The Pack A.D. Interview: SXSW 2010

Drummer Maya Miller and guitarist/vocalist Becky Black formed the Pack A.D. after being in another band together. Discovering they liked playing music together, they became the Pack, however after a hip-hop group with the same name had their Myspace page taken down over and over again, this duo decided to add A.D. to the end of the Pack, therefore becoming the Pack A.D.

Miller recently talked to Spinner to talk about the band's upcoming stint at SXSW and their new LP, 'We Kill Computers,' which will be released in April.

How did The Pack A.D. come together?

Well we were in another band with a couple other people four years ago and the band didn't really work out. But through [that experience] we discovered that we like to play the same stuff so we just carried on and became this band.

How long have you been together as this band?

If you take it from when we actually started practicing and stuff, that'd probably be coming up on three years now.

How do write the music with just two members as opposed to a larger band?

Actually, I find it a lot easier because there's less people to argue with. It's just much easier to come up with music, especially being on the same page. Usually when we get together, we jam things out. We usually form songs based on something I'm doing on the drums or Becky has a guitar riff and then we come up with it. The beauty of being two people is that we can come up with a whole mess of songs and then get rid of them just as quickly. There's a huge investment when you have a larger band and everyone's got their part. They worked it out and they practice the song forever. Then there's always someone who's loath to get rid of it if someone else thinks it sucks just because they worked so long on it. Everything is a lot simpler when there's only one other person to deal with.

How would you describe your sound in your own words?

At this point I would describe it as garage rock, pop punk, a tiny bit of blues. It kind of went that way. When we first started, it was definitely a lot more blues rock and then we've just been moving away from that. With this album coming out, we've definitely steered off into a more rocky, poppy sort of direction. I like to think that the album starts off all kinds of pop and it gets weird and then it goes rock and then it gets weird again. So yeah, a bunch of things.

How did you come with the band name?

That came up in simpler times because we actually named ourselves the Pack first, not even thinking for a second that there would be another band called the Pack. There was, and it's a rap group from Sacramento. So our Myspace got deleted a number of times. We were like, "Oh, what's going on?" Then we realized it was them so we added the A.D. on there so that we could keep the Pack part because we already established ourselves in Vancouver. So that is the name. Trust me when we were thinking of what to do, we try to come up with a completely different name and it just didn't work out so hence the adding on of the A.D.

Does the A.D. have any significance?

It apparently means "after death." It could mean "after dessert."

What are your musical influences?

Let's see. At this point, basically a lot of electronic music. It's really hard to answer the influences question because I think that a lot of the music might come up with influences you're listening to or can be really subtle influences. To me, maybe System of a Down too. I have some pretty weird influences going on.

What would you say is your musical guilty pleasure?

Rihanna. Britney Spears. Like a good pop song that's mastered so efficiently, technically. I mean the production work on Britney's music alone is amazing.

What would you say is in your SXSW festival survival kit?

Survival tactics. Well one, try not to bring the van anywhere because you can't drive anywhere. That's impossible. The other one would be that we make it a point of trying to get to all of the free things. For instance, last year we spent an enormous amount of time in the Rock Band room because they had free booze and food all day long and you could play Rock Band. I think that was a highlight of the festival for us. So anything you can do for free.

What would you say is your biggest vice?

If we were to be politically correct, my biggest vice would be smoking. Nerds ropes. What would be another vice? Breakfast eggs. Eggs could be called a vice.

Mine's coffee.

Coffee? Yeah, I love coffee actually too. I'd have to add that too. That and like, crappy light beer.

Who did you record the new album, 'We Will Computers' with and what can fans expect from this album?

Well we recorded at Hive Studios in Vancouver with Jesse Gander and that went really great. Then we had it mastered actually by Jim Diamond who has recorded Dirtbombs and Electric 6. It was a really good experience. I think fans could expect a much louder, liver feeling album. It's really a lot more rock pop, less of the blues so hopefully everyone will get it. That's a natural progression that we're making but definitely it's a pretty loud album but loud in a good way. Loud in a have-a-drink kind of way.

Which do you prefer: Beatles or the Rolling Stones?

Oh, Rolling Stones. But old Rolling Stones. Not in an old sense that they're old right now but I mean '60s Rolling Stones. Not Rolling Stones now.


Sarah Vasquez is a contributor from Seed.com. Learn how you can contribute here.