5 writers, 5 questions, 1 band, hand-picked by MWA. Welcome to FIVE x FIVE. This week: Chicago-based art rock sextet, The Curls.
Congratulations on your first Pitchfork appearance! What went through your head when you received that email?
Honestly, I thought I was lucid dreaming for a second. Then I started babbling intelligent things like “what the fuck?” and “Holy fucking fuck”, running around my apartment naked, freaking the dogs out before I called my wife Jan (also in the band). It was pretty wild. A few months before we got the offer we had said to each other “We’re going to play Pitchfork by like 2020, baby.” We’ve always had high aspirations and expectations in this group. It feels good to be ahead of schedule.
What have you been doing to prepare? Is there a particular song you’re excited to play?
We are rehearsing more than we ever have, and by that I mean weekly. It’s necessary. We are preparing an 11-piece ensemble performance involving choreography, we like to utilize every aspect of each stage we play.
I might say I’m looking forward to playing the last song of our set so I can get past the nerve wracking part and try to relax. But also, half of the set are brand new tunes no one has really heard so it’s going to be a fun platform to premiere them.
Are you planning to release any new music once the pressure of preparing for a festival is over?
You’d think we’d wait but we actually had a new single along with another Curls “home movie” shot in Humboldt Park come out July 10.
And, we also have two super cool multimedia projects coming out post-festival. One of which we just wrapped with local DIY film auteurs New Trash and another we filmed with local psychonaut/spiritual leader Matthew Shelton aka Flex Your Love Muscles.
Who else are you excited to see at Pitchfork? There are a ton of great Chicago musicians booked this year!
Yes! The local lineup is overwhelming. Too many to talk about really, but we have a lot of love for what Nnamdi, Melkbelly, and Paul Cherry have been doing. Alex Cameron and Roy Molloy are my Australian gurus so I’m always jacked to see them. Chaka Khan and Open Mike Eagle too, wow!
Which limb do you plan on selling to afford the beer at Pitchfork?
Dude, we’re big time now, we keep our limbs and sip from fountains of free champagne and Illuminati brand cheese fondue.
Don’t miss The Curls at Pitchfork 2018! Catch them on Friday, July 20th, 1:00PM at the Green Stage. Tell ’em Midwest Action sent ya.