PROFILE: Pretty & Nice

..we caught up with the kings of Tazer Rock, Boston's Pretty & Nice, traveling out of Austin following the flurry of South By Southwest.The band, who recently signed to Sub Pop subsidiary Hardly Art, will be making a tour stop in Dayton this Thursday night at Pearl. Here's what they had to say as they made their way across the Plains states...

The Buddha Den: So this tour you’re on, this is the first jaunt of the new year, correct?

Jeremy: This is the first undertaking of ’08.

TBD: So do you have a name for this tour?

J: The poster says ‘Pretty & Nice vs. South By Southwest

TBD: And who won?

J: I’d like to say, barely justifiably, that we came out on top, or it was right neck and neck where we escaped before the buzzer went off. One or the other, I’m not entirely sure. I’ll have to give it a day or two. I’m still recovering from the game points.

TBD: You did a bunch of dates, right? You went through the South before you hit Austin?

J: We had few dates on the way down, and now we’re doing a week’s worth of dates on the way back [to Boston]. Not an extensive tour, more of an easing into and out of SXSW. Any excuse to play a show.

TBD: Whatever excuse you need, right?

J: And usually we don’t need an excuse. We feel fairly righteous about touring all the time.

TBD: Yeah, I think you’ve proven that point. So, how was SXSW for you guys? How did it go over?

J: It was really good. We finally got a chance to hang out with Sarah and Montana from Hardly Art and Tony Jewel [sp?] from Sub Pop a ton and they are totally wonderful, excellent human beings and we’re really, really, really, really, really excited to work with them and have them around to play Hangman and Boggle and such.

TBD: Yeah, since the last time we saw you you’re now on Hardly Art. How did this all transpire?

Holden: The straight dope is that the A&R guy for Hardly Art and Sub Pop, this swell guy named Tony heard us on the Paper Thin Walls blog. Which I guess as our Dayton guy you would be well to know that, in the first place, Juan [Monasterio of Model/Actress, ex-Brainiac] saw us in Dayton and emailed John Schmersal the same day we emailed John Schmersal if Enon would do a show with us in Boston. Then John blogged about us on Paper Thin Walls. One of the reasons he even listened to us was that Juan had heard us. So, it’s all your fault. It kinda took a while. We’d been talking to them since September.

TBD: Oh no, I helped somebody. I’m such a horrible person.

H: I know. We do that sometimes then we kick ourselves.

TBD: So they’re gonna put out the next release, correct?

H: Exactly.

TBD: Excellent. When should we expect something new to come along?

H: Something new will come along on our tour this summer. The album won’t be out until late summer/early fall. I think we’re gonna have some kind of goodies or something for summer.

TBD: Like a self-released something or other?

H: Totally undecided right now. We’ve talked to Hardly Art about doing a pre-album fun pack or something. I dunno.

TBD: Sounds good. Did you guys record some new stuff over the winter?

H: Yeah, we’ve got a good bunch of it already moving and then some sweet inspiration happened. Actually a lot more writing than we expected, and that will probably be included. It’s underway.

TBD: Any working titles yet for the album?

H: It’s a secret. We wrote the name down and then we put it in a box with a dead cat and buried it in the backyard. Then we’re gonna open it up when the album’s done and if the cat’s alive, we’re gonna use it as the title.

TBD: Like if the title brings the cat back alive?

H: Exactly.

TBD: Clearly then you’ll have a magical title on your hands.

H: That’s the plan. We’re just gonna keep killing cats and burying them until we find the right title.

TBD: I think that’s a new working model you got there. Let it never be said that you don’t innovate.

H: No. I appreciate you saying so.

TBD: So how many shows did you pick up at SXSW?

J: So, we didn’t play with any yaks at SXSW, but we hope to in the future.

TBD: Good to know.

J: We played an awesome showcase about an hour after we rolled in. We were technically opening for The Lemonheads, which was hilarious. The Von Bondies played, and a couple other bands we didn’t know. We dropped the snare drum and it got holes. Then our stage manager, who was a gem and a half, ran back to his house and got some old snare heads for us. That was really fun. We got to hang with our label cats. And we played a parking lot. No, wait, we played a warehouse the next night. Like 15 minutes outside of Austin. Then at the end of the night a couple of us almost got snuffed by a promoter who is a rabid, raving methhead. Then the next morning we played a parking lot, which was totally awesome, with a band called Birds and Batteries. So we got a little bit sunstroked, then we played the back of a coffee house on Saturday night. So, a bunch of cool little shows. Everything went totally smoothly.

TBD: So, you’re going to Tulsa tonight, right?

J: Yeah, we’re in Tulsa tonight. Then Columbia (Missouri), then Bloomington (Indiana), then we knock on your door. And hopefully it shall sound good.

TBD: This time you’re hitting Dayton on the way back rather than on your way out.

J: We like our tour route. We really love going down the East Coast then coming back up and around. We do that often. We don’t mean to, it’s just that it makes sense. But this summer we’ll finally be venturing out of our stomping route and making our way to the West Coast, to go surfing. We’ll have fun, fun, fun ‘til daddy takes the t-bird away. So, summer: west coast, record. Or it’ll be summer, then record then west coast, or west coast, then record, then west coast again. Maybe we’ll get out of country…

TBD: Maybe go to Europe and far away places?

H: Maybe Japan and China. We’re trying.

TBD: Is there anything else you wanna make sure that The Buddha Den readers know about at this point in time?

J: We’re too busy singing to put anybody down.

TBD: I’ll be sure to let everybody know that.

Pretty & Nice, who are out on tour with Exit Clov (DC) will be stopping at Pearl this Thursday night for Sarasvati's Machine art show, featuring locals 8-Bit Revival and After the Accident.