A lot of weird stuff happens in Florida. There was that time a Florida strip club offered free flu shots. Or the time the guy sprinkled his fiancee’s ashes at a LensCrafters causing the Sarasota Police to evacuate the mall. Or the time the guy tried to pay for a beer with an alligator. Or the time the guy died after getting stuck in his girlfriend’s cat door. All true (I found them on Buzzfeed).
But one of the stranger things out of Florida “in a good way” is PLEASURES. The Sarasota four-piece describes their sound as “sex music for robots” and “psychedelic/synthwave fagcore.” Cool blog Creative Loafing called them “demented surgeons on a quest to create some kind of new sonic Frankenstein” when they awarded them “Best Sci-Fi Psychedelia” in the annual Best of the Bay awards.
I’d describe them as “psych-fueled late-night dream-rock” and “the perfect soundtrack for any John Carpenter hero-epic,” especially songs off their new album Fucked Up Dreams Come True, like “Man Is a God in Ruins,” which just sounds cool and weird. But there’s a lot of weird stuff that happens in Florida.
We gave PLEASURES singer/guitarist Katherine Kelly the Ten Questions treatment. Here’s her answers.
1. What is your favorite album?
Katherine Kelly: 13 Songs by Fugazi
2. What is your least favorite song?
Pachebel’s Canon
3. What do you enjoy most about being in a band?
Touring.
4. What do you hate about being in a band?
Dealing with people’s perceptions of people who are in bands.
5. What is your favorite substance (legal or illegal)?
My girlfriend’s hair.
6. In what city or town do you love to perform?
Raleigh/Charlotte NC; great scene!
7. What city or town did you have your worst gig (and why)?
Toss up between NY and Los Angeles. Because ehh who cares?
8. How do you pay your bills?
Serving tables, painting and contracting work, and the band.
9. What one profession other than music would you like to attempt; what one profession would you absolutely hate to do?
I’d like to be a novelist or an elder care companion. I’d hate to manage a restaurant.
10. What are the stories you’ve heard about Omaha, Nebraska?
1, Conor Oberst is a hologram. 2, They like their breakfast burritos “Omaha style” – cream cheese on the tortilla.
PLEASURES plays with Universe Contest and ben Eisenberger Saturday, Aug. 6, at O’Leaver’s, 1322 So. Saddle Creek Rd. Showtime is 9:30 p.m., entry fee is $5. For more information, go to liveatoleavers.com.