Interview With A Great Big Pile Of Leaves, Round Two

One of the first interviews we did here at MuzikDizcovery was with A Great Big Pile Of Leaves. Since then, the band has gained quite a fanbase, while headlining a tour that also included MuzikDizcovery favorites Young Statues and Mansions and releasing two EPs on Topshelf Records. The band is now gearing up to release their second full length record in the coming months, and that should continue to launch this great band to new heights. On their last date with Cheap Girls and The Front Bottoms, the guys sat down to take some questions from us regarding topics such as the improvements from the debut to the new album, their Making Moves 7", Matt Fazzi's addition to the band, a possible vinyl issue of The Fiery Works, and much more that you can read below.

Firstly, can you introduce yourselves?

Ty: I’m Tyler, and we’re A Great Big Pile Of Leaves
T: Tucker

P: And Pete

It's been nearly two years since we've spoken with you guys, since right after the release of Have You Seen My Prefrontal Cortex, during the Motion City Soundtrack/Saves The Day/Say Anything tour. I know you guys have been extremely busy since then, releasing a live EP, an acoustic EP, and a 7", as well as a lot of touring. How do you feel the last two years have gone for you as a band?

Ty: I think there’s been a lot of growth. It’s gone by super quick. In 2011, we did a decent amount of touring, and in 2012 we just kind of wrote, recorded, and released a lot of new music. Definitely a lot of growth, the PR from the acoustic stuff and the Making Moves 7” really helped a lot, a lot more kids are coming out to shows, so it’s been good.
T: It’s funny, on paper a lot of stuff is happening, but sometimes from day to day we’re really anxious for stuff to come. We’re really psyched to get out and tour a lot more. But we really have been busy over the last couple of years.

The album was announced to have been finished a couple months ago. Do we have any timelines for when we may be hearing a new song or when it may be released?

Ty: We’re really hoping to get the album out in March or April next year. We’re talking to some record labels right now. It’s tracked, but we haven’t mixed or mastered it yet, so that’s the next step. It’d be nice to get a new song streaming maybe in December or January.

What can you tell us about this album in relative to the first one?

T: I personally think it’s different. I think it’s a lot more focused. The song writing has been a bit more streamlined. I think things flow a little better. It’s been two years since we’ve released that record, so we’ve all grown as musicians and songwriters. Over the years, we’ve picked up things from bands that we’ve toured with and maybe subconsciously applied it to our music.
P: I agree. It’s a little more streamlined, and I think it’s a little less indulgent, if I had to criticize it. But I’m really psyched about the new record and to me it shows how we’ve grown over the last few years.

You guys also released a 7" as part of Motion City Soundtrack's Making Moves series. How was that?

P: We went into a studio for the first time. We’ve done the recordings on our own up to this point. We co-produced with Mike Poorman, and it was a great experience for us to sit back and not worry about if the sounds are good enough or if everything is happening technically, and we can just be snooty artists about everything and take on that role of just sitting back and being a musician rather than an engineer too. So I think the product is a little different.

Are any of those tracks going to be on the new album or are they all tracks that will only be on the 7"?

T: We did another version of one of them, an acoustic song, we did a full band version of. A little of both. We tried to make them special and unique from the full length.

Matt Fazzi recently joined the band as a permanent member. How did that happen?

Ty: We had played a show with Happy Body Slow Brain at the end of 2010, and we’ve kept in touch with Matt. We were in the same position having released our first full length records and we played some shows together, and we needed a guitar for a tour we went on, so I was emailing him to see if he knew anyone, and about a month later he offered to do the tour with us. He’s been playing on and off with us for the last year and a half. He’s played most of our shows with us at this point. So it’s just a natural step. We just asked him to join the band and he did.
P: We love him. He stylistically fits in very well as well as personality wise, and we all get along. He’s all around just a perfect fit. It worked out.

Are there going to be any issues between the touring commitments of Happy Body Slow Brain and A Great Big Pile Of Leaves, or are you guys going to work around both acts?

Ty: We hope not to ever do that. We want to just play with Matt. Both our bands are in similar positions, so I think it will be easy to work around both schedules.
T: Everything for us is booked pretty far in advance, so we kind of know our schedules at least a couple months ahead of time, so it’ll be pretty easy to work around. If something does come up last second or something, we’ve talked about it, and if we have to take a tour, we’ll take the tour and go from there.
P: He’ll always remain a permanent member of the band.

You guys are finishing up a short run with The Front Bottoms and Cheap Girls tonight. How have these shows been?

Ty: They’ve been unbelievable. Really, really great. Crowd reaction’s been amazing, and the other bands are really amazing. For us it’s been a really great lineup, and I can’t say enough good things about it.
T: There’s a bunch of kids at every show, everyone’s having fun, it’s really good. Hopefully we’ve made some new fans, and we’ve seen a bunch of old friends.

It's been a while since you guys have done a legitimate full tour, which I assume is because of the recording of the album. Do you expect to be doing a wider US tour anytime in the near future now that the album is complete?

Ty: We’re hoping on doing a support tour early next year probably around the album. If not, we’ll probably do another headlining tour, do South By Southwest, things like that. We hope to be very busy once the record’s out. And hopefully it won’t be two years until another tour, and we plan to stay busy after that.
T: We love touring, we’d love to be out there. At the same time it’s been great to really focus on the album over the last few months.

Are there any plans for a vinyl repress of the first full length?

Ty: The vinyl is still available, and you can buy it on our website. I’m not sure if we will repress it after we run out of this one, I guess we’ll see, it’ll depend on who we sign this record deal with and we’ll see what happens from there. We’ve been throwing around possibly putting out The Fiery Works on vinyl at some point, we’ll see. We’re super focused on putting out this record first and then we’ll see.

Anything else you guys want to say?

Ty: Thanks again for taking the time to interview us!


I'd like to thank the band again for taking the time to talk with us. They absolutely killed it live, and based on the new track they played live, the new album should rip. Making Moves is out now, and those three tracks are highlights in the band's discography. Grab the 7" on vinyl here, and be sure to follow the band on Facebook for upcoming updates for the new record.