Pigeon Spins Featuring an Interview with Furlough

Furlough Fridays - Teen Aproval

New single "Teen Approval", is a fast, fiery anthem about craving approval while rejecting it all the same — a post-grunge rush for anyone who remembers being loud, messy, and alive.

Drummer - JP Bergmann

Guitar - Adam Yates

Bass - Meagan Yates

Singer - Minnie Mental

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Interview with Furlough Fridays

(•)> What pushed you to write Teen Approval?

Typically our songwriting process starts with Adam. He plays a cool riff, and then JP will start jamming to it on drums. If our singer feels inspired, she'll usually come up with something pretty quickly. That was the case for this song. It came together effortlessly and just felt right. The energy was super "grungey" and reminded us of some of our favorite bands from back in the late 90's, when we were all teenagers. Our singer let that resonate, and she wound up reflecting on her own experiences during that time, and that's how the lyrics fell into place.

(•)> How do you balance craving approval and rejecting it at the same time?

From our singer, Minnie Mental - I'm really channeling my 16 year old self in this song. I struggled a lot with rejection and anger during that time. I craved approval, but I feared rejection, so I rejected a lot of things I wanted to protect myself from being hurt. It was cooler to be angry and mean, and act like I didn't care. But deep down I cared a lot. What I didn't understand was the importance of my own approval of myself. This song is an acknowledgement of that. 

(•)> What does “post-grunge” mean to you in this song’s context?

When we first wrote this song, it reminded us of a lot of bands we liked back in the 90's, when grunge style rock was super popular: Pixies, Nirvana, Alice in Chains, Garbage... This is somewhat a throwback to that, with a little of our own Furlough Fridays flare to it. 

(•)> How did you capture that loud, messy, alive energy in the studio?

We usually record all of our songs DIY in our practice space. We all play live together to capture a solid drum take, and then we record all the rest of our parts over the top of that. For our most recent releases, we have been working with a local company called Sound Source AV that specializes in live concert recordings. They've been able to help us capture, produce and mix an even better representation of our high energy live sound. 

(•)> Which lyric sums up the heart of Teen Approval?

From our singer, Minnie Mental - "It didn't matter...matter to you" is the conclusive lyric at the end of the chorus. Many would probably assume I am singing about someone else, but it's really self reflection. My older self is calling out my 16 year old self. I wasted so much of my own time and energy not loving and accepting myself, and caring too much about what other people thought of me. But I only have myself to blame. It didn't matter to me back then, but it does now.  But it is about more than me. It's about anyone struggling with self acceptance. This is my message to them.  

(•)> Was there a specific moment or feeling that sparked the song? 

Not particularly, but when the vocals took shape, we all felt that it had somewhat of a nostalgic vibe about it. Most of the songs we write are pretty upbeat. This one came with attitude and angst. Reminded us of a super good Garbage song or something.

(•)> How does Teen Approval connect to where you are as an artist right now? 

We're really just playing the same style of music we grew up on when we were kids. This song is somewhat of an homage to that era, and the mindset we were in at that time. Edgy, angsty, moody, and raw AF. The only difference is that now, we're not really that moody. We're typically pretty happy about rocking out with our friends. 

(•)> What do you hope people remember after hearing it? 

That it rocked, and they want to hear it again! For kids, we hope it resonates with them and what they are going through. For people our age, we hope it brings them back to a simpler time and reminds them what it was like to sit in your room, blasting heavy music from your CD playing boombox. 

(•)> How does it hit live compared to the recording?

We hope that when we play this song live, people are hit with the raw, loud and passionate energy that we feel when we are playing it. It seems to be well received at shows. It's not a very long song, which is what we strive for. We always want to leave people wanting more.  

(•)> In three words, describe the Teen Approval experience.

Raw. Moody. Nostalgic.