Getting to Know. . . THE WINTERPILLS
 by Kathy S-B  ·  10 September 2007

Thickly layered melodies. Intriguing lyrics. Melancholy at its best. It s impossible to listen to a Winterpills album and not be moved in some way, shape, or form. All Music Guide refers to their music as “sadcore.” You ve got to love it and you ve got to love the fact that front man, Philip Price, has a real knack for writing exquisite songs that evoke a myriad of different emotions but which ultimately reach out to the listener and dispense hope and nurturance through beautiful sonic interplays between voice and acoustic and electrified instruments. Take a moment and check out the video the band made for their lovely song “Benediction” from their debut album, or my particular favorite called “Laughing.”

You can get a taste of their newest CD, “The Light Divides,” and listen to the entire album here. Thanks to Philip Price for taking the time to answer these questions.

The thing that struck me most upon my first introduction to your music was the inspired vocals. Melancholy tears through so many of your songs. Here’s a weird question then. . . does singing these songs make you happy?

Insofar as catharsis is happiness, I suppose they do. but singing isn’t always cathartic. There are times when a song is written as a catharsis to a painful event, but performing it actually re-opens the wound in a sense. I guess if you are the type of personality that picks at scabs then singing the songs can make you happy.

In general singing makes me happy, there is no doubt about that. it feels good to sing.

I’ll bet that you have met fans who have told you how important your songs are to them. You’ve tapped into a very distinctive sonic-folk style of music that can be very hypnotic and intoxicating. Do you have any interesting stories about fans who have been touched by your music?

Maybe the one that knocked me the most flat was someone who wrote me telling me about their severe illness and how our music had inspired them, and gave voice to their pains and fears, and gave them succor, and asking for permission to use our songs at their funeral service. Fortunately I learned this person had a procedure that gives them a much better chance for the future, so I certainly hope that our songs won’t be necessary at any funeral service — but it was incredibly flattering to learn that something I’d written had touched someone so deeply.

If you had to compare and contrast your two albums and describe each of them in only a few words, how would you go about doing that? What could the uninitiated Winterpills fan hope to discover upon listening?

First one is more spare. we were trying to capture what we did live, without too much fuss. the next one was constructed more in the studio, many songs had no arrangements when we went in. imagine a slow growing garden. the first one was a bare patch with an empty beer can and bag of peat moss. the next one, there were some vines and weird purple things growing, and flowers that only bloom at night and smell strange and make you want to cry. the next one will be set in a welders shop.

I see that you have ABBA listed as an influence. I don’t think I’ve seen anyone cite them as an influence before but the more I think about it, the more it makes sense to me. . . but I like your music a lot better. Ever think about covering an ABBA tune and freaking everybody out at a show?

We have actually, we just haven’t ever gotten around to it. At least most of us really love ABBA, not in camp way at all. They were brilliant pop songwriters and arrangers. I could only hope to ever write a song as good as “Knowing Me Knowing You.”