on raccoon resistance, fizzy pop bliss, and joy as a radical act
Some bands make noise. Others make statements. Trash Panda Go Kart do both — armed with riffs, drums, and defiance. Formed by longtime partners Selena Kane and Zinnia Su, this forest-dwelling duo from an island in the Salish Sea bring a distinctly anarchic sweetness to everything they touch.
Their new album Raccoon Gods is a 17-track burst of energy, humor, melody, and mythology. Their newest single, “TPGK in the USA” — released on July 4th — throws fizzy pop at the fireworks with a wink and a fight. And at the heart of it all? A mission to spread joy like it’s a secret weapon.
We caught up with Trash Panda Go Kart to talk about their roots, their raccoons, their resistance — and what it means to make music that’s unapologetically weird and wonderfully alive.
Let’s start with the now.
You just dropped your new album Raccoon Gods. What was the emotional or thematic spark behind the record — and how did it evolve while you were making it?
SK: The album makes an animist statement. The title phrase—"Raccoons are the only gods you need"—is the central metaphor. Stop putting human beings at the middle of everything & focus instead on the natural world & our relationships with & within it.
ZS: To me, the experience of the Raccoon Gods album is like we are maybe tugging on your sleeve to point out the tiny frog on the edge of the moss over there or holding up a handful of sparkly wet rocks & seashells so we can all appreciate how cool they are... and there are definitely good eats to be had... and we can marvel at big tall trees and the wide open sea and the mountains in the distance... and maybe we'll get to see winged friends flit by or catch a glimpse of a sleek critter zipping through the water or snuggle with a warm furry friend along the way.
Ultimately, I think all of our music reflects what we love about the world around us, what brings us joy. And we want to radiate that love & joy to people who hear the music because all of us need love & joy in our lives. I think that's all any of us want when we really get to the essence of things — to be loved, to feel safe, to experience joy.
From track titles to tone, the album feels playful but pointed. Was there a central myth or message you had in mind while recording it?
ZS: Trash Panda wishes *can* come true! Raccoons are the ONLY gods you need!
SK: We approached the sequencing of RACCOON GODS as we would a magic spell. There's an invocation; a dedication to those who came before us; an energetic clearing; & so forth. We structure our live set the same way. It's our effort to indicate a path through the madness.
ZS: We try to remember to appreciate the simple things, the small yet sublime moments. Approaching our songwriting from the conceptual perspective of rocknroll raccoons makes things pretty easy because then of course there will be songs based on real raccoon adventures or songs about bees or cats or CAKE! PIE!!!!! or a quirky TPGK theme song along with straight up catchy pop songs.
The new single, “TPGK in the USA,” dropped on July 4th. The timing isn’t exactly subtle — what inspired this particular song, and why release it now?
ZS: The first time we played "TPGK in the USA" live (almost two and a half years ago now), we could tell that people weren't expecting us to be sing-shouting "born in the USA" over and over. We could feel the skepticism and see the perplexed/concerned expressions in the audience. But once we got to the final line, the tension broke and someone even cheered!
SK: The lyric is obviously a riff on Bruce's "Born In The USA"—part 3 of my ongoing mostly-friendly entirely-one-sided musical argument with Mr. Springsteen—& the title is a play on "R-O-C-K In The USA". But our song is basically saying, "We have America surrounded." All of us—the freaks and the queers and every kind of person who isn't part of the mayo straightriarchy—we belong here every bit as much as the folks ostensibly running things or the dudes with flags waving from the back of their pickup trucks.
ZS: We've all seen the stickers on stuff that identify where it was made right? At some point when I was looking at a "Made In Taiwan" sticker, I realized — that applies to me! I was born & raised in the U.S. but my mom was already pregnant with me when my parents immigrated here from Taiwan.
