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In a pit of despair?

Michael Angelakos is a pretty complicated character. Passion Pit, the band he formed just two years ago, are widely tipped for ‘big things’ this year, and yet he could hardly seem less happy. Moody and hirsute, he shuffles around the backstage area of the Bullingdon Arms before the gig, looking pretty out of place. He is something of an anomaly in this environment, failing to fulfil the typical stereotype of the touring musician. In his own words, ‘I don’t want to party man, I wish I did! Some guy just offered us MDMA? I just want to go back to the bus and sleep before the show.’

Passion Pit’s debut EP Chunk of Change grew out of six songs recorded in 2007 while Angelakos was in college in Boston, and was originally conceived as a Valentine’s Day present for his girlfriend. The music became popular among the student community and prompted Angelakos to take it more seriously. Though the music was born out of something

romantic, he is keen to underline that it is actually a pretty dark record.
It was the product of an unhappy time and he is fascinated by the manner in which the lyrical content of the album goes unnoticed by listeners, who assume it to be an exercise in sentimentality. ‘People listened to the last record and thought, oh sure, it’s pop music, it’s a love album. If you read the lyrics, this person is talking about how much of an asshole he is, and how much he wishes he could love his girlfriend as much as she loves him.’
He believes that the best pop music exhibits this dichotomy of light and dark. ‘Beautiful pop music invades your skull, it’s a powerful vehicle. A lot of the time we’re dealing with heavy subjects; thematically our music is dark. But because the vessel is sugar-coated pop music, people don’t understand what they’re receiving.’

It’s a phenomenon that Angelakos has obviously spent time thinking about; he is absorbed completely by his love of pop music, and seems to enjoy analysing what it is that’s effective about pop music in order to apply the theories to his own. It is a very scientific approach to music. ‘The idea of producing electronic music made sense to me because it’s so mathematical.’ Angelakos is known to be something of a perfectionist and has spent months in the studio trying to locate the right formulae for the band’s music. The early signs are that he has come close to success.

Angelakos started making the music that would become Passion Pit in 2007 in an attempt to lift himself out of a period of depression. ‘I needed something to help me rejuvenate myself, because I was pretty low.’ Perhaps his obsession with the dark side of music is the result of his own problems with depression; he admits that it colours everything he does. Unlikely many musicians with similar problems, he does not see music as a form of therapy, however. ‘I don’t see music as therapy, therapy is something that makes life easier, and all this just makes things a lot harder.’

Here, Angelakos underlines what makes him something of an enigma. He clearly loves music and always hoped to pursue a career in music, but now his band is really taking off, he seems unsure if he is entirely happy with the situation.

Onstage Passion Pit almost live up to the expectations which have been heaped on them by countless music journalists since the close of last year. The songs are generally excellent, often coming close, and the music throughout features a pulse strong enough to seduce the dancing feet of the most intransigent members of the crowd in the Bullingdon Arms. Angelakos admits before the show, however, that the band has played less than 50 shows together, and at times this is evident. Nonetheless the band’s debut album, released later this year, is likely to be great and should see Passion Pit justify the hype.

Things are looking good for Passion Pit, but is it making Michael Angelakos happy? ‘It’s a good thing,’ he sighs, ‘It is what it is,’ and lifting his hood over his head, he walks back to the bus to sleep before the show.

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