Q&A with the Pattern

The Pattern has been a well-kept West Coast secret, but not for long. The Oakland band does the "punk boogie"?short-fused garage rock sparked with playful, messy pop?and they've toured with bands like Girls Against Boys and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Their music is a mix of the Hives' self-centered immediacy and the White Stripes' vocal theatrics, with a swaggering splash of trashiness, thanks to singer Christopher Appelgren. Appelgren is the consummate frontman in the spotlight, throwing silly attention-tantrums onstage where he'll suck his thumb, slap his ass, hump the mic stand and go into a confused sexual frenzy when his bandmates strike the right chord.

Two years ago Appelgren had yet to throw a large-scale fit, as the Pattern had then just gotten started as a way to get through the summer. When former St. James Infirmary guitarist Jason Rosenberg wanted to form a band to play Oakland house parties, he recruited members of other local acts, like guitarist Andy Asp (Nuisance), singer Appelgren (Peechees), bassist Carson Bell (Cutz) and drummer Jim Anderson (who has since been replaced by Scott Batista). They quickly jumped from the basement circuit to the club circuit and into the festival circuit, playing South by Southwest and the Reading and Leeds festivals in Europe within a little over a year after their start. Their fan base spread through the live shows and singles released on GSL, Gearhead and Alternative Tentacles, and the band took its time before settling on a label to release its EP in 2001.

The debut Immediately came out last September on Lookout! Records?of which Appelgren just happens to be president. He's been working for the punk label since he was 16, climbing his way up from the "mail corner" (there was no real mail room, he explains) and buying out the other Lookout! partners in 1997. Appelgren's label is also set to release Real Feelness, the Pattern's second record, on Aug. 27.

In the meantime, the band is touring the East Coast with the Hives and the Mooney Suzuki before heading off to Europe. I spoke to Appelgren on the road.

So are you still spanking yourself onstage?

[Laughs] Yeah, I guess you could say I'm redundant. I haven't adopted a new style or anything.

That's not redundant, I think it's what makes the shows fun.

Yeah, no, I do too. It's like for our new record I now have this persona, though.

When I interviewed you last year it sounded like you were just getting comfortable being the frontman. Do you feel any more comfortable freaking out onstage?

Yeah I do. It was more the thing of being able to discuss it and having something to say about [the performance]. I think I'm a little better versed in discussing what my motivations are now. I hadn't thought about it, then it just happened naturally.

So, to put you on the spot, what are your motivations for spanking yourself and sucking your thumb in public?

[Laughs] I think it's to be unique. Rock 'n' roll?and music in general?is full of personas and characters, and I'm trying to create a larger version of myself. Something that's not redundant and not somebody else, but that involves inflating my ego and my sexuality to larger proportions and putting it on ridiculous display. I think it also is a reaction to the music we write.

With a lot of rock 'n' roll bands, the attitude is stuffy, bombastic and unapproachable. With the Pattern, the feeling is more like, get everyone involved.

Yeah, that's exactly it. To me, there's always an element of the ridiculous in rock 'n' roll, and that's what I kind of gravitate toward. I think it's always been a part of what we want to do?not ironically but more like showing its ridiculousness. There are all these characters in music, it's almost like a superhero universe.

You're releasing some tracks off your upcoming album in England first. Is there kind of a plan with U.S. rock bands of working with British labels and getting the attention of British press first and then worrying about the U.S.?

I think it's not coming so much from the bands in the U.S. as the labels in the UK that see that there might be something that works [with U.S. bands]. We didn't go out and actively try to get signed to [Wichita Records] in England. They approached us and it really was their impetus. We would've been just as happy?but certainly not accomplished as much?without going over there. But there is a real interest in classically inspired punk and rock 'n' roll in England right now and that's cool. It's also cool that it's having a reciprocal impact in America, where the legitimacy of the British music press?which I feel is a lot more emphatic in the way they react to things?and that excitement can come back to the States and make people here excited.

In the U.S. you decided to release the Pattern's record on Lookout!?why did you go with your own label over the other offers?

Because it's convenient to us in a lot of ways. And to be honest, we were able to make a pretty good deal with the label because it's my label [laughs]. Considering how much we plan on doing with the Pattern, it's not only me?Andy also works there?but we can keep the success of the band and the label all pointed in the same direction. It's like it's not quite as big of a deal for me to leave and go on tour if I'm working for my label in a different capacity. I love my label and I think all of us are excited to be contextualized with the bands that are coming out on Lookout! anyway.

Do you feel torn between your band and label duties?

Sure, you always have to deal with those duties, and it's difficult to devote yourself to rock 'n' roll. I don't feel like I'm in a better or worse position than anyone else who's been in a band.

What else do you want to have happen with the Pattern?

Not a lot. I'm really happy. This isn't the most lucrative use of our time, but it's exciting to be part of something that's going on right now, this resurgence of good, fun, very human music that's happening. I guess that's a little of the "starting out playing parties" attitude that still exists within the band now. I definitely feel a sense of a larger context for us in bands that are peers and are making music that inspires us, and hopefully we're inspiring.

The Pattern perform with the Hives on Weds., June 12, and with the Mooney Suzuki on Thurs., June 13, at Bowery Ballroom, 6 Delancey St. (betw. Bowery & Chrystie St.), 533-2111.