The song "Born in the USA" is often misinterpreted as a rallying cry for how great America is but the people who think of it as an unequivocally patriotic song clearly haven't listened to or looked at the lyrics very closely! "TPGK in the USA" is not a cover of the Springsteen song — it's more a kaleidoscopic spin-off — but we're very much aware that there will be lots of people who will make that association when they hear our song. I like to think that we've tapped into the essence of the same idea that Mr. Springsteen was getting at, only we did it in less than a minute! 😆
As for the timing of the release — "TPGK in the USA" was part of a batch of songs we recorded last summer at our local grange hall — and once we'd successfully gotten Raccoon Gods out into the world, Selena turned her attention to those recordings and realized we could put something out for 4th of July this year (2025) as a musically defiant statement against the giant dumpster fire currently raging on in the White House. Then the recent Supreme Court ruling on birthright citizenship happened during the week leading up to the 4th and (unfortunately) made the track even more apropos so here we are.
“Diamonds” is fizzy, sweet, and sharp — a power-pop gem. How does that song fit into the world of Raccoon Gods, and what does it mean to you?
SK: "Diamonds" (the single version) was recorded at the same 2-day session as the RACCOON GODS album. There's another version on our first CD—MIGHT AS WELL SPROUTED THE THIRD EYE—but the song has evolved over a few years of live performance, & has continued to do so since we released the single. Our live sound right now is heavier, so imagine if The Runaways played our tunes & you get some kind of idea.
ZS: We sing many of our songs as if they are being sung by raccoons. "Diamonds" in particular we think of as a song of joyful defiance: "Just cos YOU'RE not in the sky with diamonds, doesn't mean WE don't want to be." And of course raccoons would revel in the night! "Out in the night and our eyes are shining, bright with the light of all we see." That line is very evocative to me — it's a reminder that there is beauty & light in everything, we only have to open our eyes to see it. One of the things our animal friends demonstrate for us constantly is how to stay fully present and move through the world with pure hearts & minds. I think that's something worth striving for.
SK: & "Diamonds" was one of the very first songs we wrote together. I was rediscovering my love of garagey pop music at the same time as Z was learning the drums. We wrote it in an afternoon when we still lived in Seattle. Most of RACCOON GODS was written much later ("Big Deal" is an exception, we tried to get that one for the first album & couldn't make it work for some reason), but the "Diamonds" single is from the RG session so it carries a related energy & is part of the same process.
ZS: We really love how the single version came out. When Jack finished mixing & mastering it, I told him how happy I was with how it sparkles. And he sort of got this twinkle in his eye and replied, "It does, doesn't it?" — which made me even happier! 🥰
SK: We call it "a song of joyful defiance" & it's very much about living your best life in the face of folks, or systems, who want to limit you.
Joy as Rebellion
You’ve said your mission is to ✨spread joy✨ through music — and that cultivating joy is a radical act. What does joy mean to you in this current cultural moment?
SK: hahahahahaha that's "Diamonds" again! It's important to find space for delight. It's ALWAYS important. And right now it can be very hard to make that space. And it can seem inappropriate to feel anything but despondent. If we give in to misery, they've won. So there's the same joy there always is—the moon, the stars, the ocean, good food, my favorite people, rock&roll—& a few new ones as well; & then there's the joy of being able to experience joy at all at this time. It has ALWAYS been the function of rock&roll—which has roots in at least three global animist magic traditions—to heal its listeners & participants through joy, in the form of ecstatic dance & ecstatic trance.
ZS: When we started Trash Panda Go Kart we were already living through Dumpster Fire 1.0 and it was not pretty. This whole country was built on a deeply flawed foundation and the cracks were showing through in a big way by then (again). This was a surprise to many who thought they'd successfully fixed everything back in the 60s. I will fully admit I was not raised to see through the peeling paint on the facade of America. My parents came here to pursue the "American Dream" and they did their best to raise American Kids™ so it took me a long time to recognize things for what they are. I wish I could talk to my mom with the perspective I have now.
We are all swimming & breathing in an extremely toxic environment. White supremacy, patriarchy, and capitalism are literally killing everyone and everything — quickly through violence & manufactured scarcity, and more gradually by making the planet completely uninhabitable for the current lifeforms in existence. Summoning the energy to wade through the pervasive oppression, pain, & grief day after day; finding ways to live our lives in ways that allow us room to breathe in peace (however briefly), to flourish (not just survive), and to claim love & joy as rights for all of us (not only the privileged few) — these are very much acts of rebellion.
