Interview: PLEEAY on Their New EP "Wealth & Hellness Vol. 1"
By Alexi Belchere
DJ / booking / blogger · she/her
PLEEAY is a San Francisco-based New Wave band composed of Pete (he/him) on bass, Huli (he/him) on drums and synth tracks, and Castle (they/them) on vocals and choreo. PLEEAY invites everybody to live loudly with compassion and believes that when the world is falling apart, that's the BEST time to dance like the FBI isn't watching. I had the chance to ask them some questions about their new EPWealth & Hellness Vol. 1.
Any interesting stories about the writing and recording process of the album?
The writing process started almost immediately after a huge tragedy in one of our lives. It's been a tough time for a lot of people and we never want to shy away from that toughness. It became a chance to figure out how to dance and play through the mess. Totally unrelated, we recorded with our friend Arielle Flinkman at Women's Audio Mission (also a member of SF band Pound Puppies). Whilst recording, Castle assigned everyone a small stuffed animal and Arielle's assignment was Sam the penguin.If you could share one of these songs with anyone living or dead just to hear what they think, who would it be, which song, and why?
Castle: I would share the song "Babies in the Lost and Found" with my best friend. He died right before we started writing this EP and I think he would love that song...or he would hate it and tell me exactly why! Either way, it would be a great conversation!
Pete: I would be curious to know what David Bowie thinks of the whole EP but if I had to pick a song I would say Grief. I just think he is one of my personal heros and I wonder what he’d hear in it that maybe we didn’t even realize was there.
Huli: There's this dude named Dominique Leone that used to live and perform out here. Easily the best songwriter I've ever heard. I think he'd get a kick out of “No” and its kinda looping chorus structure. Also would love to hear what Prince would think about the big ol synths at the end.
Is there an overarching theme to the album, and if so was it planned or did it take shape in retrospect?
Wealth & Hellness Vol. 1 is focused on honesty in a world that profits off of lies. Identifying the mess by saying all the quiet parts out loud: rage, despair, confusion, all of it. This overarching theme took shape as soon as the name was chosen. We had started playing with some ideas, but once that name was determined, the accelerator was ON!
What is each member’s favorite song on the album and why?
Castle: I am so proud of the weirdness on this EP. AI robots could never lol. But at the moment, I LOVE performing 'Dazzling Confusion' with the big campy choruses and the soft creepy bridges. Recording the backing vocals in the studio was also such a fucking hoot! I was living my loudest, most unhinged life! It's our little Frankenstein.
Pete: I think my favorite song on the album is 'Grief' because writing it was kind of fast and natural (to me). I like the contradictions, the lyrics are very heavy but presented in a very upbeat dance-y song. It just seemed to come together and sound like a Pleeay song very quickly as opposed to other songs on the EP (like 'Daz-Con') which needed a lot more time to get right.
Huli: My favorite would be “Babies in the Lost & Found", if not entirely for the reason that it finally became a real song. It had been sitting on my computer for the better part of a decade before the band got a hold of it, and it turns out Castle and Pete were the missing pieces!
Where can Bay Area people see you perform next?
Halloween Party on October 25th @ Kilowatt, SF with Oribt 17, Mommy Mommy, and drag by Piss. E. Sissy