Interview with
Tim Pagnotta
Sugarcult

Amy: Can you please tell us your name and what you do in the band?
Tim: I’m Tim Pagnotta and I sing and play guitar.

Amy: At what age did you start playing?
Tim: I started singing and playing guitar when I was like, I would say singing when I was like 18, 18 and a half. But I started playing guitar when I was 17.

Amy: What was your first gig like with Sugarcult?
Tim: The first gig was at a coffee shop because I first wrote all my songs on acoustic and that’s never changed. All most all of the songs that I try to write, you know with the band are on acoustic. So I thought well it’s since they are born on an acoustic and they are probably, I’m just an acoustic songwriter. You know, I’m one of those kinda guys cos. I’ve never played in a band. I thought people that were in bands with a lot of electric you know, distorted qualities to their music. I thought well then they must write on electric guitars and must be how their songs are born. So it was under a different impression. So I played acoustic at a coffee shop with a couple of guys and it was called Sugarcult.

Tim Pagnotta

Lex: At what point did you realise you could make a career out of being in a band?
Tim: At what point did I think...? You know, it was like 1994, 1993 and I was at Lollapalooza and I was watching this band called the Smashing Pumpkins play. And when they were playing a song and it was one of my favourite songs they played and I, it wasn’t because the band was so good. I mean there was just a moment of the concert, you know just attending the concert, I was totally caught in the moment and I thought I’m gonna play in a band for my life. That’s gonna be my thing. Some people are doctors, some are firemen. I’m gonna be a musician and that’s the point I decided I was gonna play music for a career.

Lex: Who are your rock music heroes?
Tim: Rock music heroes? It’s funny, I don’t really have many. But if I were to say it would be the obvious like John Lennon. I like musicians that are a little more than just good at music. I like people that can kind of, they write good songs because it comes from a well of lots of other ideas that they could be good at and John Lennon was like really good communicator. I like Elvis Costello too. He’s really good to interview you know. He’s very articulate. He’s funny, he’s all the things I’m not and wished I was. Except for the teeth. I’ll save my teeth.

Lex: You’ve played with some really cool bands, who would you like to tour with who you haven’t already?
Tim: Well it’s coming up, Green Day. It’s been a band I’ve always wanted to tour with.

Sugarcult

Amy: How do your American fans compare with your British fans?
Tim:British fans to American fans? Well almost very similar except they say (in dodgy English accent) “Can you sign my plectrum?” cos we call them picks. And they go (in dodgy English accent again) “Can I have your badge?” and we say pins or button. Other than that, pretty similar. I think that they are a little bit more resilient to standing out in the cold. In America they whine and whimper when it’s cold outside. In here you guys are a custom to like the cubing. A cold, cold dark place. And you queue up so early, why is that?
Amy:I think it’s because a lot of the bands go around.
Tim:Are walking around during the daytime?
Amy:And they want to meet them.
Tim:And you wanna see and meet the band. Yeah, that’s a good idea.

Lex: What tips would you give to bands starting out?
Tim: I think a lot of bands are, well a lot of new bands I think are really concerned with like what type of genre their band will fall into. When it’s really about consistently having good songs. So I would say to a new band, find out what it is about the bands that you like. You have to start somewhere and it usually starts when you have a favourite band that helps, that kinda inspires to or empowers you to think you wanna play in a band also. That’s the way it was with me. The find out

what they’re into. Then from there, hopefully it comes from a place of some decent song writing. I think a lot of times too when I hear demos, the band is trying to pull out all their magic tricks and in a 3 minute song you know, and when you think of like bands that record solid records, they’ll only pull out about 25% of their tricks on a 12 song album. And they’ll wait to their 6th record or their 5th record or maybe never do it in their last (…..) band to really show that their, I guess like their dynamic range of how proficient they are in their instrument or how well they can sing. I mean there is a lot of musicians out there that I know of that like in their music is really simple but their guitar player in the band will be like an amazing, amazing guitarist. But it never shows because they play for the song. Same with singers too. There’s so many singers I know are capable of really singing complicated stuff with the really high range, but they sing with what’s most appropriate with the band.

Amy: What tips would you give a band that can’t get a song together?
Tim: Then go into managing bands or for a record company.

Amy: What makes you bounce off the walls?
Tim: Avocados, girls with boy shorts, let’s see what else... Old spice, deodorant, omelettes.  Let’s see what else... clean bunk in the bus. Clean laundry, clean socks.

Amy: If you could be any cartoon character, who would you be?
Tim: Kermit the frog.
Amy: why?
Tim: Greens my favourite colour and it’s not easy being green.

Amy: What’s the hardest thing you’ve had to endure or overcome whilst being in Sugarcult?
Tim: Last year I was having problems with my ears and that was really scary cos I thought, we’re gonna not have to play anymore. I was really scared. Thought we were gonna have to cancel playing live all the time, yeah.

Lex: What’s in the future for Sugarcult?
Tim: Well we’re gonna go and tour with greenday and when we get back and after that we’re gonna do an headline tour. Then after that make our own record, another record.

Amy: Do you have any unfulfilled ambitions?
Tim: Unfulfilled ambitions (long pause). Yeah, I want a gold record. Yeah I want a gold record so I can order a bunch od copies and send them to everyone that ever doubted our band.

Amy: That’s it finished.
Tim: Cool, thank you.

www.sugarcult.com

THIS INTERVIEW IS COPYRIGHTED PLEASE ASK PERMISSION IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO USE IT