PlayBack Press

Driving somewhere between Baltimore, MD and Washington, DC.

Seth Pitman of Wild Light

PBP – First off tell us about yourself and your band.

Seth – My name is Seth Pitman and I play bass and guitar and piano and sing. I do that because me and the other multi-instrumentalists, Tim Kyle and Jordan Alexander all kind of switch around. And then we have Seth Kasper who plays drums. We formed in 2005 and Tim, Jordan, and I lived in a house together for about 2 years outside of Boston. (Seth) Kasper would come over and we would practice there. At the end of those 2 years stuff started happening for us and so we moved out of the house and we have been in the van ever since.

PBP – After a first listen I would have to say your sound is something like The Shins meet Counting Crows, how would you describe your sound?

Seth- I don’t really know if I can quite identify 2 or 3 bands that I can say we’re a mix between this and this. What we’re going for is pop songs, a high energy pop band.

PBP- What did California do to piss you off so bad?

Seth- HAHA, we actually have no disdain for California. We all love it there. Jordan wrote the lyrics and the melody in 3 days. He was living in Oakland trying to start another band and it just was not working for him. I think he had a moment when he realized that what he was trying to do wasn’t going to happen there. It was one of those days where you feel really frustrated and you kind of curse out whatever is in front of you, and that happened to be a lake in California.

PBP- Now this was your first full length album. What was it like to record with Rob Schnapf who’s also produced for big names like Beck and Elliot Smith?

Seth – It was amazing. It was surreal first of all getting to work with someone who’s made records that we have loved. We always wanted to do it with someone who’s a legend. It was an amazing experience. We were so lucky. It was difficult also, we had a lot of work to do. We were on a limited budget, well I take that back, we had a generous budget but we had a lot of ideas and a lot of stuff we wanted to try. What’s the expression, put our nose to the grindstone?

PBP-  Since you all play each instrument is there ever a time where you want to play a different instrument on a certain song?

Seth – We have to figure it out based on the medium. What we do live isn’t always the way we recorded the songs which is also different than the way we wrote the songs. For instance on the 3^rd song, Canyon City, on the record I play bass, Jordan plays guitar, and Tim plays piano. But live I play piano, Tim plays guitar, and Jordan plays bass. And that’s just because it’s the best way to get the song across. It’s the best way to communicate it. We have to be flexible. I mean we definitely each have instruments we’d prefer to play.

PBP- Aside from not leaving iPods and laptops in your van overnight, what have you guys learned on this tour so far?

Seth- HAHA. Being a touring band it’s a difficult learning curve. It’s the first time we’ve done a tour this long. We’re just learning how to do our jobs basically.

PBP- What is the one thing about New Hampshire that you miss the most while you’re on tour?

Seth – Fresh air and quiet and a clean bed.

PBP – What will it take to make you guys the most famous New Hampshirites ever?

Seth – Oh geez I don’t even know. I wish I knew that. Hopefully a good record will do the trick.

PBP – Whoever blogs on your Myspace page has a fondness for VH1 reality shows. Which one do you think is better, Rock of Love Bus or I love Money?

Seth- I don’t like I love Money. I don’t think any of us like that one.

PBP – Oh c’mon really? I love that one.

Seth – I think that Rock of Love Bus is definitely better. But Rock of Love Bus isn’t as good as the previous two Rock of Loves.

PBP – Whats your favorite song to perform live?

Seth- I think the most fun is Lawless River and geez I dunno. I mean Lawless River is fun for me because I’m playing jam band bass as well as a funky beat which is kind of fun to be up there and dancing.

PBP – I heard that you’re now getting airplay on Sirius XM. Do you notice at your shows that people are starting to sing along?

Seth- No, I think we’re still looking for our fan base. I guess people do seem to know us more than before. We’re steadily getting more people out there, which is encouraging.

PBP – Whats the craziest thing a fan has done so far?

Seth- I can’t think of anything too crazy. I think the best is when we’re playing a small club or a dive bar and there’s a guy out there who buys us drinks. We had this one experience where we played this hotel lobby in New Hampshire. We’d only been there 3 times but this dude bought us the most gigantic shots of whiskey I’ve ever seen.

PBP – So you’re in your van right now. Who do you think is the best driver? And who has the worst road rage?

Seth – Oh our drummer Seth Kasper is the best driver without a doubt. He’s like the only person who has any idea how cars work. He is the most competent driver, if given the chance he’s drive 10 hours straight.

PBP – Can you ever go inside a Wal-Mart or a Target and walkout without buying anything?

Seth- Well I can I guess. We’re actually in dire need of a Wal-Mart or a Target because we have a tape deck in the van and its kinda messed up. We’re looking for an adapter so we can listen to an iPod or a Walkman, which we actually have. So we basically put this thing on FM radio and its on constant FM radio for almost 6 weeks. We’re kind of at the end of our rope.

PBP – When you guys go for fast food, do you mix sodas at the soda fountain?

Seth- I have to say no, that I stick to one. I think I used to do that. I used to do that with slushees at the local convenience store by my house. I’d mix all the colors together and would have a black sugar drink.

PBP- For people who haven’ t heard of Wild Light, what is the single best reason for people to come out and see your band?

Seth – I think good music and good art justifies itself. And I think that we’re trying to make good art, and if thats something that’s important to you then you will find us. I don’t know if I can give you any other good reason other than the pure joy of hopefully seeing good music.  

PBP- If you were put on the TV show Survivor, which one of you would get voted off the island first and why?

Seth- Aw that’s kind of a mean question, I don’t know how to answer that. I don’t know. We are kind of our own little Survivor in this van. And none of us have gotten voted off yet so we’re alright.

PBP – And the last question, which has ended just about all of my interviews is; How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?

Seth- Damned if I know haha.