By Sean Maldjian, Contributor

Meet Pamphlets

A self-portrait by, Pamphlets

Would you rather…

be the proprietor of a hot dog cart on a hot summer's day or a nut vendor on a brisk winter evening?

Ben: Nut vendor all the way. It smells good and the cart can warm me up. I’d rather feel a bit cozy in the cold than sweating in the summer heat. 

Daniel: Nuts are warm on a cold day, but hot dogs are hot on a hot day. I gotta go with the nut vendor to avoid the excessive heat. 

Jeremy: I'm a vegetarian, so I’d be a nut vendor by default.

Some questions with Pamphlets

Hey, what's going on? Can you tell us a little more about Pamphlets? How did the project come together?

Ben: I was looking to start a new band and I really wanted to do something post punk leaning since that’s my favorite genre. I put out a Craigslist ad and Jeremy was the only one who responded. When he responded, I was like I’m pretty sure I know who this guy is. I texted him and lo and behold, it was my buddy Jeremy who I've already known for years. We went through a few different drummers as we wrote our first songs and then we eventually landed on Daniel. Daniel, how did we find you?

Daniel: I was at a show for Jeremy’s other band at the time, Polo Grounds. The lead singer was dating a friend of mine from Texas. She invited me to the show and I got to talking with the boys and we bonded over music tastes. Then they were like, hey we have a show in two weeks and we need a drummer. I said sure and that’s how we all formed. Now, here we are a year later.

How long have you been based in Brooklyn?

Daniel: Personally a little over three years.

Jeremy: Same, a little over three years.

Ben: Just over five years for me. I moved here right after college. As a band, we started in August 2021.

What would the title of your memoir/biography be?

Ben: I like the lyrical link between our song “Parties” and Embrace’s “End of a Year”. So maybe we’d call it, “I Don’t Like Parties”.

Daniel: I feel like we all kinda like parties though.

Ben: Ha! True, we all like to party.

What has been your brightest moment of the year?

Daniel: As a band, I think recording the EP was our brightest moment. 

Ben: I was thinking you were going to say playing at MACROCK Festival.

Daniel: True, MACROCK and recording the EP were our two brightest moments. MACROCK was a festival we did in Harrisonburg, VA. It was our first show outside of New York and it was amazing. They were two big milestones for the band and I think we really surpassed our own expectations for ourselves and it really solidified that what we were doing was right and felt good. People’s response to the recordings and us playing at MACROCK were really positive. For the EP, our producer Mathu Kibby sought us out via Bandcamp and really believed in us throughout the recording process. Then of course there’s the people of Harrisonburg who accepted us and were great hosts. It felt like something that was new, big, and fun for us. It was also great seeing crowds respond well to us. Those moments as a band are what keep you going.

When performing a concert what is your biggest pet peeve?

Daniel: I think it's a bad crowd. When the crowd isn’t into you it’s the worst.

Jeremy: Yeah, that’s a big one. 

Ben: I can’t stand venues with too much fog. One time it was so bad we couldn’t see the crowd. Hell, we couldn’t see 3 feet in front of us and it kept detuning our guitars.

What are your top albums released this year so far?

Jeremy: Fontiaines D.C. - Skinty Fia was a good one. If I could say a top album that wasn’t released this year, but I recently discovered, then I’d have to say the Black Eyes self-titled album. It destroyed me basically, absolutely blew my mind. It’s from 2003 or something like that.

Daniel: That’s not the question. Released THIS YEAR!

Jeremy: Then mine would be Fontaines.

Ben: Mine is definitely Wombo - Fairy Rust. Her unique voice mixed with the creatively minimalistic approach to the music is really fresh. It’s just an awesome album and I can’t stop listening to it.

I love the artwork you have been designing for your recent singles. Can you tell me a little more about those? Where did they come from?

Jeremy: One of our friends introduced us to some artistic influences such as John Baldessari, Richard Hamilton, and Ana Mendieta. Then with those themes, one of our other friends made our EP cover. His artwork basically gave us the groundwork and overall aesthetic for the singles. Then I spent a night or two just cranking out the artwork for the singles based off of what he made for the EP.

Daniel: The artist themes were something we worked out for months with our friends based off of the lyrics and it ended up being something we were all super happy with as it really reflected our creative vision for the music.

What is your favorite word/phrase?

Daniel: Jesus Christ.

Ben: Jesus Christ?

Jeremy: I actually do say Jesus a lot. Since I’m from San Diego, I started doing the hang loose sign as a joke and now I’m actually doing it for everything now.

Your latest release ‘Somehow’ is a ton of fun. What was the creative drive behind the release?

Jeremy: It started out as a jam. We almost scrapped it because we thought it was too similar to our other song “Shut Tight” so we made some changes over time.

Ben: Yeah, we wrote it right after we wrote “Shut Tight”. I always saw “Somehow” as Shut Tight Part Two. If you really analyze it, you can hear a lot of similarities. We were looking for something angular, but something you can also kinda dance too.

Daniel: That’s funny, I’ve had multiple people come up to me asking why more people don’t dance at our shows. 

Jeremy: It’s because we’re in Brooklyn.

Daniel: Haha true, but we also don’t sell ourselves as a dancey fun band yet a lot of our songs on paper are dancey fun songs. Vocally, Jeremy does a kind of satirical voice which adds something special to the song. Overall it’s kinetic, bouncy, and fun to play. 

Any final comments? (This is your electronic soapbox for one last answer.)

Jeremy: We have a music video and EP dropping on October 7th. To celebrate those, we have a release show on the 6th at The Broadway with our homies Train Traffic, Jelly Kelly, and Grand Army Reapers.

Daniel: So if you are reading this and October 6th has not yet happened, come to the show!

Jeremy: Then we have a little tour where we’re hitting D.C., Baltimore, Reading and Philly. After that, we’re planning on recording our first album sometime next year.