Biography

"I think that we sound like that nostalgic feeling of something you just lost but can't remember what it was, and yet you miss having it." So says Neil Popkin, singer, guitarist and main songwriter of the L.A.-based foursome War Tapes. War Tapes' new five-song EP City Girls is the quartet's first new music since 2010. It's also their first release for the iconoclastic independent MAKE Records label, in which drummer Billy Mohler is a partner. On their prior releases, namely the 2009 album The Continental Divide and the EPs War Tapes, Turtles and Fever Changing, War Tapes earned a reputation for deeply dramatic, yet effortlessly accessible rock song craft that was brooding and angst-ridden, yet unfailingly catchy and rousing. City Girls finds the band retooling its approach towards a more direct, streamlined sound and the result is the most organic and effective music the band has ever made. According to Neil, "We were very young when the band started, and we always had a manager and a label telling us that we needed to be more of this or less of that. I got confused as to who we were and as a result, the art suffered. But these new songs were made for no reason other than the fact that we love to do this. We aren't trying to fit into a specific space or scene. We let go and it feels good." The band's reignited inspiration level enlivens such City Girls tunes as “Pale Blue Dot," "Only Time Will Tell," "Burning," "Scapegoat" and the anthemic title track, which embody the salient qualities of the band's prior work while reflecting the band's vibrant new sense of focus. The EP's first single, “Pale Blue Dot,” which was inspired by astronomer Carl Sagan's poignant observation of the Earth's humble place in the universe, is accompanied by an audaciously surreal video that nods towards '70s TV cop shows with a radio-controlled-car chase and a Porsche-driving femme fatale. Prior to the extended recording hiatus that preceded City Girls, War Tapes had built a solid fan base and an impressive backlog of critical acclaim, and seemed well on their way to wider recognition. Instead, as Neil puts it, "Life happened and new opportunities came up," and the band members put the time to good use, working on a variety of projects beyond the band and absorbing new sources of musical inspiration. Now, the four bandmates' creative chemistry is stronger and more productive than ever. "This EP was the result of us not getting to do what we love for five-plus years," Neil asserts. "It just slid out of us, like a birth. Some of the songs came from demos that were made on my crappy laptop, and we ended up keeping a lot of those scratch tracks and building around them. Other songs were recorded in Billy's home studio. Some of them were created by mistake, or by hearing one loop and the next thing you know it's six hours later and there's a completed song. We didn't push things too hard, they just happened. "The music is more sophisticated and more honest now, yet also more stripped down and raw," he continues. "We used to want to add all these sonic elements and layers and production tricks, but now we just want the truth. On City Girls, we wrote, played, recorded and mixed everything on our own. I think that's the only way that this band can make new music that makes sense. We aren't interested in working with hotshot producers or mixers at this point. Just give me a guitar and a mic and hit record! Vibey takes with no overdubs and good honest performances. Less clutter. The songs get to breathe." The sense of freedom that accompanies War Tapes' return to musical action is particularly impressive in light of the band's history. Boston native Neil Popkin began writing songs in early childhood. "I can't remember a time in my life where I didn't have a musical outlet," he says, adding, "Even when War Tapes was on hiatus, I formed three other bands, Rituals, Dreamland and Brass Box. Me and my sister grew up playing music together; we would form bands and do shows at family parties in our basement. Billy and Becca started dating shortly after they graduated college after meeting randomly in D.C. After a couple years of a long-distance relationship, they moved to L.A. together. I then moved into Billy's old apartment in L.A. to escape one particularly cold dreary winter in Boston, and I ended up staying out here.” "When I moved there, I didn't know anyone in L.A. except Becca and Billy, so we naturally started writing music together," he continues. "Matt Bennett came along shortly after. I remember seeing him play guitar in his old punk band at this crappy venue in L.A. that was in the back of a sushi restaurant. I went up to him after the show and asked if he wanted to join my band, and I wasn't going to take no for an answer." Becca Popkin is a classically trained pianist and guitarist who had never played bass before joining War Tapes; she also has a successful career as a jewelry designer. Billy, a Southern California native, was trained in jazz bass and guitar, while Hawaii native Matt played in several punk and shoegaze outfits before joining War Tapes. War Tapes' early local shows generated considerable momentum and word of mouth, and before long, the band was asked to tour in America and Britain, sharing stages with the likes of Smashing Pumpkins, The Bravery, Tiger Army, VNV Nation, She Wants Revenge, Chameleons U.K., Shiny Toy Guns, Moving Units and Longwave. Their songs "Dreaming Of You" and "The Night Unfolds" were featured on Last Call with Carson Daly; while "Mind Is Ugly" was featured on a Season Five episode of the MTV series The Hills, and the band also performed on the Season Two finale of the ABC Family show Greek. According to the band, the birth cycle of City Girls was an inspired and organic process that left a permanent mark on the band as a creative unit. "These songs pull from our post-punk roots, but also dive deeper into our love for bands like the Clash and Talking Heads," Neil says of the EP. "We started making various bedroom demos, sending them back and forth, and slowly but surely developed a new sound that we all were vibing with. We then got into Billy's home studio and recorded these songs. We believe we've all gotten better at our instruments since we first started War Tapes, and so the recording process was very fluid and natural.” Some degree of War Tapes' current creative rebirth is due to the fact that the band is now recording for MAKE Records, the idealistic, forward-thinking label that drummer Billy Mohler runs with longtime friend and fellow musician Aaron Smart of Silverplanes. According to Smart, "MAKE Records was born of Billy and I being involved in music together in a lot of different situations, and never really getting to have the control and the direction we wanted to give the different projects that we were involved with. The idea of the label is Autonomy, Creativity and Unrestricted Freedom, and to be able to MAKE Records the way we want them made, and the way we want them to be put out and heard. "War Tapes and MAKE Records is a perfect fit," Smart continues. "I have known the band for over ten years and I think of them as family. War Tapes is the next act waiting in the wings for MAKE Records and the world will soon know them well." Or, as Neil Popkin puts it, "We believe these new songs represent the journey that we've all taken while on hiatus, but they also tell the story of where we came from and where we are going."