Formed back in 2010, Singapore quintet, Pleasantry, have fast been making a name for themselves within the local music scene. Earlier this year, they opened for Belle and Sebastian and are now spreading the Pleasantry love across the globe, having played at Canadian Music Week and a number of dates across the US; the future is certainly looking bright for the band.

Following the release of their debut album last year, Pleasantry have just released a split EP with American band, Starry Eyed Cadet. We spoke to the band to find out more…

Hi, how are you and what have you been up to this week?
Hey! I’m good thank you. We just got back from our North America tour this week. We’re all still fighting the jet lag and settling back into our day jobs. We’re taking the weekend to rest, then we’ll be getting back into the studio next week to start preparing for a few upcoming shows next month.

 Exciting things just happened for Pleasantry; with your first ever gigs outside of Singapore,and a performance in Toronto for Canadian Music Week – how has your experience been?
Very good. We were travelling together as friends and a band for the first time, and being a part of Canadian Music Week was just brilliant. We didn’t know what to expect really and were not too sure if there was going to be a lot of people turning up to the show, but it all worked out perfectly in the end. We had a great time performing and the crowd seemed to really enjoy themselves.

You’ve also just embarked on a short tour of the US, what made you pursue America?
We consume a lot of American pop culture here in Singapore and are fans of so many American bands. We just wanted to make the most of the trip and, since we were going to be in the area, we decided to plan a few shows in the America as well. We thought of relocating to America for a few months to do a proper tour throughout the country but it didn’t quite work out this time around. Hopefully in the near future, we’ll be able to do that.

You’ve played in front of a seven-thousand strong crowd when supporting Belle and Sebastian back in February, how could you summarise that experience for us?
Well, it was quite surreal. I think it was the biggest crowd that we’ve ever played to and the most star-studded line-up as well. We all grew up listening to Belle and Sebastian and are big fans of Caribou too, who were also playing at the festival! There was a whole lot of excitement and nerves that night for us but we played a great show and had a really good time.

How would you summarise yourselves to people who may have never heard of Pleasantry before?
You can describe us as an emotional sound-circus.

You’ve also just released a split EP with San Francisco band Starry Eyed Cadet. How did that opportunity come about?
We actually got acquainted with the keyboardist for Starry Eyed Cadet a few years ago via Facebook. A few months before the tour we were casually chatting on Facebook to catch up and he was telling us about his new band. We all gave it a listen and loved it, so we decided to work together to release a split EP since we had written a new single for the tour anyway. It was pretty amazing considering we’ve all never met each other in person but we managed to come together to release an awesome record.

 What do you think about the music scene over here in the UK?
I think it’s great and the music coming out always seems to be a few years ahead of the rest of the world.

 Are there any new bands or artists that currently stand out for you guys?
You have absolutely fantastic talents like FKA Twigs, James Blake and Sam Smith, Hozier, James Bay, etc.

You released your debut album, Synapses, back in August last year – what were the influences behind the album?
The inspiration behind the album is based on our collective ‘memories’ of moments we’ve shared together as friends over the years. How we perceive moments differently; the celebrations, tribulations and almost any other sort of experience, good or bad, we’ve had during those three years of writing the album.

Will you guys be playing any UK dates anytime soon?
We hope to go on tour in the UK some time this year.

 What else can we expect from Pleasantry throughout the rest of 2015?
More tours, and hopefully a few more new singles.

Big thanks to Pleasantry for answering our questions! 

Find out more about Pleasantry and their releases here.

 

Photo Credit: Ash