Before gearing up for their extensive tour kicking off in San Diego, we got a chance to chat with Canadian pop-punk band PUP’s drummer Zack Mykula about the songwriting behind their excellent Morbid Stuff, touring, and their beloved Toronto Raptors.
ListenSD: First off let me say that I am completely obsessed with Morbid Stuff and am super stoked to see you guys here in San Diego!
ZM: Thanks, really appreciate it.
ListenSD: Speaking of Morbid Stuff, can you describe a bit what the songwriting was like and if it was any different from your previous records?
ZM: The process was overall similar to our other records with Stefan and Nestor bringing in stuff and all of us then working with that adding our idea to make cohesive songs. The main difference this time was that we had time to perfect everything which really allowed us to be creative.
ListenSD: There is a noticeable leap from the heavier more raw sound in The Dream is Over to a more poppy hook driven sound on Morbid Stuff. What drove that transition?
ZM: It was a conscious effort at becoming better songwriters, we always strive to write great pop songs that people can relate to while having our own take on what that means. I think the resulting sound comes from Stefan growing as a songwriter and the band evolving as a result.
ListenSD: One of my favorite songs on the record is Full Blown Meltdown, but it kind of comes out of left field with its sound. How did that make its way onto the record?
ZM: That song is a result of us going full PUP, we wanted to make something that was weird and jarring. We knew that it was not necessarily going to fit with the rest of the album’s sound and be an outlier, but we wanted to show that we have a varied sound.
ListenSD: With touring so much, how do you keep things interesting?
ZM: We love playing shows and seeing the fan reaction especially when we have new music so that helps keep things fresh, other than that we all dive into our own things we are all avid readers so it’s usually that while on tour.
ListenSD: Lastly how about them Raptors? How is touring going to be with them being in the NBA finals?
ZM: We are all really proud of them here in Toronto, it’s great to see them finally get into the finals and live up to their potential. Luckily our tour starts after the finals are over, but we do have one hometown show here the night of game 4 so hopefully, people show up!
Catch PUP headlining The Music Box June 19th and buy your tickets here, it’s sure to be a rowdy show!