jawbreaker, bands that wrote very personal songs that many people have different conceptions of, but as far as "emotions" go, I guess people should listen to the record and decide for themselves what we're trying to convey through our songs.

...bands that influence you and bands you love…

Personally, I'm influenced by a lot of old r&b/soul/country from the 60's, but as a band, we pretty much run the gamut on influences that range from the noisier stuff like Blonde Redhead or the French Kicks to traditional pop like Nada Surf or Ben Folds.

...your contemporaries…

We come from an amazing scene in the Bay area and are proud to have good friends/influences like Audrye Sessions, Street to Nowhere, Dear Kerosene, and The Botticellis...

...working with Tim O'Heir…

Tim was an absolute life saver for us last summer. He was a pleasure to work with and far more insightful and hands-on than we expected from a producer. He basically made us work our asses off while not at all compromising our songs or sound as a live band.

...the touring life and playing live…

Playing live is what we live for. There is no substitute for that feeling, unless of course the van breaks or blows up (July 4th01- RIP OTTO), in which case we can always get that feeling from a couple 12packs. But seriously, this band has only a couple months of collective touring under its belt, so only time will tell how those things get sorted out...only death and taxes are for certain!

...your goals as artists, as a band, and what you think is Push to Talk's ultimate mission

Try and tour a whole lot, go to new places, meet new people, make some records that hopefully have the same impact on fans that our predecessors had on us.