Speedy Ortiz
By John B. Moore

What started out as a solo project for Boston – by way of New York – musician Sadie Dupuis has quickly evolved into a full-blown four-piece band. Speedy Ortiz, bringing to mind some of the best bands from the 90’s like The Pixies, Pavement, the Breeders –has a knack for putting great lyrics over a wall of guitar swirls with quick dynamic shifts.

This signature is all over Major Arcana, the band’s first full length.

Comprised of singer/guitarist Sadie Dupuis, drummer Mike Falcone, guitarist Matt Robidoux and bassist Darl Ferm, the group was kind enough to talk recently about coming together, their new record and why Boston is such a great music scene for DIY bands.

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How did the focus of Speedy Ortiz change once you added a full band?

Sadie: “Speedy Ortiz the solo project” was pretty short lived—maybe two months, with no live shows – and I don’t really consider those releases as definitive Speedy Ortiz anymore. We considered changing
the name from Speedy Ortiz once it was a full band, but for whatever reason never did and then it felt too late. Once we became a full band, which was a year and a half ago, we learned a few of the old “solo” songs but for the most part set right to work on arranging new songs together. I write more intentional guitar parts now that we have to play the songs live, because when I record at home there’s a lot of sloppy and half-assed improvisation. I try to write things that will be fun to play with Matt as the other guitarist, and the structures are more malleable to suggestions from the rest of the band. There’s
no system of checks-and-balances when you’re playing and recording everything yourself.

How did you guys meet each other?

Matt: We met through our respective defunct rock groups that were more or less in the same northeast scene. Darl joined shortly thereafter, and it became a more collaborative process. The focus quickly changed into doing as much as we possibly could all the time.

Mike: Sadie’s band Quilty and my band Ovlov often shared bills at shows booked by Darl at Wesleyan. I didn’t know Matt until we played together in Speedy. I don’t think any of us realized it would turn into our full-time band when we started playing.

Did you consider keeping it just a solo project rather than a full band?

Sadie: I would never consider taking a solo project very seriously because I’m a shitty solo performer and I don’t find it fun or rewarding. It’s really anxiety producing for me.

Mike: I saw Sadie’s one-off solo set recently, and I could tell she wasn’t totally feelin’ it. I think we all prefer playing in bands to solo projects.

Boston obviously has a fantastic music scene. How has the band benefited from that scene?

Darl: The music coming from Boston, particularly Allston and Jamaica Plains, is some of my favorite music and I’m sure has become a subconscious influence. It’s great to play with your favorite bands.

Matt: Boston’s one of the best scenes in the U.S. We started playing a lot at the height of the basement show boom in Boston when it seemed like there were 10 house shows a night in Allston. Things have
changed in the past few months with lots of these venues getting shut down, but the Boston scene is still as vibrant as ever. I’m personally indebted to the Boston DIY scene for how it’s shaped me as
a musician and person.

Sadie: Part of the reason I moved to Massachusetts from New York was I loved Boston bands like Grass is Green and Pile. It’s really nice that my favorite bands happen to be comprised of my friends and I can see them play regularly. I also don’t have to lie and be like, “Great set, man!” to sucky bands with nice people, which I had to do a looooot when living in New York.

This is your first full- length. Were most of these songs written specifically for this record or had you been working on some for a while?

Darl: It’s a bit of both. Some of the songs were written and played before I joined the band, while other songs, such as “Plough,” were written shortly before we recorded. Luckily, the songs don’t sound
disjointed because of this.

Sadie: Before we settled on “Plough” as the title for the penultimate song on the album, its working name was “Track 9” because, duh, we needed a ninth song.
Mike: “MKVI” is an oldie. It used to be titled “Mark VI.” Buster (Sadie’s dog) has a solo on the original version.

Do you guys all share similar influences? Any influences that would surprise people?

Matt: Moth Cock.

Darl: A lot of hip-hop. J Dilla, 9th Wonder, DJ Premiere.

Sadie: I just wrote a song the other day that has Get Up Kids section followed by Katy Perry section followed by Rob Crow section. Mike always accuses me of writing country songs and I think that’s bullshit. Fuck you, Mike.
Mike: Oh puh-leeze. I only said that about “Basketball,” which is totally a country song. It’s just missing the steel guitar. There are times when all four of us have completely different bands in mind. Not
always rock music. The complete list of bands would be very long and boring.

How did you connect with Carpark Records?

Matt: Todd Hyman [the label’s owner] came to one of our shows during a snowstorm in Somerville.

Sadie: They e-mailed us ZZ Top music videos and then we faxed them back a signed contract.

What’s next for the band?

Sadie: We’re touring the U.S. for July and August. My summer tour goals are to visit the Rothko Chapel in Houston, the John Ashbery bridge in Minneapolis, and not forget to eat garlic.

Mike: Gaining lots of chub weight. Pizza and nachos.

Matt: A lot of touring, more of what we’ve been doing, new songs and figuring out how to balance other aspects of life with the band.

Purchase Major Arcana here:
http://store.carparkrecords.com/products/514163-speedy-ortiz-major-arcana