INTERVIEW: PWR BTTM - Allston Pudding

Life on the road is rarely glamorous for any touring band, but queer punk duo PWR BTTM won’t let that dull its shine. Multi-instrumental musicians Ben Hopkins and Liv Bruce keep spirits up with sets that mix elements of stand-up comedy and drag performance, along with enough glitter to walk the line between couture editorial and arts-and-crafts pandemonium. Everything about it is undeniably punk, but to call it a punk show alone feels simplistic: lately, Hopkins and Bruce have focused on developing PWR BTTM from a band to a multimedia artistic collaboration. Since last speaking to AP they’ve been on the road seemingly nonstop, still finding the time to release critically lauded album Ugly Cherries and start in on their latest project, a dance and theater piece. While working their way across North America with Palehound and Mitski, the pair took a few minutes to catch up with AP to talk about their latest work and dish out some road-tested style advice.

Allston Pudding: You last chatted with Allston Pudding back when you were in town with Diet Cig. How’s life been between tours?

Ben Hopkins: We’ve been in our hibernation pod. We haven’t aged a day… No, it’s been amazing. Our record came out, which was crazy. And we’ve just been playing a lot, a lot, a lot of shows, a million billion shows. It should be illegal to play the amount of shows we’ve played.

AP: I read that you studied theater [Ben] and dance [Liv] in college. Do you find that having studied performance art impacts your performing in a band?

Liv Bruce: Yeah, totally. I definitely feel that for me, the ways that I keep in touch with my body while playing drums and hold myself on stage are very influenced by things I was taught in dance class. When I sit in the car for four hours and then get out, I usually stretch my legs by doing a little parking lot ballet. And then, Ben’s entire life is a lie, and in that sense his theatre degree is put to good use.

BH: Seconded.

LB: And yeah, our stage banter has a lot to do with Ben’s background in standup comedy.

BH: That’s what I thought I was going to do with my life, so I studied theater in college to pursue that. And then this band came crashing into my life in this strange, weird way. Taking the microphone and making jokes is something that actually makes me feel comfortable playing music. It’s sort of a natural thing for me to pretend I’m not nervous by telling jokes.

AP: When did you decide to switch from your earlier pursuits into making this band your main focus?

BH: Well, if you want to hear my specific story, it’s a really weird one. So basically last year I was up for a job at a theater in new york that was a full-time commitment. I would’ve been working as somebody’s assistant at a theater production house. I was about to go for it and really try to be in the final round of it, but then at the last minute I pulled my name out of the running and was like “fuck that,” moved to Hudson, which is down near Bard in the middle of nowhere, to keep working on this band, which at the time was not anything serious. But my gut was just telling me, all my professors in college told me to follow the thing you cared the most about that paid rent. And so I just did both of those things and moved to the middle of upstate New York and had a great time. I just did it on complete, complete 100% risk. It was a total risk and now it’s what I’m doing.

LB: I actually tried to do dance and PWR BTTM for a while. I was in a production in New York. And it was just so hard to balance them, which is funny because in college I was able to balance dance and music and a little bit of theater. But in the real world it’s just too much. So I stopped doing other dance gigs after that was over. I still take classes every once and awhile, but PWR BTTM is my main project.

So that being said, we’re beginning to develop a dance and theater piece that Liv and I are going to make together. Like, PWR BTTM is really just the name of the queer-centric artistic collaboration between Liv and I, and so it’s going to take a lot of different forms, being records and shit. Expect to see a lot of different kinds of media come out of PWR BTTM, not just a record.

AP: What are you drawing inspiration from these days?

BH: We get a lot of inspiration just from the bands that we see at shows; the bands we play with. We’re very lucky to be touring with two of our favorite bands right now. And then in terms of songwriting we get a lot of inspiration from our lives in terms of what we write about.

Palm, who are on Exploding in Sound, our friends from upstate New York—their new album is totally incredible and really inspiring me. We just moved to the city of New York so we’ve been able to see a lot of work there that’s inspiring us. There’s a lot of shit… it’s hard to know what’s sticking, but it’ll come out in the next record for sure.

AP: In your song “I Wanna Boi” you suggest dropping you a line at what sounds like a very plausible bard.edu email address. Was that your real email address?

LB: It sure was, and I actually wrote the whole song around the idea that my email address was so silly that I should probably include it in a song.

AP: So, has anyone sent you anything interesting?

LB: Um… yes. And that’s all I’m gonna say. Yeah, but I lose the email pretty soon, in December, since I graduated. Let the people know that they have a very limited time to get all that stuff coming in.

AP: You have a really distinct personal style when you perform. Where do you get the ideas for those looks?

LB: Local dumpsters. No, the only thing that I think about when I’m getting dressed is “Do I look better than Ben?”

Anyway, my influences come from a lot of people in the East Village in New York in the ‘80s, people who didn’t see drag as a means of being beautiful, but drag as a means to disturb. I want to be able to stop traffic.

AP: On that note, what are your top 3 pieces of style advice for anyone that’s dealing with the touring lifestyle?

LB: That’s a really, really, really good question. I think a lot of bands would probably give this advice for touring fashion, but bring things that can pair differently. Bring one kind of staple garment that can do a lot of different looks depending on what you pair it with. That’s my first thing. My second thing is figure out your fucking skincare regimen and make time for it. I don’t care if there isn’t time. Make time for it on tour, because otherwise the lack of sleep, the stress, and the lack of shower availability will destroy your skin. And I think my third fashion tip is—okay, I’m going to give this one to Ben. Just the tip.

BH: The only tip I have is to look hot so that people will want to have sex with you if you ask them. It can also help you find a place to sleep. And then the only other thing I’d say about fashion is that one of my style icons, James St. James, said that a good outfit is one that can be reduced to a caricature without losing any of its essential qualities. And that’s something I think about a lot when I’m getting dressed: if someone drew a cartoon of me, would they capture every bit of this outfit? If there’s too much to get in a cartoon rendering of me, it’s probably not a good outfit.

Upcoming tour dates:

11/16 – The High Watt – Nashville, TN

11/18 – The Frequency – Madison, WI

11/20 – Beat Kitchen – Chicago, IL

11/21 – Rumba Cafe – Columbus, OH

11/23 – Smiling Buddha – Toronto, Canada

11/24 – Casa del Popolo – Montreal, Canada

11/25 – BSP Lounge – Kingston, NY