Pitter Patter are a Pittsburgh quartet splaying intricate indie rock intonations with glistening emo pop.

Please list all of your band members and their roles in the band.

Seth Berkin- Vocals / Guitar Benji Cohen- Guitar Dave Connuck- Bass / Vocals Brian Ihejurobi- Drums 

For starters, what bands were you guys a part of prior to Pitter Patter? How long has the band been around? 

Seth Berkin- I was in a band early in my college career called Bomont with a few friends I met freshman year. We never ended up recording any of our music, and played only a handful of local shows before I left the project. After about a two year gap, Pitter Patter was the next band I started. Other than that, we have each played and performed in other projects after the band formed, but I believe this is more or less everyone’s first band.

What’s the origin of that name and have you changed the band’s name before?

Seth Berkin- Pitter Patter was a name that I came up with alongside our founding members. We wanted a name that was really catchy, easy to remember, and represented the brand of the project well. ‘Pitter Patter’ also has other ties, as we are based out of Pittsburgh, and it’s the sound of rain, which it does a ton here. The alliteration of the name lends itself well to wordplay and puns, which we make quite often, and it doesn’t hurt that it abbreviates to PP, which is objectively funny. Overall, the band name is one of my favorite aspects of the project, and I genuinely don’t think I’ve ever considered changing it. It’s Pitter Perfect, if you will.

Who writes your songs? What are the main themes or topics for most of your songs and do you think these topics will change over time?

Seth Berkin- For a while I wrote the songs and brought them to the band to develop them, however recently we have been pushing to write more songs as a collective. Each member of the band always writes their own parts, and the songs that I bring to our group are by no means finished, they are a creative sandbox that I give to the band so everyone can make it their own. 

Through practicing and feeling out the songs together, that is when a song I write transforms into a finished and cohesive Pitter Patter song. I write all of the lyrics to our music, and common themes up until this point have been mental health struggles such as anxiety, depression, or imposter syndrome. 

A vast majority of the songs utilize metaphors or wordplay in an attempt to get a message across without directly saying it, or leaving the interpretation up to the listener. Additionally, many of our songs mask darker or more intense emotional lyricism behind catchy pop melodies and rhythms. I try to be clever in a lot of the songs, and take a lyrics-forward approach to songwriting, as I find that lyrics can significantly strengthen the impact of a song. 

The topics of our songs are definitely going to change over time, because all of us are going to change over time. I imagine that the group will stay true to our roots and certain tendencies we gravitate towards, but as we grow as songwriters and musicians, the songs will inevitably do the same. As we have new experiences, learn new skills, and experiment as a band, all of that will reflect in our sound.

What bands are currently inspiring the music that you’re making?

Seth Berkin- One aspect of this band that I truly appreciate is that all of us have vastly different music tastes that happen to overlap in certain areas. The band as a whole seems to be gravitating towards rock and emo music recently, such as Turnstile, Oso Oso, Origami Angel, and Microwave to name a few, and I think that is reflected in the shift in our sound from the first album to our upcoming EP. 

Historically, I would list bands like The Front Bottoms, Cage The Elephant, Catfish And The Bottlemen, Car Seat Headrest, and The Backseat Lovers to be significant influences on our music as well. 

Was there a particular band/artist or concert that inspired you to start a band?

Seth Berkin- For me personally, it was Cavetown. Cavetown has been one of my favorite artists since I discovered their music, and they made the concept of creating my own music approachable for what felt like the first time. Watching Cavetown perform helped me realize that making beautiful music does not have to be intimidating. Cavetown is an artist that I connected with musically and lyrically, and for the first time gave me the thought “wow this is incredible, and I think I can do this too.” To this day I have the utmost respect and admiration for the art they have shared with the world, and continue to put out.

What do you do to prepare for a show? Any flexing, exercises, ect …

Seth Berkin- For the longest time there was a severe lack of preparation for live performances. It was usually a scramble to jot down our setlist, remember song lyrics, or learn chord progressions right up until we were taking the stage. Recently, the rest of the band and I have improved in this area, and we feel confident in the work that we put into practice. Specifically, I focus nowadays on doing vocal warmups prior to singing, as it turns out, they help you sing well! We’ll usually do a little group huddle before getting on stage or a quick motivational pep talk, making sure we’re all ready to rock our little hearts out before each performance

What has been the biggest highlight of the band’s career so far?

Seth Berkin- To pinpoint only one highlight of the band’s career so far is difficult, and we are all extremely grateful for all of the opportunities we have had to share our art with people. That being said, there are a few highlights that do come to mind: Our record release show at Bottlerocket Social Hall (The Pitter Party); Performing at the Oakland Church; our first mini tour which was three very memorable shows in Philadelphia, Washington DC, and Richmond; Millvale Music Festival, which we look forward to doing again this year. 

Most recently, Our Little Circle Festival at Lawrenceville Distilling. What made a lot of these shows special was being able to share the stage with very close friends of ours who we’ve met through the Pittsburgh music scene, playing shows with bands or artists we truly look up to, and seeing our dedication pay off as the shows or stages get bigger

If you could tour with any bands, past or present, who would they be and why?

Seth Berkin- Any of the bands listed earlier would be an absolute dream for us, as many of them helped shape us to become the band we are or the band we hope to be. Additionally, I think all four of us would have pretty distinct lists when answering this question, but to name a few that each of us would be psyched about: Queens of the Stone Age, Muse, The Strokes, Twenty One Pilots, Modern Baseball, The Foo Fighters, and Death Cab for Cutie.

Is there anything else you would like to add?

Seth Berkin- We are unbelievably stoked to release our upcoming EP in January, and can’t wait to share with everyone what we have been working on. Huge shoutout to Ollie Newell for all of our merch and album artwork, Dom Frankeny for mixing and mastering this project, and Benji Cohen and Lucas DiBlasi for not only playing on the EP but also recording all of us. 

We truly believe that Pitter Patter has just begun this journey, and we want to thank everyone that has supported us in any way. I would love to end it with an ageless classic and say “big things are coming” but instead I will just say thank you for listening! 😊