Off the cuff I recently described The Bedheads to someone as a pop punk band, but I immediately took back my words. It really depends on who you’re talking how the connotation of that genre will be processed. Either way, The Bedheads roots lie in pop punk soil, but they’ve grown into something else since, along with many of their contemporary bands.
The Bedheads are on an island here in Columbia, with many of the bands they’re both influenced by, and truly peers with, located farther north, maybe in Jersey or Philly. Occasionally Columbia snags a show, and when You, Me and Everyone We Know came through town The Bedheads–then going by the name Pillow Talk–found a connection that would change the course of the band.
“We met Ben Roth from You, Me and Everyone We Know and KIDS over the summer because YMAEWK played a show here in Columbia,” says guitarist and singer Adam Jones. “We made plans to go record with him in his studio that winter even though we were still in the writing process. When we finished the EP we headed to Lancaster, PA and recorded at Kaleidoscope Records with Ben.”
This meeting and the timing of it all lined up with a band that was really starting focus in on the writing process and song structure. They started to lean harder on the music they were listening to when, lots of northern indie rock that’s been surging over the last couple of years with bands like Modern Baseball, Real Friends, and Sorority Noise. And as the seasons changed so did the sound of the record.
It’s Late, You’re Gone, the bands latest record, often references fall, and the feel of the seasonal depression that sometimes comes with winter. Even the EPs instrumental closer is a slow burning and building emotional roller coaster. The six songs they recorded for the EP and five that made the record were a burst of emotion for the band, turning into the five tracks that help define the next step for the band.
“We did the whole thing in four days,” says Jones. “We were basically in the studio from 10am to 3am every day. We tracked six songs overall and five made it to the album. We tracked each instrument individually starting with drums, bass, rhythm guitar, lead guitar, vocals and gang vocals. The collection that Ben (Roth) had was amazing. Tate played a 60’s vintage Ludwig kit and we used an array of guitars from an American Tele Standard to a gold top Gibson Les Paul to an old funky hollow body so the album has lots of different tones and sounds. In “Cigarettes” for example, there are church bells and rain and talking in the intro but none of that was fabricated. We dragged the vocal mic outside the studio into the rain and recorded the church bells from across the street. We also recorded the vocals for that song in one take. The whole EP is raw and honest like that. Tate originally wasn’t going to sing on “No For Now” but it ended up just clicking with both vocals.”
Comparing Pillow Talk to The Bedheads the band says it “feels like a new band entirely.” Though the new EP is darker and more mellowed out, they feel like the new songs they’re writing now and putting out in the future will be more high energy and fun. The transition from Pillow Talk to The Bedheads was smooth, but only two original members remain common between the two projects. It wasn’t easy to just say goodbye to the band.
“Pillow Talk is a foundation to what The Bedheads are now,” says drummer Tate Logan. “Jordan and I wrote the music we released under Pillow Talk with some help from Adam, whereas now we are made up of several different and new members. It just didn’t feel right continuing under that name. It was a long and hard decision but now it feels right that we put Pillow Talk on the shelf for everything great that it was and will always be.”
These days The Bedheads are planning their summer tour, writing for their next release, and balancing school. The trip as a band to Pennsylvania to record was just a taste of what they have in store being on the road. The band already has dates lined up, and support from their record label Backflip Records based out of Canada.
The band has their goals set modestly high, with the dream resting in their mind.
“What we have going on right now is great with touring during the breaks, but I guess we will cross the other bridges when we get to them. It would be great to just say ‘oh I’m quitting school to become a rockstar’ but I think we do a good job balancing that with reality.”