Joy is not blind or blithe. For me, joy comes from making a conscious choice to keep our eyes & minds & hearts wide open to all the things that make us burn with rage, and keen with sorrow, and ache with tenderness, and beam with love. Yes, anger and sadness and fear are ever-present but if I can also remember to invite in beauty, love, and laughter, then I can find joy and a little more strength to stay afloat. And I want to extend that invitation to everyone. Our music is that invitation, that gentle reminder. We need joy and joy is within reach.
One fan described your music as “came for the bops, stayed for the raccoon resistance.” What does that phrase evoke for you?
ZS: Raccoons really are the perfect metaphor for the TPGK approach to resistance: Fun furry critters! Here for snacks & capers! When cornered by predators, surprisingly strong & fierce!
SK: Howie's phrase—which I love—says to me that we're doing our job, we're accomplishing what we set out to accomplish: write catchy pop tunes, play em in our ramshackle creaturely way, & inspire people to keep putting one foot in front of the other. All in the name of a brighter future for everyone.
ZS: TPGK songs are meant to be catchy & fun and we love when people dance and bounce around and sing along. Even if someone never goes any deeper than that, I think we're still doing our jobs as musicians because experiencing music — singing & moving our bodies — transforms us. My hope is that people will walk away from our songs changed ever so slightly and that, in turn, will have a positive effect on how they move through the world. I definitely see that as part of the #RaccoonResistance!
If anyone does take time to think about what the songs are actually saying, I hope they'll hear things that provoke thought, spark laughter, inspire confidence, let them know they are not alone, remind them of people and things they love, give them strength to stand up for themselves, bring lightness to their hearts. Cultivating joy really is the root of it. Joy shows up when we remember what is important to us. Joy lights us up & we can share it. Joy can give us the energy we need when we have to call on ferocity & fearlessness to see us through.
Is the energy behind Trash Panda Go Kart fueled more by play or protest — or is it impossible to separate the two?
ZS: Hello! Hi! We're a queer, lesbian, interracial couple! Boo! 👻
Our mere existence is protest. That's a given.
SK: It's hard to separate them you're absolutely right. We approach it all as play, that's just who we are & how we like to relate to the world when we can (sometimes play is work!)—but for us, simply existing as ourselves & living anything like our own truth has always been an act of protest. I'm not sure if "play is protest" would be inherently true for everyone—maybe!—but it is for us & for most of the people we love & spend our time with.
ZS: And yes, the energy behind Trash Panda Go Kart is fueled by play! (As many have pointed out, "It is called PLAYING music!") If it weren't fun, we would not be doing this. I find that I can't help but smile when we play together because it really is fun — I love the sound of the drums, I love hearing & watching Selena play guitar, I love singing even if I'm not the best at remembering my parts or the words 🤪 I love that we can make up songs about whatever we want and once the songs get their shape, we get to share them with people. During our practices, there are lots of times we get laughing so much it's hard to keep playing which makes us laugh even more and there are definitely times when everything dissolves completely. Because we've been together so long, it's inevitable that we're very comfortable with each other no matter the situation and I think people appreciate seeing that dynamic when we're playing a show.
When people tell us our music makes them happy or they don't know why they can't stop smiling at our shows, we know we're doing it right!
Sound & Spirit
Your sound’s been described as “power-twee,” “punk Disney,” and “cartoon riot rock.” How do you define it, if at all?
ZS: Ha! "Punk Disney" and "cartoon riot rock" are new to me! Originally we described ourselves as #IndiePopRaccoonRock. And early on, one of our friends described our sound as "heavy, yet whimsical." For a while we reveled in the "power-twee raccoon-core" description that someone else came up with.
Most recently we've been describing ourselves as "power-twee lesbian raccoon rock" and I'm sure it will continue to evolve.
SK: I don't define it at all beyond "rock&roll". Z likes to say "what raccoons would do, if raccoons wrote pop music!" I do very much see us in the tradition of rock&roll women from Sister Rosetta Tharpe & Little Richard ("the undiluted queen of rock&roll!") straight through to Joan Jett, Courtney Love, Betty Davis, Jane Wiedlin, Mia Zapata, Kim Deal, Helena Rogers, Tina Bell, Kristen Hersh, Liz Phair, Kim Shattuck, Adrienne Davies, PJ Harvey, Meg White, or more recently Penny Pitchlynn, Riley Ingram-Sowell, Eleanor Dumouchel, Lucy Atkinson, Nicole Laurenne, Nova Twins, and more.
