The Pomps' Alex Stern Talks Bottom of The Pomps, His New Metal/Hardcore Project, Mastering 100+ Guitar Melodies & Much, Much More (The Witzard Interview)

Just about a month ago, Bearded Gentlemen Music scribe and Twitter personality Dane Jackson (parody) (@almightydanish) alerted his oodles of trusty Followers, and I paraphrase, they "should totally check out The Pomps' "Ska-ellar" new album, Bottom of The Pomps." So, we obviously dropped everything we were doing and immediately went and checked out Bottom of The Pomps and, indeed, totally loved it! It was released on rapidly-growing Alameda, California-based Ska/Ska Punk label Bad Time Records, who has very recently issued albums and EP's from We Are The Union, CATBITE, JER, The Suicide Machines & Coquettish, DISSIDENTE, Joystick!, FOLLY & The Best of The Worst, Eichlers, and Abaskadabra.

Then, one thing led to another and soon enough, we had gotten in direct contact with The Pomps' founding member, vocalist, and guitarist Alex Stern (Big D & The Kids Table, The Inevitables, The Sterns,) via email transmission. Stern and I got a chance to discuss everything from Bottom of The Pomps to his upcoming Metal/Hardcore side-project with Big D drummer Alex Brander. The Pomps' Bottom of The Pomps is now available digitally, as well as a number of dazzling black/purple-colored vinyl variants, from Bad Time Records. Check out our latest interview with Alex Stern down below the break, which has been lightly edited for general clarity.


I. Who are the various members of The Pomps and what is each member's role within the band?

Alex Stern: Alex Stern - guitar, lead vocals; Casey Gruttadauria - organ, piano, synth; Jameson Hollis - rhythm and lead bass; Zak Kahn - drums, percussion.

II. How would you say The Pomps' overall sound, style, musical approach, etc. has grown and evolved since your last album, 2013's Top of The Pomps?

Stern: In the beginning, we were more of an explicitly 2-Tone/Ska revival project. We've still kept that as the basis for what we do, but we're no longer concerned if the sounds that our instruments make are conventionally correlated with that genre. Also, as we've aged, we feel less inclined to fill up every beat of every measure and we're just generally in less of a hurry. Lastly, while I don’t think I'll ever be an unbridled optimist, I no longer am purposely snuffing out any positivity that inadvertently hits our lyrics.


III. What significance do your collection of between-albums EP's, Indie Rock Is Dying (2016,) The Smoking Pomps, Alternate America (2017,) and Drums & Liars (2019) serve within your catalog?

Stern: They kept the band together by giving us a reason to stay connected. They, also, have some of our best individual songs and gave us some opportunity to find the sound that backstops Bottom of The Pomps. A bunch of those songs still sound really great live and, maybe, one day, we will make a compilation of our best non-LP songs that is sequenced in a way that flows!

IV. Now, would you mind walking us through a bit of the writing, recording, production, creation, etc. processes related to the making-of Bottom of The Pomps?

Stern: Sure, it sounds dramatic, but in late 2021, I woke up in the middle of the night and just decided that it was really dumb that The Pomps [didn't] have a proper full-length (Top of [The Pomps] sort of lives on the line between "long" EP and "short" LP.) Even when we didn't spend much time together, we always functioned really efficiently and there was just [no] good reason for us to not have the definitive document of the band. I was prepared for there to be more internal politicking to get everybody on board, but in the end, we all agreed it was a pretty worthy goal. So, I just threw 10 random demos in a Dropbox [file] and started switching them out with newer songs as they were written.

Then, around Christmas, I caught some sort of non-COVID bug that kept me home for a few days without my family and I just went to town and demo'ed a large portion of the LP. We met up the weekend before we had studio time and just did as much pre-production as was reasonable and, then, hit Mad Oak Studios. We all played live and Jameson & Zak were done with their parts in two days; Casey & I did our overdubs and vocals over the course of four more days. We sent it to Matt Appleton to mix and that was that. It was, honestly, pretty pain-free. We just didn't hit any snags in the studio.

The sounds are great, but they're not unconventional or particularly deliberate. Rhythm guitar live through a Fender Twin-ish [Reverb guitar amp] thing. Lead guitar through an [VOX] AC30 [custom valve guitar amplifier] and a couple cool chorus pedals. Live organ through a Lesile [speaker]. Bass through a cool old Ampeg [Rocket bass guitar] combo [amp]. A perfectly tuned SJC [custom drum] kit that we dampened for "Fire In The Neighborhood" to make a loop that sounds like a drum machine. A little piano, a little synth. No big "moment" where we're all crowded around turning knobs and reversing triangle hits. Just a band playing.


