"Hello, Pure X!"
Texan band Pure X used to be called Pure Ecstasy and have always been beautiful. They make music with the raw, music-first, think-after ethos of DIY punk and the sardonic wit of grunge and the radiant pure light of The Sun.
Made up of Nate Grace, Jesse Jenkins and Austin Youngblood, they have released music through impeccably tasted labels Light Lodge and Acephale and will play our SXSW party at the Lanai Lounge this Saturday.
What’s your names?
Nate Grace: guitar, vox; Jesse Jenkins: bass, vox; Austin Youngblood: drums
How old are you all?
NG: 12, 16, and 69
JJ: old but immature
NG: premature.
What’s your current location?
NG: Austin, TX
How would you describe your sound?
NG: valium + weed + 90 degrees outside + your grandma just died + a vision of the virgin in drag
JJ: nah, 40 degrees + raining + out of coffee + out of cash
NG: yea jace is closer.
How do you record?
NG: most of the 7“s were recorded onto a tascam 1/2in tape recorder in various home style studios, mixed digitally, and then mastered to cassette. our yet to be released shit was recorded onto 2in tape in a legit studio, mixed digitally, and then mastered to 1/2in tape in another studio with a very nice view of the river. Everything we’ve done so far has been recorded live with little to no over-dubbing.
What’s your previous experience?
NG: am i applying for a job here? want to see my resume?
Who are your heroes?
NG: Townes Van Zandt, Charles Bukwoski, Egon Schiele, Tu Fu, Baudelaire, Fela Kuti, Jesus and Mary Chain, Sam Hseih, Alex Jones, R. Kelly.
JJ: FINALLY I HAVE A FUCKING HERO. #charliesheen
What’s your next release?
NG: our first 7in has been re-mixed and re-mastered with an extra song from the original session added. it’s being released on 12in by LIGHT LODGE/ACEPHALE. our LP will be out in the summer on ACEPHALE. we’re currently writing a 12in of “smooth jams” that will come out soon after the LP.
When are you next playing live?
NG: 3/12 in Denton for the 35 Conferette. then 3/17, 3/18, 3/19 for sxsw. then possibly some dates in april around texas with real estate.
Your name is a pretty stark drug reference. Would you care to explain it? Has it ever got you into bother?
NG: to most people i guess it is a stark drug reference which is fine by me seeing as how we were born into this insane pharmacuetical age where drugs of all kinds are more abundant and readily available than ever before- where governments and corporations make BILLIONS from all of us getting off and getting down on their synthetic psuedo cures, where all kinds of drugs are in our fucking tap water for christ sake. but to me the name has more ambiguous meanings. it has the “illicit” meaning for sure but it also has religious, spiritual, sexual, and RADIOACTIVE meanings too. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PUREX).
JJ: yeah “pure ecstasy” was definitely thrown out there in reference to orgasmic pleasure, not mdma. I see PURE X now as pure _______. pure anything.
You’ve spoken about your love of playing house shows. What’s the best one you played? Or the weirdest?
NG: I played this show on vancouver island a long time ago. it wasn’t exactly a house show- it was at like a vfw hall or something. there were maybe 20 people there and i guess not many bands go out to the island cuz the kids were going fucking crazy. by like the third song of my friends band’s set people were getting naked and all booty dancing and shit. then the band dudes all started getting naked and were playing the songs on peoples shoulders while some skuz monsters were all making out. i have pictures of it somewhere. but now i’m really feeling sound checks and monitors. that shit is beautiful.
JJ: I think my fav show ever was in san marcos tx at a house called Fort Walnut. Best vibe ever: no cops, knife throwing, indoor fireworks.
You’ve released a pretty incredible quantity of music (so much I lost track, would you mind listing what you’ve released so far?) – how long does it take you to make a song?
NG: SEVN DAZE tape, Future Nostalgia tape and 7in, EASY 7in, VOICES 7in, split 7in w/Sleep Over, Chain Reflection 12in, and then a couple compilation tracks here and there.
How long does it take to write a song?
NG: It takes as long as it takes man. 5 min, 5 months, 5 years- what’s the difference? You ever hear that story about leonard cohen and bob dylan? dylan asks cohen how long it took him to write “hallelujia” and cohen says 2 years. then cohen asks dylan how long it took him to write ‘i and i’ from ‘infidels.’ dylan says 15 minutes. songs have their own schedule man.
What can we expect from your SXSW show?
NG: to hear some songs you haven’t heard.
JJ: we usually play out of smallish amps but a couple of the shows have marshall stacks for backline so those r gonna get CRANKED
AY: free beer.
