Written by
Kevin from
PagodaOnline.com
Reminiscent of such ground breaking bands as The Pixies and
Sonic Youth, Pagoda has already captured the ears of many alternative rock fans.
The band was formed in 2001 by Michael Pitt (The Dreamers, Hedwig and the Angry
Inch, Bully) and Ryan Donowho (TV's The O.C., Imaginary Heroes) and quickly
developed an underground following that is growing at a quick rate.
Michael Pitt started playing guitar when he was 18 and taught himself about
notes and chord progressions. "I just figured it out myself," he says. "I
couldn't read music or anything." One of the first songs he wrote was "Death to
Birth" which has since become Pagoda's most recognized song. Ryan Donowho, on
the other hand, was a well known bucket drummer in New York City when he was
discovered by a casting agent looking for someone to model Levi 501's in an ad
campaign. The band has went through many bassists, one of them being Aloke
member Christian Zucconi who filmed a video for Pagoda's song "The Happy Song."
Audiences got their first taste of Mike's musical ability on a collaboration
with The Twins of Evil for Bernardo Bertolucci's film "The Dreamers." He
recorded a cover of Jimi Hendrix's classic "Hey Joe" for the soundtrack and a
video directed by Bertolucci was featured on the DVD release. Shortly
thereafter, Pagoda contributed the song "Muskrat" to the film adaptation of JT
LeRoy's novel "The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things." Mike also had a short
role in the film as "Buddy", an absent minded but good intentioned southerner.
While Mike was in Portland researching the west coast music scene for his role
in Gus Van Sant's "Last Days", he ran into Jamie Kallend of the band Kallisti
strumming his guitar in the park. Mike asked if he could play, and Kallend was
so impressed that he invited him to play an open mic night that very day. After
the show, Mike recorded some of Kallisti's songs on a recorder he had been
traveling with and mixed them that same night. As fate would have it, the two
ran into each other again a few months later while Mike was back in town
visiting Gus. A few weeks later, Kallend was offered the position as bassist and
accepted.
The band posted an online flyer looking for a cellist and got minimal replies.
One of them was from Indigo Ruth Davis, a teenaged cellist from Vermont who
attends a Waldorf school that focuses on artistic pursuits and the uniqueness of
the individual. The band gave him "Sadartha" to noodle around over and convinced
them of his talents on the first run through. "He adds his own parts in his own
way instead of playing some sheet music he's been given," Kallend says. "He
wasn't playing cello like a classically trained player, he recognized the
experimental nature of our stuff and played along more like Hendrix or
something."
Pagoda recorded their five song demo at Excello Recording Studio in Williamsburg
Brooklyn. It had a limited pressing and was given away for free by Mike's agent
at shows. Along with "Death to Birth" and "Sadartha", the demo featured "Fetus"
and "I Do" along with an experimental spoken word track titled "Song 1." Those
who attended Pagoda's earlier shows instantly recognized the new tracks as more
focused and better crafted than previous material. Gus Van Sant also took notice
to the progression and featured two songs from the demo on the soundtrack to
"Last Days."
"Last Days" is inspired by the death of Nirvana front man Kurt Cobain. Mike
plays "Blake", an introspective artist who is battling a drug addiction on top
of increasing depression caused by the pressures of stardom. In one particular
scene, Blake retreats from the party his friends are throwing in his living room
and plays a solo acoustic version of "Death to Birth." While this is one of the
most powerful scenes in the film, Mike was apprehensive about contributing his
own material. "I'm a musician and I didn't want it to just seem like I was doing
it for personal gain," he says. "I think we shot the scene about seven times and
every time I made up a song on the spot. The last time he asked me to play that
song." Mike also contributed the song "That Day" to the film, on which he played
every instrument. The video for "The Happy Song" was also featured on the DVD
release.
While the band was in Milan, they recorded their full length album "House of
Worship" with Luca Amendolara. "We have almost 40 songs recorded," says Kallend.
"There's a song called 'Gulp' which I think is really pretty and allows me to do
some intricate melody work, and another called 'Never Was' which lets me show
off a lot and fly all over the neck of my bass." As it stands, the band does not
have an official distributor for the album, though it is expected to be released
within the next few months.
In September of 2005, Jamie Kallend left Pagoda due to reasons that are
currently unknown. The band played several acoustic shows in New York the
following month which was met with great interest. The last show they played was
in November, a release party for the "Last Days" DVD.
R-D.com update: The release of their self-titled debut album,
Pagoda, will be on February 27, 2007. R-D.com update: Donowho is no longer a part of the
band. However, he says that he and Pitt remain friends.
*Please note that all Pagoda pages will no longer be updated.
"Last Days" is inspired by the death of Nirvana front man Kurt Cobain. Mike
plays "Blake", an introspective artist who is battling a drug addiction on top
of increasing depression caused by the pressures of stardom. In one particular
scene, Blake retreats from the party his friends are throwing in his living room
and plays a solo acoustic version of "Death to Birth." While this is one of the
most powerful scenes in the film, Mike was apprehensive about contributing his
own material. "I'm a musician and I didn't want it to just seem like I was doing
it for personal gain," he says. "I think we shot the scene about seven times and
every time I made up a song on the spot. The last time he asked me to play that
song." Mike also contributed the song "That Day" to the film, on which he played
every instrument. The video for "The Happy Song" was also featured on the DVD
release.