Indie Rocks Biggest Crush: A Conversation with Supercrush
Photo by Brandynn Leigh, courtesy of stereogum.com
To anyone paying attention to the Pacific Northwest’s independent music scene, Supercrush should already be a mainstay of your listening catalog. If not, take this as a sign to make them one. With their 2020 full-length release, SODO Pop, Supercrush has solidified themselves as a staple of Seattle, power-pop excellence. The brainchild of lead vocalist and chief songwriter, Mark Palm, the group combines bright guitar riffs with danc-y shoegaze and nostalgic pop-punk influences for a vaguely ‘90s sound that is warmly welcome in today’s indie rock landscape.
Supercrush took to the road early this winter to tour SODO Pop. After their triumphant show at the Olympic venue in downtown Boise, Idaho, three of the band’s four members, lead singer and guitarist Mark Palm, bassist Phil Jones, and guitarist Sean Meyer sat down with me for a quick chat.
This interview was conducted in a backroom at The Manor, in Caldwell, Idaho. Drummer Colin Much is unfortunately absent, he was dealing with an urgent Hot Pockets matter in the kitchen. If you missed their winter tour, check out the band’s recent collaboration with Wastoids.
Photo by Trevor Novatin, courtesy of Supercrush Instagram.
AM: You are from the Seattle area, the big legacy of grunge that comes out of Seattle, do you think that influences your sound? Do you think it helps or hinders the band to come from that legacy?
Mark Palm: I was a big fan of that stuff when I was a teenager, it was some of the first music I got into when I was twelve or thirteen years old, it definitely influenced me to play music in the first place. As far as Supercrush goes, that grunge sound influenced our first seven inch, I think those first two songs are a little more grunge-oriented. On the new album, SODO Pop, “I Didn’t Know We Were Saying Goodbye” is more of the fuzzy, grunge kind of sound. I do not think it hinders the band, if anything, it is a good thing. People associate you with a certain geographic legacy.
AM: Separately you come from backgrounds of punk and hardcore, how did you land on the sound of Supercrush? How have those separate backgrounds influenced the band?
Mark Palm: I arrived on the sound of Supercrush by going back to some of my earliest musical influences before I got into punk. When I was a preteen, I was into grunge and alternative rock, and some of the stuff that was happening on the east coast of Canada in the early ‘90s. How does being into punk and hardcore influence Supercrush, it does not manifest itself so much in the music but I think in the way we operate. We are definitely coming from a DIY background, that is still a fundamental aspect of the band. For example, Phil records most of our records, I do all the design work for the records, I still book some of the shows, stuff like that. It is very much a DIY, punk ethic behind what we are doing, even if the music is not especially punk.
Photo by Tommy Calderon, courtesy of Supercrush Instagram.
AM: You have been compared to some ‘90s bands like The Lemonheads, do you think that is an accurate comparison?
Mark Palm: We have talked about this before actually, I do like The Lemonheads but they were not one of the primary influences on Supercrush. We get that comparison all the time and it makes sense.
Phil Jones: I think it is only more recently that you have found Lemonheads material that you particularly are willing to listen to.
Mark Palm: That is true. Phil made me watch a bunch of live footage on YouTube. That made me appreciate them in a different way. The studio albums are a little more polite sounding and when I saw the live footage they were definitely more of a rock band than the records might have you believe. I do not take any offense to The Lemonheads comparison.
AM: Do you think the effects of Covid and the changes it has made to the music industry are permanent? What are some of the changes you have seen, good or bad?
Mark Palm: This is our first tour back since everything got shut down, we are still learning what things are going to be like moving forward.
Phil Jones: We are very happy to air on the side of caution so we can keep traveling. It seems like a lot of venues are also happy to air on the side of caution because they want their staff to keep working. Most people we run into really want live music to keep happening. Maybe some people do not like to come to shows where they have to show a vax card or a recent test or wear a mask. Maybe that will go away someday but for now, just doing what we can to play is pretty easy and worth it.
Sean Meyer: It might be a benefit to the true lifers that we weeded out some of the wimps.
Mark Palm: That is true actually. There are a lot of bands that have rethought their life direction during the last two years. I know people, in the last two years, that have had their first child. Now that music is possible again they are on a different life path.
Phil Jones: There have also been a ton of bands that started during Covid that have had more time to think about it, get it together, and start playing after a lot of downtime.
Photo by Tommy Calderon, courtesy of Supercrush Instagram.
AM: Last question for you, who are you listening to right now?
Phil Jones: I definitely have not made everybody listen to The Beths enough in the van yet.
Sean Meyer: We have concocted a total ‘90s pop-rock list of undeniable hits. Everything you think would be on it is on it, they have brought a lot of joy to the trip.
AM: Who is on it?
Mark Palm: Third Eye Blind “Semi-Charmed Life.”
Phil Jones: That might be the most undeniable ‘90s rock hit.
Sean Meyer: It’s been hard to beat but “Stacy’s Mom” might be a close contender.
Phil Jones: I did make a playlist with some newer stuff. Waxahatchee, Big Eyes, Colleen Green.
Mark Palm: Yeah but are any of those better than “Semi-Charmed Life”?
This interview has been edited and condensed
