A Chat With: Public Access T.V
Talking TV drama, studio-hopping, and festival lineups with New York City’s Public Access T.V.
New York rockers Public Access T.V mix old-school punk vibes with a youthful and refreshing energy that makes them stand out in the crowd. After playing music with other bands, lead singer John Eatherly branched off on his own to form PATV with bandmates Xan Aird, Max Pebbles, and Peter Sustarsic in 2014. The post punk four piece released their debut album Never Enough on September 30th, 2016. Since then,the album has been steadily gaining traction, proving that kids still do like rock’n’roll, despite the opening lyrics to the band's track “End of an Era.” In support of the debut album, Public Access T.V will embark on their first US headline tour this month. Prior to their show at Schubas Tavern in Chicago, John chatted with us about the recording process for the album, life on the road, and what’s in the works for 2017.
Official video for "End of an Era"
ANCHR Magazine: So first let’s talk about the debut album you released at the end of September. How did it feel to get that work out there, and what has the response been?
John Eatherly: Well it feels like a great detachment from a lot of accumulated work over many years of songs and writing. So if anything it just feels good putting your precious babies out there in the world and seeing what happens. We’re about to go on tour in a week, so we’ll see more reactions. The record was a crazy experience, finally making it to the finish line of it being mixed and done. It took a lot to get there, so it feels like I’m not so attached to it anymore because it’s out there already. Like there’s no more old ideas to pick from as far as writing songs. It’s like a clean slate.
AM: So you mentioned some of these songs have been around for years, and I know you played with other bands and artists before you formed Public Access T.V, so how long have some of the songs been around for, and have any of them evolved and taken on a new meaning since you wrote them?
JE: Maybe some of the songs like “In Love and Alone” and “Careful” I probably made a demo of when I was like 20, in 2010, and then kind of...I don’t know, I wasn’t really making it for any reason other than just to have fun and for myself. I wasn’t ever trying to introduce it to anyone I was playing with or anything like that, I just kind of kept it to myself. Some of them took on a new feeling because some of those songs that were older we ended up playing live as a band when we recorded the record. So some of the songs that are older definitely have a different energy and drive behind them, just from being a unit playing it all together. But as far as the span of time, it’s crazy, cause maybe I had a demo that I made five years ago. Then some of the songs on the record I was recording last minute, while mixing the record. So some of it’s like really, really, really new and some of it is older. So it’s really like this accumulation of kind of years of trying to figure it out. That’s why it feels like such a relief.
AM: For sure. So can you talk a little bit about the actual recording process? I know you mentioned you recorded some songs when you were already mixing, but did you pretty much do the album all in one go? Did you record in one studio?
JE: It was pretty crazy actually. Our record credits are like movie credits, it’s really long. So part of it’s recorded in New York, part of it’s recorded in Jersey, one song was recorded in Nashville. Then like six songs are recorded at two different studios in London. The reason it was so all over the place is because we were never, we never had uh, the luxury, I guess, knowing that we had two weeks at a studio and going in with that time to complete it. It was always like two days here and maybe three days here, and then go and bang out as many songs as we could. And then I’d like two of them, you know?
AM: Yeah, and that’s kind of cool then because the songs take on a different meaning, you know, you’ll associate it like “oh we recorded this in London,” so it’s got that aspect.
JE: Yeah, the stuff that we recorded in London was tracked as a band. Because we had been playing the songs live for quite a few tours. So some of those ones, like “In Love and Alone,” that version that’s on the record is just like the first take that we did. It was just a live take, there was no multi-tracking.
AM: Wow so it was just one take as a live band?
JE: Yeah, so some of it’s like that, and then some of it is like the opposite. Like really tracked and-
AM: broken out?
JE: Yeah!
Public Access T.V is John Eatherly Xan Aird, Max Pebbles, and Peter Sustarsic
AM: So talking more about your tour, is there anything you’re planning as a new aspect to the show now that you’re headlining?
JE: I don’t know...maybe how we think about the setlist might be a little bit different. I tend to not want to play any slower songs as an opening band. So it might be a little more dynamic. But this tour is gonna be real fun because we’re going on tour with our friends, this band called Splashh, and we’re all sharing a van together. It’s gonna be like 12 people crammed into one van. I’ve never been in a van with that many people before, so it’s gonna be real crazy.
AM: Yeah, definitely document that!
JE: Yeah we have a friend coming to film the ridiculousness of it.
AM: Oh cool! So what cities and venues are you looking forward to playing?
JE: Certainly Chicago. I’m originally from Tennessee before I moved to New York in like 2008, so we haven’t really played any shows in Nashville- we played one. We’re gonna go there, so that will be a cool vibe, and maybe some family going to the show. Then, I’m excited to play Bowery Ballroom in New York, and we’re playing Schubas in Chicago...that’ll be really cool. The bigger cities I guess.
AM: Have you planned anything outside of the gigs, like touristy things at all?
JE: Not really, I think we’ll just kind of see what we get into. It’s gonna be so many of us together in a confined space, so I’m sure everyone will be really antsy to run around and do things. We just kind of roam around, probably like in the neighborhood that the venue’s in, and just kind of see what we can find.
AM: You recently were announced to play Shaky Knees Festival. Are there any other festivals that are on your bucket list to play?
JE: A big one that I always wanted to play was Bonnaroo. We did that last summer, and that was like a checklist for me because I’d always have friends as a teenager going to Bonnaroo. So that was like a cool way to go. Coachella? I’ve never been. Festivals are just like insane. Like, I’m not dying to go to any festivals as a festival-goer, but I would certainly love to go and play them.
AM: For sure! If you could pick any 3-5 bands to headline a festival, dead or alive, who would you want?
JE: David Bowie, Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan, John Lennon...and Public Access!
AM: Sounds like a great festival! Do you have any other goals or resolutions for this year?
JE: Just hopefully staying busy and recording more. Just trying to stay as busy as we can working on being a band and being friends.
AM: Are there any other bands that you’re really into at the moment?
JE: I’ve been listening a lot to the band Sparks from LA. I don’t know...I’m always kind of like- I don’t really know what I’m listening to. I’m in a phase where I’m not really listening to too much of anything, other than like background music.I’m not feeling particularly in tune.
AM: Yeah, I’m sure it’s hard when you’re invested in your own music to get into other stuff. Last question- not related to your music at all, but since you’re called Public Access T.V, what’s your favorite TV show at the moment?
JE: Well I don’t have a TV or cable, but my favorite TV that I recently have been watching, is a very dramatic show called Nashville. It’s kind of like a soap opera. It’s jam packed with all the drama you could ever need in your life.
Public Access TV will be at Schubas on Thursday, January 26th. Grab your tickets here, and listen to Never Enough here!