Lace Up Your Workbooks: An Interview with Boca Chica’s Hallie Pritts
KB: So what else do you do in Pittsburgh besides make music?
HP: Um, well, I have a really dumb job…
KB: Is this where you speak French? You mentioned it in one of your shows…
HP: Yeah, yeah. It’s kind of a ridiculous job, it’s only part-time. And I talk to people in offices in France about boring things. It sounds more exciting than it is, and it doesn’t sound that exciting… (laughs). But I work from home, and that allows me to do music stuff. And I work at the farmer’s market, too.
KB: And do you think Pittsburgh comes through in your music? And if so, how?
HP: Basically, I think that I’ve probably had more than 60 percent of the musicians in Pittsburgh in my band, so I think it’s definitely like a Pittsburgh project.
KB: It seems like there’s a pretty tight-knit music community in Pittsburgh.
HP: Yeah, definitely. There are a lot of really good bands here, and it’s a small enough scene that basically everybody knows everybody. And everyone shares band members. We’re kind of an extreme example of that. Everyone in the band, has at least one other band that they’re in, maybe two or three. So yeah, it’s very tight-knit. There was a compilation that came out last year, the Key Party presents, Playing Favorites. It’s a really cool compilation, with a bunch of Pittsburgh bands, and everyone on the album was in at least one other band on the album, so that’s kind of representative of what’s going on.
KB: Have you seen the music scene change since you came to Pittsburgh?
HP: Yeah, I think it’s gotten a lot better. I think the crowds have gotten better, more people come out. And not just for us, but in general. It’s doing a lot better than five years ago.
KB: What do you credit for that improvement?
HP: I don’t know, that’s a good question. I mean five years ago there were good bands here too, and it’s not like the venues are that great, or are getting any better. You lose some, and then you get some new ones. There are a few key people, like Jo at Howler’s, she’s really been a big influence on the scene, just because she’s so nice to bands, and really, she’s been like a god-send. And it could just be individuals; it’s so small here that even one person like Jo makes a big difference.
KB: Okay, so that’s Pittsburgh. How do you feel about the music industry in general?
HP: I feel like I don’t understand it. It’s easy to get frustrated because it’s not like any other career where you can look at something you want to do, and then you get the right degree, and then you pay your dues as an intern, and then, you know, work your way up the company. It’s just not like that at all. You could work your ass off and do all of the right things for years and years and be really good and nothing could happen. Or you could just get really lucky on your first show, someone could be there and you could get signed. So it’s pretty frustrating, you feel like you could work really hard and get nowhere, or you could do nothing and something could happen, but you just have no way to judge what’s going to happen. It’s not like anything else.
KB: And what have your experiences been like? Have you been lucky or do you feel like you’re just working really hard?
HP: I don’t know, I mean it depends on what you compare it to. I get frustrated sometimes, but then I feel like we’ve done pretty much as well as you can in Pittsburgh, and then you may think you should move somewhere else, so you could have a “better music scene,” but I don’t know. There’re a lot of good things going on here. And in Nashville or Brooklyn, you’re like one in ten-million and it’s a lot harder, so then you might as well stick it out here. I don’t know, that’s a good question, and I don’t know.
KB: Okay, so let’s back up, how did music come to be your mode of expression?
HP: Well, I didn’t start writing songs until after college, for one thing. I’m not sure, I’ve always been really musical, I’ve played guitar since I was 15. I don’t know, it seems obvious, and I don’t know why I didn’t start earlier. I’ve always been really into music.
KB: Did you have any formal training?
HP: Well, I had classical guitar lessons. That’s really it. I played in the high school band, but I don’t think that’s been highly influential (laughs). You find bands where the members are all professional musicians. Like Cuddle Magic, you know, if they don’t make it in Cuddle Magic, they’ll all have careers in music, and I’m definitely not on that side. I want to be in a band and I want to write songs, but if it doesn’t work out…I’m not going to be a professional musician.
KB: So you didn’t start writing songs until after college. How does song-writing happen for you?
HP: That’s a hard question, I feel like I don’t know, and everybody asks, but I never have a good answer. I should probably come up with one. It’s not a very concrete process, I don’t have a scientific method for song writing, which some people do, they say we need a hook here, we need a chorus here, a pop song needs this, this, and this. I don’t really pay attention to that—it’s more like, I’ll find some chords, or I’ll decide to start a song with A minor, whatever sounds good to me. I don’t know, that sounds really dumb. Anytime I get quoted about it I feel like I say something dumb.
KB: No, I think people ask because you write lyrics that aren’t too obscurely metaphoric, but that also aren’t too literal and obvious. So it’s that in between, that I think so many musicians can’t quite get. So what about your voice, it’s so unique, how did you find it?
HP: Thanks, I always sang as a little kid. I had favorite singers from my mother’s record collection. I was just really loud, although I don’t really sing that loud on my records. As far as vocal influences, I’ve been thinking about that, and I think Astrud Gilberto, she’s Brazilian, sings bossa-nova, and I really loved her voice, she’s like my favorite singer. But I never quite realized that I was doing a lot of copying until really recently. And also Suzanne Vega, even though I don’t really listen to her anymore, but in high school I liked her a lot. And probably Carol King, because she’s loud and I liked it. It’s weird because these would not be like my top musical influences, but as far as singing goes, they would be.
KB: You say that you don’t sing very loud in your albums. And Boca Chica means small mouth, right? Is that appropriate then?
HP: Yeah, there’s a lot of different versions floating around of why the hell we named ourselves that, but I think that one’s the best. We’re not that loud.
Kelsy Burke lives in Lawrenceville with her partner and seven pets and is a PhD student in the Sociology and Women’s Studies departments at the University of Pittsburgh. She writes mostly about conservative evangelicalism and sexuality.
Illustration courtesy Dan Wyke © 2009, 2010
