Interview with Drink Up Buttercup

Drink Up Buttercup left it all on stage Tuesday night for their final residency performance. The Bucks County four piece treated enthusiastic fans to an intense 30 minute set complete with psych-pop synth, Roger Waters-esque circa 1968 basslines, and vocals with so much energy they'll make your head explode. We had a chance to catch up with Jim Harvey (whos list of roles include lead singer, guitar, walkie-talkie specialist, and opera sound extrordiaire) to get in a little Q&A before they head back into the studio to continue work on their debut and embark on a trip to NYC for their Piano's residency. So take a minute to educate yourselves and feel the mysterious power that is Drink Up Buttercup.

Jukebox Future: What's the origin of the band name?
Jim Harvery: I wanted the band name to be something that was as deceiving as the music is perverted. I saw somewhere on a blog that we are supposed to be "much tougher than we sound" so I think it's working!

JF: How did the band get to their current state; any lineup changes?
JH:Most of the songs that we play have been around since the Summer of 2006. I started playing them solo for a while, played around with a few different people, but the current lineup solidified in March of 2007. Even with the same songs the sound grew to something totally different with the current lineup, so I'd say that's when Drink Up really started.

JF: What bands influenced you growing up?
JH: Whatever was on the radio for me, whatever I listened to for my brother. Ben and Mike are rooted in the classic rock bands, but have a super diverse bank of music that I can't even begin to spit off.

JF: Any current bands influence you?
JH: The bands that we are friends with tend to push us along.

JF: What's your favorite Philly venue?
JH: The Fire. It was the home of our first residency, and has since become our home base in Philly. Great people, great sound, great scene, and the perfect aesthetic: not too sterile but not dirty.

JF: Any cool road stories you'd like to share?
JH: We, like most bands, have had a hard time getting our merch together. On our first trip to Penn State we had Mike remedy this situation by hand drawing on a bunch of plain white t-shirts with sharpie markers. He made these ultra-violent images, but at the same time they looked like a bunch of demented first graders made them. We decided to ride that wave and convinced the young lady running the merch table that they were in fact made by our first grade fans. She bought our story, convinced everyone who came to the table that this was the case, and we sold all of our t-shirts!

JF: What has been your biggest challenge as a band?
JH: Loving playing shows as much as we do, but having to deal with the fact that Ben and I work full time and Michael is still in high school.

JF: If the band turned into Survivor, who gets kicked off first and why?
JH: Me (Jim) I'd wanna go home and party by 3PM day one.

JF: What's in heavy rotation on your iPods right now?
JH: Mothers of Invention, Bucks County bands, Iggy and The Stooges, Cake, Bowie, early Pink Floyd, The Unicorns

JF: Describe your sound in 5 words or less.
JH: Throwing up after a carnival ride. That's six, but "a" doesn't really count, does it?

JF: Would you be content with becoming a one-hit-wonder if it meant you made millions of dollars?
JH: Not really, we'd rather make the kind of money we make now and do music full time. That would be pretty ideal.

JF: Time for the lightning round...Ad Lib: I______when I hear______.
JH: I giggle when I hear chode rock.

JF: What kind of groupies can a band at your level get?
JH: The kind that our girlfriends/potential girlfriends would hate just enough...

JF: At what point do you say....hmmm maybe I can just get into construction?

JH: We're already doing that, we're trying to get out of it and do this!

JF: Are record labels (majors) relevant any more?
JH: We wouldn't throw them out of bed.

JF: Biggie or Pac?
JH: Wu-tang.

Catch Drink Up Buttercup's next performance at their favorite venue, The Fire, during Northern Liberties Fest on February 16th.