The Postelles are living the dream. Four friends from Columbia Prep high school get together, have a genuine rock star produce their album, tour the world and pull down praise from five year olds and grannies alike.
They are currently in the studio finishing up their first full length. Before they could even begin digging into brunch, the Postelles were fielding multiple interviews. I sat down with Billy Cadden and John Speyer to take some uncomfortable photos and hear about their SXSW – which was only about 45 minutes old. Here’s what I learned.
Who they’re seeing: M. Ward and Department of Eagles
Who they would want to play with: Department of Eagles, or Dan Auerbach.
Most Excited About This non-musical activity: take a segway tour
SXSW Stories: none yet, “but we’re going to make some,” says John.
Fair enough. We took a segue of a different kind and discussed the epic year the Postelles just had. They released an EP last spring, introducing their take on good ol’ rock ‘n’ roll. The Postelles brand of garage pop brings out the youthful energy of past masters like the Beatles or a hard-charging early Rolling Stones. Their happy blast of high powered, catchy riff is easy to like. Billy says when the band was snowballing press this year, his grandmother got a call from one of her fellow seniors who had listened to them and loved it. At the same time, he says five and seven year olds have been to known to break out into uncontrollable jumping and dancing at the sound of the Postelles.
Billy says the EP “has the most embarrassing album art ever,” and which he also shot. Thankfully, John notes, “we just want to make songs,” and that seemed to be enough to gain notice from Albert Hammond Jr. of The Strokes. He signed on to produce the forthcoming single, which is about halfway finished.
As for surprises on the new album, John jokes, “It’s going to be surprisingly amazing.” Chicanery aside, both say the extra time and money spent on this new record has allowed them to fully realize their vision. Compared to the two-day whirlwind they spent in the studio for the EP, this latest session is a luxury yacht.
Fans looking for a Postelles fix will be glad to hear that Billy has grand ambitions for their online presence. He says they’ll be blogging and tweeting and all MyFacing their upcoming album release tour. Consider this an opportunity alert for our readers and check them out whenever possible.
Words and photos by Jacob Cottingham
