As part of the Audio Muffin Inside the Bakery Series we were fortunate enough to catch up with Kip (guitar and vocals) and Alex (bass) from The Pains of Being Pure at Heart and chat about what’s what while enjoying an assortment of tasty muffins.

The Pains of Being Pure At Heart- Come Saturday

Audio Muffin: After becoming one of the more heavily embraced indie bands of 2009, largely as a result of your excellent debut and self-titled album release back in February, what’s changed for the band?

Kip: We’ve been really fortunate to get a lot of opportunities to tour since the album came out, and it’s been really fun to spend most of the year traveling and playing music. But the most important thing is that we’re all friends, and touring has always felt fun. We genuinely enjoy hanging out together and getting to go to so many places we’ve never been before is such an awesome experience and not something we take for granted.

Audio Muffin: You guys are literally playing almost every day right now, moving and shaking all over this country of ours. What adjustments do you make to handle such a demanding tour schedule?

Kip: It’s good to bring books along and a Nintendo DS. I’m currently reading Nightwood by Djuna Barnes and playing a lot of Mario Kart.

Alex: I had to buy my own luggage. I used to just scrounge around borrowing whatever I could from friends or use a really old, really crappy duffle bag. But now I have some super sweet K-mart luggage. Livin’ large. It’s hard sometimes being away from New York — friends, girlfriends, jobs, etc, but since we’ve been doing it for a bunch of months straight now, it’s starting to feel more like the “new normal.”

The Pains of Being Pure At Heart- Young Adult Friction

Audio Muffin: What are your “must-haves” on tour? Certain books, snacks, music, random treasures? For instance Dan Deacon has been known for having the most random objects on his tour bus including shot-gun headphones and a chess set with clock.

Kip: I don’t like to travel with too much stuff other than essentials (we tour in a van, so space is pretty limited). My Grandma gave me Dairy Queen gift cards for the band, and we’ve been excited to use them. Blizzards are pretty essential, especially in the summertime.

Audio Muffin: What can we expect from the new EP entitled Higher Than The Stars due out on Slumberland this fall (9/22) and why were we so lucky to have you producing new music so soon after you dropped your full length?

Kip: We finished our album in the summer of 2008, so we had a long wait until it came out in February 2009. In that time we were still writing songs and many of the tracks, especially “103,” were songs that we played live a lot. I will admit that the new EP is a bit schizophrenic, but we just wanted to put out 4 songs we really liked. Also, I’m a big fan of EP’s, having been a huge Belle and Sebastian fan. I remember after I got the albums Sinister and The Boy With the Arab Strap (this was before the Tigermilk re-issue), it was exciting to try to track down all the EP’s they did. I still think the EP’s were perhaps my favorite releases of theirs, as there were songs on there that may not have fit in the context of an album, but were some of the ones I loved most.

The Pains of Being Pure At Heart- Higher Than The Stars (from the EP)

Audio Muffin: How has your sound changed or progressed this year?

Kip: On Songs like “Falling Over” and “Higher Than the Stars,” it may seem a bit cleaner than the fuzzier stuff on the album. But we just think of trying to write the best pop songs we can, and don’t want to unnaturally limit to only stuff with fuzz pedals.

Audio Muffin: Clearly, our California Muffin faithful are stoked about your upcoming stops here as your tour heads west. Though your stay here in Golden State will be short-lived, I noticed you are playing shows in arguably three of the best venues. You will be playing on 9/18 in SF at The Great American Music Hall, 9/19 at The Troubador in LA and finishing things off down here in San Diego on 9/21 at the acclaimed Casbah. What are you looking forward to about your time in California?

Kip: It’s really rare that we’ve gotten to visit the west coast, so for us it’s pretty special. Our label, Slumberland, is based in Oakland, so getting to see Mike and hang out with him will be really exciting. Plus we have some amazing friends in Los Angeles that we rarely get to see, so any time we’re there we’re sure to go out together.

Alex: California is great, it’s always a blast to come out to the west coast. In n’ Out is always on the itinerary. Just the whole feel of life in California is refreshing and sunny and new-feeling. I love New York, but it’s nice to have a change of pace

Audio Muffin: Well, we definitely appreciate you taking the time to talk with us and we look forward to seeing you guys live and to that new EP. POBPAH is a band to keep your eye on for sure, we at the Muffin suggest you see them live and give their music a listen. You will not be disappointed. This concludes our Inside the Bakery with The Pains of Being Pure at Heart.

Click for tickets to see the band in San Francisco at The Great American Music Hall - 9/18

Click for tickets to see the band live in Los Angeles at The Troubador - 9/19

Click for tickets to see the band live in San Diego at The Casbah - 9/21