Pavement’s Scott Kannberg on the Band’s New Film, TikTok Fame and What’s Next for the Quartet
Pavement, arguably one of the most influential indie acts of the 90s, are the subject of a new documentary from filmmaker Alex Ross Perry. But this is no ordinary film, with Pavements incorporating concert footage, backstage clips and scripted moments. Ahead of the film’s Adelaide premiere at the Adelaide Film Festival next week, we chatted with Pavement guitarist and vocalist Scott Kannberg about the movie, TikTok fame and what’s next for the band.
Words by Tobias Handke
Image supplied
Congratulations on the release of Pavements. It’s quite different from the normal band doco we often see. How did it all come about?
Originally when it was put to us, our record label (Matador Records) wanted to do some sort of movie about us but we didn't really want to be in it like a typical [documentary]. So, they found this guy (Alex Scott Perry) and he came up with all these ideas about Pavement being this kind of band that had a musical, a museum and a fake movie made about them.
It was kind of separate from [the band] when we first started talking about it and then we ended up touring and it was a pretty successful tour. ‘Harness Your Hopes’ got really big over the last three years and there’s tons more fans [so] they (Matador) brought the band in to round [the film] out a little bit.
Speaking of ‘Harness Your Hopes’, is it strange how the song’s gone viral on TikTok and now you have a new generation of fans listening to your music?
Pretty much. I mean, when Spotify was starting everybody's like, ‘Oh, it's such a bummer’ because you don't make any money off of it, but it did open up a whole new world of fans. And for some weird reason, that song (‘Harness Your Hopes’) was number one [when] people would search up Pavement. People connected to it, kids especially, and then the TikTok thing happened. It's really weird.
Back to Pavements, do you think it will appeal to general music lovers or just Pavement fans?
It’s funny because I was just talking to my guitar player Tim and I was trying to explain to him that people who are really close to the band or who have been following the band for a long time, they're going to like it. [But] I think it'll appeal more to the people who don't really know much about us and maybe they're going because Joe Carey is the star of the biopic part. I mean, if they've never seen Spinal Tap, they'll be like, ‘Oh, this is kind of weird,’ and maybe they'll think it's completely real.
Pavements is directed by Alex Ross Perry who also shot the film clip for ‘Harness Your Hopes’. Did you know him before that?
No. Matador suggested him. We had no idea who he was. We didn't meet Alex until he came to Portland for our rehearsals, or maybe we met him in LA at the first show. But we talked to him and he called each of us numerous times to kind of get an idea of our history and what went on. A lot of the stuff that is in the movie is based on our conversations.
Did you or the band get the chance to see Alex’s Pavement-inspired musical, Slanted! Enchanted! A Pavement Musical?
Mark Ibold did because he lives in Brooklyn. He went and saw it. [He said] it was pretty cool. In the movie you'll see it. There’s talk about them trying to make it bigger and go to Broadway, which would be surreal.
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Did you guys have any input into the movie?
The only input we really had was after they kind of showed us a few early cuts. They created this fake premiere when we played our show in New York and it was open to the public. They showed just the biopic part of the movie and it was really awkward. Everybody in the band thought this was the movie. They did a fake Q&A afterwards and we’re just kind of looking at each other and [Stephen] Malkmus sends everybody a text saying ‘career suicide.’
There was a big misunderstanding about it all but in doing that [Q&A] we were able to kind of go, ‘All right, listen, there needs a little more joy,’ because we were a pretty happy band 99% of the time. So we got all this footage from an old tour manager of ours, Deb Pastor. She had all this amazing footage from Lollapalooza in 1997 and 99. They added a bunch of that stuff and it really helps the movie show how fun Pavement was.
In the movie during the scripted sections, you’re played by rising actor Nat Wolfe. Did you get to meet him before the film?
I met him at the fake premiere and then he came to the show we played in Brooklyn that night. He's great. I mean, I didn't know anything about him and now I see he's quite the movie star.
Is it weird seeing someone playing you on the big screen?
It's weird, but he does a pretty good job. He's really good at getting my angry side. But he wasn't able to come to the premiere in Venice.
Speaking of the Venice Film Festival, you attended with your daughter. What was that experience like?
It was cool. She loved it. It was a long way to come just for a week in Venice, but she had a great time.
Next up you’re coming to Adelaide for the Adelaide Film Festival premiere of Pavements and taking part in a Q&A with fans. Are you looking forward to this experience?
I love Adelaide. I'm excited about coming. Over the years I've been there numerous times. We’ve been up to the Barossa Valley and McLaren Vale because we love the wine. It's a cool city. If we didn't live in Melbourne we'd probably live in Adelaide.
Finishing up, how was it playing the reunion shows after so many years?
It was awesome. It was only supposed to be Primavera Sound and a couple of shows and then the pandemic happened. So, we ended up saying, ‘Let's just do it all,’ and we toured pretty heavy for at least a year. Then we just kept getting great offers – ‘Hey come to Iceland, hey come to Portugal, hey come to South America.’
We have Rebecca (Cole) in the band now playing keyboards so it's really fun and everybody gets along really well and we all have a great time playing the songs. Hopefully, there'll be some more shows next year. I don't know. We're kind of taking a little break right now to see how we feel.
You’ve played to massive crowds across the globe these past couple of years. Why do think Pavement still resonates with people 25 since your final album?
Well, the songs are great. There's poppy songs, there's rock songs, there's jam songs. We're kind of all over the place. Pavement's not just one song. You don't know where it's going to kind of end up. The lyrics are good and the melodies are good.
We've always kind of just replicated our favourite music in our kind of own style. It kind of goes into that in the movie a little bit and talks about a lot of our influences. It's just a joy of loving music, you know, and I think maybe people see that.
See Pavements with an after-movie Q&A with Scott Kannberg at The Picadilly as part of the Adelaide Film Festival on Thursday, October 31. A standalone screening will also take place on Sunday, November 2 at Palace Nova Eastend. Tickets for both sessions are on sale now via Adelaide Film Festival.
