Minimalist is one thing, Thread Pulls are another. With only two members, typically playing bass and drums and embellishing them with textural loops, they craft austere but accessible post-punk of a curiously noir variety. TD spoke to drummer Peter Maybury.
I heard a rumour that you’re the only Irish band ever to play ATP?
Yeah, well for a long time we definitely were, but I think Gemma Hayes might have played one in America since. Basically what happened was that Vincent Gallo was given some of our music by a friend of ours, and it just happened that he really liked it, so he asked us to play.
Was it conscious to leave out the traditional instrumentation?
We were originally a three-piece, but someone left, so we decided to keep it going with the two of us. I started playing drums and synthesizers, and Gavin had just got a trumpet, so he was interested in using that and experimenting with those sounds. We just pared it all back. And once you do that, it just seems to heighten your awareness of all the little sounds and all the details that shape the track.
Are you worried about sounding retro? The no-wave comparison pops up a lot.
I don’t know, that’s what other people say. Largely that’s not my record collection. It’s not the kind of musical background I come from. It’s just the sound that’s evolved. We’ve had all sorts of extraordinary references given. A guy last night told us we sound like Faithless. I think it’s fun.
Words: Karl McDonald
