Q&A with Speedy Ortiz’s
Sadie DuPuis

Massachusetts’ Speedy Ortiz are one of the most exciting guitar bands to emerge in the past few years. Ignoring the reverby haze that plagues many of their guitar-wielding peers, Speedy Ortiz breathe new life into an old form by, well, writing cool songs. Fronted by the witty Sadie DuPuis, a onetime MIT student with a degree in poetry from Barnard, the band has a knack for sidewinding, concise pop jams.

This Friday, Speedy Ortiz are set to open for tUnE-yArDs at this year’s Live on King Street kickoff. The show is likely to be one of the summer’s best and I think it’s worth mentioning: the show is FREE. Do the right thing here, guys.

In advance of the King Street date, Jonk Music was fortunate to speak with Sadie DuPuis on her birthday (our sincerest apologies, Sadie) to talk about indie rock heroes, band rules, and orange soda. 

Looks like right now you guys are in a bit of a tiny — i.e. two week — lull in your touring schedule. What do you do to cool down or relax during those times?
“I’ve been going swimming for at least an hour every day and trying to write a song a day! I guess I’m not being that active though because I haven’t really left the house or seen anybody…”

Earlier this year, you released your Real Hair EP. You’ve mentioned in interviews that the EP sounds a bit more polished or expansive. Is that a direction you’d like to head in with the next release?
“Honestly we recorded that EP in like two days, so any more ‘expansive production’ is pretty minor. But we do have two singles coming out this year and those are a bit less guitar orientated. They definitely still sound like they came from a guitar band, but they feature more piano and keyboards and weird little production things. We’re all into those kinds of things and the reason our recordings have been so live sounding in the past is because we didn’t have any money to pay for lots of studio time. Now that we have a tiny budget to work with, we’re hoping to do things that are a little bit more interesting or layered.” 

You guys have been pretty prolific with your releases, both LPs and EPs since forming. Is that something you make a point to do or does it just happen?
“It probably seems like we’re prolific due to the long times between recording and releasing stuff. We finished Major Arcana in 2012 and it didn’t come out ’til summer of 2013 and all the Real Hair stuff was actually written before Major Arcana came out. But, we’re definitely not one of those bands that’ll put out a four-song EP and tour for four years.” (laughs)

You have played shows with some of indie rock’s heavyweights: Stephen Malkmus, The Breeders, Thurston Moore. What else do you need to do, really?
“Well, this week we’re doing shows with Guided by Voices and Dinosaur Jr.” (laughs) “So basically we’re not doing much to rid ourselves of the ’90s comparisons…”

What’s it like to open for acts that you admire? Do you still get a bit giddy about it?
“With someone like Thurston, who we’ve known through living in Northampton, it just never hit us in a crazy way. Pretty much with all those bands we’ve toured with, they’re just groups of really awesome, funny, nice people. It’s really gratifying that they’re people you grew up loving and then they invite your band to play with them.

“Anytime we get news of something big or cool happening, we’re usually on tour so it’s like, ‘Yeah we’ll do that. That seems cool.” But I think when I’m home, all of it seems way bigger.” 

Are there any methods you use in tailoring your set for festival audiences or people that perhaps haven’t heard your music before?
“We try not to think about things in that way. We try to just play the songs and get into the feeling of whatever that song may be. This year we did both Primavera and Bonnaroo so we’ve been cutting our teeth on the bigger stages a bit.”

One of the most exciting things about your songs, in my opinion, is their unpredictable nature. They’re dynamic things where passages lead into unexpected bursts of noise or shifts in tempo. Basically, they don’t sound bound by any rules.
“Funnily enough, everything I play has been demoed or mapped out at some point. I’m not a super confident improviser. That said, I think I do enjoy having spontaneous sounding moments in the songs, moments that might be surprising to some listeners.”

Are there any “rules” of Speedy Ortiz? Both on the road or in studio…
“There aren’t any conscious ones… I guess ‘don’t be boring.'” (laughs) “On tour it can be hard to not be boring so we try to stay energized by reading or listening to podcasts. We’ve all toured for so long that none of us are losing our minds or anything. As long as we’ve got an orange soda backstage, we’re pretty good to go.”