Amidst strange times, a small band in Bushwick has gained a lot of traction in mere months. Pamphlets, a post-punk trio, have been laying low for the winter after a whirlwind summer – playing at various venues ranging from Bar Frida to Purgatory to TV Eye. Their debut single, “It Feels Like,” pokes fun at the dreary times we’re living in with playful lyrics backed by catchy guitar riffs. If you haven’t listened to it, check it out below:
Consisting of bassist Ben Griffin, drummer Daniel Pemberton, and guitarist/vocalist Jeremy Marquez, the three utilize their unique backgrounds to produce music that they wish to share with a larger audience. We were able to catch up with Pamphlets and discuss their persistence through the ebbs and flows of the pandemic while maintaining a nourishing creative space for themselves.
Where did it all begin? How did the three of you come together as Pamphlets?
DANIEL: How we came together as a band was fun. I met these guys by showing up at a show and just talking to them. They were very vocal about needing a drummer because they had a show in two weeks, and I happened to be a drummer.
JEREMY: I knew Ben for a couple of years, but we never did anything together. I was wanting to try a second band, so I looked on Craigslist. I saw a post looking for a guitarist and thought “This is probably Ben,” but I just went for it anyway. Right after I replied, he texted me asking if it was me that replied.
Ben, from what you told me, a post-punk band is what you were distinctly looking for?
BEN: I always wanted to do the post-punk sound cause that’s who I am as a bass player, and I like to write about that stuff. The only person that responded to the Craigslist ad was Jeremy.
Fontaines D.C. and Deeper were some of the bands you all took inspiration from. Would you say that has helped you all find common ground in your interests quicker than usual?
JEREMY: I think what’s working is that we have similar music tastes. This is also one of the first bands I’ve worked with where I can go “What’s that thing that this band does? Can we try that?” and everyone already knows what I’m talking about. We already know the kind of style and sound that we’re trying to go for.
BEN: In all my previous bands, we always talked about what our sound was. It’s so natural now that whatever we play, we like, even with the diversity that we have in our songs. I love that about us. The writing process flows. We’re bringing ideas from home. I always hated bands where the one dude comes in with parts for everybody.
DANIEL: Yep, that’s me. I’m the Brian Wilson of the band.
It was nice to see you guys in the Pamphlets practice space. The vibe felt very loose, but also very constructive. One of the things I noticed very quickly was how you’ll come up with lyrics for your songs. It felt like a playful word association game.
JEREMY: We’ll be jamming, and I’ll just say some random shit. If it sounds cool, then I’ll listen to the recordings, and from that figure things out. I try to figure out a theme or event around things. With the eventful times we’re in, there’s a lot to riff off of. I’m trying to write lyrics faster, actually. Sometimes there’s a line that sticks out to me, and then other lines sprout from that one. There’s no big change in the sound, there are just actual words attached to it now.
Is this how “It Feels Like” came to be?
BEN: Yup. Jeremy said that during a jam, and we all loved it. We just built the rest of the song off of that.
How are you all feeling about the single’s response so far?
JEREMY: I’m pretty surprised at the response so far.
BEN: The biggest return for me is seeing the playlists we get added to on Spotify, and what bands we get paired with in them.
DANIEL: It was a good way to get a feel of what the response would be. We don’t know where the dude is from, but someone was maintaining a Best of Post-Punk 2021 playlist, and had us in there. Our song was next to these bands that we love, and bands that we talked about when we first came together. It was a good way to see the scale of what we’ve done so far.
You played your last Pamphlets show of 2021 in November, along with Desert Sharks and Jelly Kelly. Is there anything specific the band is wanting to work on while you’re laying low?
JEREMY: After every show, we do a debrief. We’re always re-evaluating ourselves to see what we can do better. Not in a negative, deprecating way. For me personally, I wanna work on my stage presence more. I feel like we’re always going to be figuring it out.
Things are constantly shifting, especially these days. How are you feeling about the next big steps for Pamphlets overall?
BEN: I had other bands I was in, and I had songs that I wrote for them over quarantine. “It Feels Like” was one of them. I immediately sent it to Jeremy, he loved it, and it became the song over a weekend. The same happened to our songs “Creative Housing” and “Accidental”. The fact that I could bring that essence, then Jeremy and Dan bring in their ideas, we can jam with it, and it still matches what I wanted to do with those songs for years. Where I’ve wanted to go for the last two years is where I want to take us. Ultimately, I want to have an album out. Something physical that people can buy. I think we can get there, and starting with an EP is the next big step for us.
JEREMY: I feel like we’ve made such great progress in such a short amount of time. I think because don’t we want to hold onto that feeling for so long, we’re already thinking about what the next step is.
Photos by Stephen Zhmed and Tori-Lynne Davis.
Pamphlets can be streamed/purchased at Bandcamp.