Gigslutz Interview: PILLAR POINT

Pillar Points sound is at its core rooted in dance music while at the same time being ethereal and dark, attempting to crystalize emotions and work its way into the listener’s guts. The moody, melancholic electronica sound of Pillar Point is the work of Scott Reitherman, who previously was behind the indie-pop outfit Throw Me the Statue. We had a chat with Reitherman about life, New Kids on the Block, Dance music, and Pillar Point’s debut album, which will be released on March 3rd via Polyvinyl Records.

Hi Scott, how are you?

I’m good thanks man

You’re from the Bay Area right? What was it like growing up around there?

Yeah, I was born and I grew up around Half Moon Bay. It was great, my hometown is right on the coast and it’s a very nice mix of rural and city plus it’s close to San Francisco and all the great cultural things that happen down there.

How did you first get into playing and writing your own music? Has playing music always been a part of your life or was it something you suddenly got into?

Yeah it was actually. I started playing guitar when I was in middle school, and from then on I played in bands throughout high school. When I started university I mainly just made music on my own, I wasn’t too serious about it because I was pretty focused on school but towards the end of my college years I found that it was something that I really wanted to continue with and after I graduated I moved to Seattle and started recording my own stuff.

So what kind of bands were you playing in before? Were they somewhat similar from what you doing now or were they completely different?

No, they were much more embarrassing (laughs) .They were just sort of normal rock bands I guess. I never sang though, only played guitar, I had to work up the nerve to actually sing which I was able to do around college.

What are your main musical influences?

I listen to a lot different music like everyone does. I guess lately I’ve been listening to a lot of dance music because hat has really been resonating with me lately. I think there is some sort of cathartic feeling when you move your body to music. The simple melodies and the beats can come together and create something that you can get sort of lost in. I love it when a band can create these great melodies and dance beats, while at the same time tell a story. I think of bands like: LCD Soundsystem, Hot Chip, and others like that. While I was growing up I was super into stuff like Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson, and The Beastie Boys. My first love was New Kids on the Block (laughs). Also older music that I’ve been exposed to that I didn’t really listen to when it first came out, stuff from the 80’s and 90’s like: Pet Shop Boys, Suicide…. (Pauses while making sounds of frustration)… I’m so bad at trying to flip through the encyclopedia of stuff you listen to (laughs).

From what I’ve heard from the debut album it’s very influenced by dance music, in terms of textures and the way songs are structured. Do you feel that dance music can express feelings in ways that say a more traditional pop song structure can’t?

I think there is an intoxicating quality in the repetitiveness of a dance beat. When you overlay some sort of storytelling on top of that you get the “cocktail” I was trying to mix up on this record. So yeah I do think there is something inherently magical about dance music. The atmosphere that can be created provides a simple framework from which you can build up a song and the instrumentation can be taken in tons of different directions. What I don’t like about dance music is it can be lyrically vapid or little bit silly, you know just plain party music. I was trying to be honest on this record and very personal, not as coded as I was with my last band.

Yeah, I noticed that listening to the songs. The themes I sort of picked up on the most throughout the record was isolation and a sense of being lost. What sort of mindset were you in while writing this record?

I was sort of thinking while writing the songs for this album: “How do we not get lost in the sea of voices: strangers, friends, critics, and supporters”. It’s about the technological invasion that we welcome as part of our lives, the same thing that maybe we should be a bit more careful with. The way we tell the story of our lives through the internet to friends and strangers, is an abstraction of what our lives are really like. I was going through some tough personal circumstances while making this record. So I had to focus on that, and becoming a 30 year-old while trying to block out all the noise around me from social media in a way that was healthy.

Would you say that your process for when you write material is very strict and organized or is it a more organic one?

I would definitely say it’s a more organic process. Sometimes I do sit down and write material without any preconceived ideas or any sparks to my imagination, but most of the time an idea will pop into my head and I’ll pick up a guitar or sit in front of a keyboard and try to work it out from there. A lot of the time I’ll sit on those scraps of songs for a while before I try and seriously work them out in earnest.

Thanks a lot it was a real pleasure chatting with you, best of luck with the debut. I’m sure we’ll be seeing a lot more from you in the future. Take it easy man.

Thanks, it’s been great. Hopefully I’ll see you around when I’m touring the UK around May or June.