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Pixies‘ Joey Santiago and Dave Lovering have spoken to NME about their new album ‘The Night The Zombies Came’, new bassist Emma Richardson and their top reunion tips for Oasis.
Their ninth album, released on Friday (October 25) follows on from 2022’s acclaimed ‘Doggerel’ and was recorded at Vermont’s Guilford Sound studios with regular second-era producer Tom Dalgety.
Boasting a loose zombie theme, with the undead, their victims and gun-toting heroes cropping up throughout, it’s also the first Pixies album to feature Richardson – best known as bassist and singer in Southampton’s Band Of Skulls – after previous bassist Paz Lenchantin left the band in March claiming that her departure was “a bit of a surprise to me as it is to many”.
Lovering described the band’s new line-up as “wonderful”.
“Emma’s a joy,” the drummer told NME. “She plays really well, she sings really well. She’s making us play well because of that. I think we’re on a different level.”
Santiago continued: “[We found her] through Tom Dalgety. Emma’s just a different beast. When I found out that we were getting Emma, a friend and I were watching videos of Band Of Skulls. I thought, ‘OK, I’ve had enough of this – I know she can play, let me see the interviews’. I saw the interviews and I go ‘OK, nice, well mannered’…she’s great. She’s got a great voice, she’s got the language of the bass for us.”
Check out our full interview with the alt-rock icons below, where Santiago and Lovering told us about the reasons for Lenchantin’s departure, their fascination with the undead, topping up guitar skills, album anniversary shows, and their advice for the returning Gallagher brothers.
NME: Hello Joey and Dave. Does it feel like a bit of a reset when you get a new bassist?
Dave Lovering: “I don’t know if it’s a reset for us, or if we feel like we’re having to start anew or be displayed anew or anything like that.”
Santiago “I am very concerned that I want [Emma] to be happy. But at the same time, I’m in my own little world where there’s a show, oh boy, I gotta get ready’.”
Why did Paz leave?
Santiago “My answer to that is, you’d have to ask her. Somedays she’ll know, but I don’t want to say.”
It was her choice? Was it a surprise?
Santiago: “It kinda was, I think.”
Lovering: “It was surprising but she can explain it better.”
You recorded at the same studio as on ‘Doggerel’ with Tom Dalgety again – have you found a routine that works?
Lovering: “I think there’s a comfort level, because we’ve done four albums with Tom and we’re all very comfortable with each other. We know him, he knows us and how to deal with us. We were at Guilford Sound [Vermont], which is the second time we’ve been there. From the comfort and experience we’ve had with the place, it was just much easier going in this time even though it was a spur of the moment, we weren’t planning it.
“We wanted to do a record and, not having a lot of the songs, a lot of the songs we did there, running them over in the residential area. The working environment was easy. The familiarity of it from last time was really nice. We knew the routine and we were into it.”
Santiago “We would have the blueprint, and where we lived in this residential place, we have a little drum kit set up, little lamps, and we would work through what we’re going to do in the day. Hopefully during that session, something comes new, something else. Sometimes it did. That little thing is very valuable to us.”
Joey, a bona fide guitar hero, spent time learning guitar ahead of this record…
Santiago: “Yeah I did, actually, I still do. My YouTube algorithm has turned into guitar lessons.”
It poses the question: is a better guitarist a technical one, or someone that makes the best noise for the song?
Santiago: “Yeah. I mean, there are other things I have to do. Those modes – the Lydian, the Myxolydian – those all evoke a certain mood. So that’s good to know but, at the same time, I’d rather bump into stuff. So when I’m doing that and I’m looking at it, I go, ‘What did I do to this song? Oh, I was in this mode, that’s why it sounds like that’. I’m analysing things too. I’m already doing that, but honestly, I’d rather bump into stuff.
“I don’t want full knowledge of that stuff, because I like to test it. It’s like me doing the day. I get out of the hotel room, there’s days I don’t want to know where I’m going.”
‘The Night The Zombies Came’ seems like the most thematically unified album since ‘Bossanova’ or ‘Trompe Le Monde’ – where did the zombie idea come from?
Santiago: “It must be subconscious, if it turned out that way. We were there in the fall, so leaves are dying in a spectacular way. Before they go, they’re saying, ‘Bye, bye’, going out in a blaze of glory. All that affects you, so it turned out that way.”
Joey – you wrote the lyrics for ‘Hypnotised’, a song of inner turmoil and anguish which could be read as a song from a zombie’s perspective…
Santiago: “I tried to write about another subject. I tried to write about it so many times and it just wasn’t working because it was very specific. It was for misophonia, which I have. I don’t like the sound of crunching at all. I have it and I know other people that have it. But it was just too specific. So, so I just started being more mysterious. It’s psychedelic. It’s a psychedelic experience.”
You also wrote the music for ‘I Hear You Mary’. How are you feeling about your enhanced writing role?
Santiago: “It’s weird. I was shocked that [Charles, aka Black Francis] wanted me to do another lyric for it. I think it was because it pricked my ears, ‘I like that one’. It’s fun to do lyrics. It’s really challenging. I have high respect for lyricists. I’m like 101 right now.”
Apparently he set you a task to write the lyrics in the sestina format…
Santiago: “You have to tag the word after each [line]. So you say ‘Blah blah blah, hello’, the next line has to be ‘Hello’, and then blah blah blah. Having limits makes it better.”
How was it playing ‘Bossanova’ and ‘Trompe Le Monde’ back-to-back on tour recently?
Santiago: “It was nice. Speaking for myself, talking about the guitar, I just found out how wacky they were. Crazy stuff that I want to tap into again.”
Are there any more plans for full album tours?
Santiago: “I’m sure that’s in our future.”
Lovering: “When [2014’s] ‘Indie Cindy’ becomes 20 years old or something.”
Santiago: “As a fan, I love those things. We went to ‘Aja’, the Steely Dan show. It’s incredible knowing that it’s going to be all of ‘Aja’ and right behind me were all the drummers – Danny [Carey] from Tool, Josh Freese, Pat Wilson were all behind me watching it. I’m just saying Steely Dan’s cool…The only thing about doing it in order is that Charles and I have to switch guitars. So there’s a lot of that going on, so it disrupts the show a little bit. But we like doing it.”
Have you got any tips for Oasis on how to make a reunion successful over the long term?
Santiago: “Just no physical violence. Insults are fine. Get sleep. If you’re going to get shitfaced, do it after the show.”
Should they record new albums?
Santiago: “No no no, that is the most stressful part. I don’t think they’re ready for that yet. I think that the biggest tip I could give Oasis is when they’re playing the Rose Bowl [Stadium, Pasadena, California], they should ask this band called the Pixies to open up for them.”
Pixies release ‘The Night The Zombies Came’ on Friday October 25, ahead of a 2025 UK and European headline tour. Visit here for tickets and more information.