Interview // PAINT

Photo credit: Matthew Correia

Taking his four-track song-sketches from the Calico Review sessions with his band Allah-Las, Pedrum Siadatian honed his violet-tinted, worn-in acid pop songwriting that would become his debut, self-titled LP as PAINT.

The first PAINT single was released this fall. How long have you been working on these songs? What made November 2018 the right time to push the record into the world?

I wrote the record over the course of 2015-2016 and then recorded it with Frank Maston at the end of 2016. It took some time to sort out label stuff and then November 2018 was just the date that fit with the release schedule.

The new record, your first as PAINT, is self-titled. It seems that some bands withhold the self-titled for a special time or career-defining moment in the band's timeline. What made the first release worthy or fitting of the self-titled moniker?

I didn't think too much about that. It was a natural decision.

For the sound quality of the new record the final cuts have a granular and demo-tape texture. Was the lo-fi sound part of the original intent and vision for the new record?

Yeah, I wanted to do something just a step above my cassette demos in terms of fidelity.

How has visual art and videography impacted the project? Were the visual elements of the record developed simultaneously or did one evoke another in terms of audio and visual creation?

I knew that I wanted a VHS aesthetic for the videos before I had settled on album art and all that. All the other visual components materialized well after recording was done.

How is songwriting as PAINT different than working with Allah-Las? Is there any overlap within the two universes?

It's different in the sense that I can write what I want and not have to put it through the democratic filter of the group. It's much easier to be spontaneous with recording and keep idiosyncrasies as the “dictator."

With Allah-Las, there's a strong connection to Los Angeles and the Pacific Ocean in the band's music and aesthetic. What's your finest memory from your time in Los Angeles? Which place in the city gives you the most creative inspiration to write new material?

I don't know if I can cull my finest memory here. I form a lot of ideas just getting stoned, driving around, & people watching-- which has resulted in a couple fender benders. Overall, I'm always trying to keep the antennas up.

How long have you lived in Los Angeles? In your time there, how have you seen the city change for artists and musicians?

I moved from Utah about 16 years ago. It's changed in the sense that so many bands and musicians have moved here. There's more music here now than ever it seems.

You'll be playing a handful of US dates followed by a string of shows in Europe to finish out the year. Who will make up the live band? How did those folks get involved with the project?

It'll be Nick Murray (White Fence , Oh Sees) on drums, Jackson Macintosh (Tops, Sheer Agony) on guitar, Frank Maston (Maston, Jacco Gardner) on keys/flute and Spencer Dunham (Allah-Las, Gortopia) on bass.

I just wanted to get a group of friends together who jibe together personality-wise and can improvise and play really well.

Purchase PAINT’s debut self-titled record out now via Mexican Summer. Find PAINT’s upcoming tour dates here.