The Power And The Passion

In the beginning, Passion Pit – the band – came as even a surprise to frontman Michael Angelakos. See, Angelakos never meant to make an album or an EP, it just kinda happened. The genesis of the group's material was born when Angelakos recorded a bunch of songs as a belated Valentine's Day gift for his girlfriend back in 2008, while he was undertaking a media studies course at Emerson College, Massachusetts. The songs quickly made their way around campus and, upon realising how popular they'd become, Angelakos and a few university buddies decided to form Passion Pit and release those early songs on an EP, Chunk Of Change.

Fast-forward to 2009, which saw the release of their debut Manners and, just like Emerson College, it didn't take long for the rest of the world to catch on to their fuzz-infected brand of synth-pop. This was of course helped along by the slew of shows – including Gossip Girl and HBO's Big Love – which featured the tracks. Probably the most recognisable being the dreamy Moth's Wings and Little Secrets, the latter used on just about every summer-centric ad that year.

“We're one of those bands that got a tonne of press too early,” surmises Angelakos, on the phone from his home in Boston. “I feel…,” he begins before pausing, “I feel like a lot of artists have a hard time with it [quick fame]. America, you know, is like the new UK. But, we just keep on doing what we do. We haven't tried to be anything that people have asked us to be. And I feel now… we're ready now to be put on that pedestal. It's just we needed that time and how that we've had that time we're really ready.”

Album number two, Gossamer, hasn't enjoyed the same kind of neurotic airplay, but Angelakos doesn't seem at all bothered, explaining that the album as a whole is more musically impressive than Manners. “ I think,” begins Angelakos, “What we decided on was this was a record that we were a lot more interested in laying closer to the record, because Manners was a very in studio album, it was hard to replicate live and, unlike ninety per-cent of other bands, we perform every backing track.”

The lesson to “lay it live” came after the success of Manners saw the band embark on a two year tour that would take them halfway around the world and back again. “We did two years on Manners, exploratory touring, you know… no money at all,” says Angelakos. “But it burned us out. Don't get me wrong, I mean the markets were great, but there were issues… like, a lot of medical issues.”

The “issues” Angelakos is referring to included his Bipolar Disorder, which he was diagnosed with at 17 and since then has been receiving ongoing treatment. The illness ended up forcing the group to cancel a string of tour dates in 2012, with the frontman posting on the band's website to say that the dates would be suspended while he undergoes treatment for his illness.

“We're a very lucky band,” sighs Angelakos, adding that “we have a lot of great people behind us and it's great that people have that kind of faith in us.”

Angelakos, however, makes little mention of his illness as the conversation turns to his upcoming Australian tour. “Ahh, Splendour,” he drawls. “You know, I think Splendour is one of our favourite festivals. We have great memories of playing it [in 2010].”

Their live shows see a preppy Angelakos embody every inch of the charismatic frontman, swaying from here to there, with his eyes fixated on the sea of waving hands laid out before him. “Our first Splendour was a really momentous occasion,” says Angelakos. “We were opening for Mumford & Sons [who, oddly enough, are also on the bill for this year's festival] right as they were breaking. The crowd was amazing.”

Despite their solid live performances while touring for Manners, Angelakos says he felt that any new material the band were to release needed to be honed and written with that live vibe in mind. “Yeah, the whole laying it closer to live thing, that's what I meant,” he explains. “When I went into record Gossamer, I went into there with all this touring [experience] in the background. It's fun not to replicate that experience so much, but rather to learn from it.”

Angelakos adds that this time he is focusing his energies on synth development to ensure that “what we record will make a good sounding live show. We're pretty proud of how we feel as a live band.”

Oddly enough, all the additional inspiration for the album came from a rather unlikely source – show tunes. Yes, show tunes. “The whole record seems to hint at things that I was really obsessed with at the time,” muses Angelakos. “Like Rodgers and Hart, you know, show tunes like Cole Porter and stuff. You know… early musicals and a tonne of drums.”

Although originally tentative to pick his favourite track on Gossamer, a little probing sees Angelakos eventually concedes that “I'll Be Alright, is one of the best songs in terms of structure and melody, that and Carried Away. I also like the production on It's Not My Fault, I'm Happy.”

As for what Australian audiences can expect from the maxi-electro-pop quintet, Angelakos assures that he is preparing to bring his “A-Game”. “Well, I'm hoping to,” he laughs. “We're right at that point in the album [Gossamer] where we've been doing it [touring] for a year and bands tend to get into cruise control 'cause everything is so obvious, every day is another day. But we don't want to do that. The Aussie market is an important place for us. I mean, we got our first gold record in Australia, you know. People in Australia get us and they get what we're trying to do.”