V. What is the intended significance or relationship between the two album titles, Top of The Pomps and Bottom of The Pomps?

Stern: There isn't any significance. "Top of The Pomps" is kind of a dumb pun and we just turned it on its head. Though, I think "Bottom of [The Pomps]" works because the lyrical content is largely about contentment with and embrace of long odds.

VI. Who or what would you readily cite as some of your greatest sources of inspiration and influence while creating Bottom of The Pomps?

Stern: I think we're a band where influences get picked out post-facto. Many other bands have a playlist of inspiration cooking, but we don't. I think it's pretty clear that we like New Order, The Cure, [and] R.E.M. And I can definitely hear Thin Lizzy in some stuff, but, there is, also, Kraftwerk, The Upsetters, [The] Smoking Popes, The Housemartins, [and] The Slackers. When I was younger, I could imagine myself in the role of other people... of Joe Strummer [The Clash], Andy Partridge [XTC], etc., but, now, I just try to place myself in the role of an "ideal" Alex Stern. And that's a weird mix of shredding, crooning, punditry, arpeggiating, and shouting.


VII. How did you end up joining forces with Mike Sosinski & Brent Friedman at Bad Time Records to release Bottom of The Pomps?

Stern: Tim [Hildebrand] from CATBITE introduced [me] to Mike when I told him we were doing a new album. I've, actually, known Brent a little bit for a long time. They function efficiently in the same way that we do. Once there was a decision to do it, we just proceeded through the steps until we got to release day! I know a lot of Ska bands dream about working with them, so I wish I had more "lore" to share... but both sides took it seriously, while not letting the stakes ever get high. Their roster is definitely a family and even though we've got just a little Boston stand-offish-ness in us (Casey doesn't!), we're going to give being part of the family a real go!

VIII. What role did Ben "Benny" Grotto (SLAPSHOT, Stars & Stripes) play in the overall making-of Bottom of The Pomps?

Stern: Benny has been a friend of all of us for a long time. He's very opinionated, but I can, also, tell (like any good engineer/producer) that he is holding a lot of opinions back! He's a drummer, so, obviously, he's really good at getting great drum takes out of a band. He's, seriously, very professional and understands all of our instruments. This time was particularly cool because I think it's the first time he has shared my affinity for doubled vocals. He wouldn't consider himself the full "producer" of the project, but he did the most important thing that a producer can do: he got us out of the studio with a full record that we love on time and on budget. I, honestly, don't know if he even liked anything thing we were doing and I think that's great!


IX. We were wondering, have you ever thought about doing more releases in a similar vein as your 2017 EP, The Smoking Pomps, boasting covers of The Smoking Popes?

Stern: Yes, but I can't tell you because I want to keep the idea for myself...

X. Are there any immediate plans to tour behind Bottom of The Pomps?

Stern: As of now we have 10-ish shows booked, which, by our past standards, is a lot! We have kids, so we can't do the normal "baby" band thing where a bigger band gives you $250.00 a night to follow their bus in a hulking piece of sh*t van for six weeks... BUT we are very open to smaller packages with our friends and playing some of these songs live is so fun that we are willing to bend ourselves more than ever.


XI. Do you have any Ska/Reggae or even Punk, Hardcore, Pop-punk bands (new or old) you're currently listening to or digging that you would like to mention to our readership?

Stern: Let's do Boston stuff, because that's home. 1. TREE: Legendary Boston Hardcore band that just reunited. They were my first introduction to what I would call "real" Left-wing politics (not just "being a Democrat.") 2. The Shods: Lowell, Massachusetts band from the late 90's/early 00's. Amazing Power Pop-punk. Find "I Know A Place" on YouTube. It has a Ska part! 3. New Ska band called Pink Slip: very Poppy, fun [songs], also, playing with some aesthetics that I really dig (bass player was using an 80's-tastic [Epiphone Explorer] bass [guitar] when I saw them.) They covered 4 Non Blondes' "What's Up?" and killed a small room with it.

XII. What's next for The Pomps or any of your other non-Pomps side-bands?

Stern: We're gonna play shows! And we're going to record the follow-up early next year, if I have anything to say about it. Big D [& The Kids Table] is still touring our 2021 LP, DO YOUR ART, which makes sense, as it was a long LP with a big launch, but I'm pretty sure following that up is on the agenda, too. Westbound Train is getting its live operation back up. [The] Inevitables are writing. I've got a new Metal/Hardcore project that Alex Brander (Big D drummer) has organized that... it's really special. On a personal note, I've been compiling a list of, like, 100 or more guitar melodies and learning them in every key to drop into solos across every project. The [Pomps] release interrupted some of the practicing for that, but I'm looking forward to playing guitar a few hours a day soon.