ZS: I think we've both always found it difficult to define music in particular terms or pin things down to specific genres. Each of us hears so differently, I think it's virtually impossible to truly describe a sound to someone else.
We sound like us. Trash Panda Go Kart! We're a loud guitar & drums duo! We sing! Sometimes we don't sing! Some of our songs are quieter. Some of what we sing isn't technically words. Sometimes there is trouble!
What influences shaped the band’s sound — musically or otherwise — that people might not immediately expect?
ZS: While a lot of our songs are completely imaginary, I don't think people realize that we have songs inspired by or based on true real-life raccoon stories. Both things we've witnessed firsthand and things we've heard about in news stories and such.
SK: We listen to a lot of music... Mainstream and less so... but as far as things people might not expect: The first album by BRONCHO—CAN'T GET PAST THE LIPS—is a touchstone for us. Recently we've been very much influenced by Student Nurse—they're amazing. They've reformed after like forty years?? & they're better than ever, and they're better than anyone else around. They were contemporaries of & musical equals (or superiors) to all the SST bands but didn't get nearly the same cultural attention. For whatever reason.
ZS: We have our theories as to why.
SK: Their new PROBLEM ATTIC and SAFETY LAST lps are some of the best punkrock going on at this moment in time. The Muslims are an influence folks should be aware of—their song "Fuck These Fucking Fascists" is timeless. Not to mention "Punch A Nazi" & "Crotch-Pop A Cop". One of my favorite bands for a while now is Faith NYC, led by Felice Rosser. I got onto them from a book called RIGHT TO ROCK, by Maureen Mahon, about the Black Rock Coalition founded by Greg Tate, Vernon Reid, and Konda Mason (BRC motto: "Rock is Black music, & we are its heirs!"). Faith's early releases are on youtube & are excellent 'alternative rock'. Their recent albums include SOUL SECRETS (the title song lives in my head rent-free forever with my full entire blessing), SHADOWMAN, and LOVE IS A WISH AWAY. All three are blissfully terrific. And we adore Negative Passengers. But honestly we have wide open ears & listen to all kinds of sounds... We love Kinski and Unwed Sailor—both are mostly instrumental, in degrees of heavy & trancey. We love Penny Pitchlynn's LABRYS, espesh the 10:10 lp. But one minute we might be listening to John & Alice Coltrane, the next to folk music from rural China, then some Gnawa trance recordings, Jimi Hendrix, Milford Graves or Royal Trux or Prime Time or Erykah Badu or Bob Dylan or J Dilla or Fiona Apple or The Hu or Janelle Monae. Sophie's remix album is incredible. New discs from Skunk Anansie and Garbage have been on repeat in the car. I adore Fred Neil's voice. And Earth. And Lou Reed's meditation cd. We do tend to listen to entire albums, so that's a thing.
Non-musical influences... We try to write from a raccoon's-eye view, but it isn't exactly a strain on our supposers to do so... that's just sorta how we think? We've done experiments where we try to play like cats, or imitate frog calls. We both read a ton—novels, non-fiction, everything—so whatever we're into that way will be an influence. I spend a lot of time with tarot and energy work, and Z is a massage therapist & remote energy worker, & she's an actor & we're both interested in film & in visual art, so all of that is an influence as well. And the sounds of the rain & the surf & the (70mph) wind in the trees.
Your music feels raw but extremely melodic. How do you balance catchiness with chaos in the songwriting process?
ZS: I think it's fair to say that we both love melodies. Selena is so good with songwriting & structure. She knows it all so well that she can turn it inside out & upside down & take it apart & put it back together in a million different ways. My contributions come in the form of "no we don't need more words" and "yes, we can just sing la-la-la-la-la or aaaaaaaaaaa!" and stealing her vocal parts so she has to come up with different harmonies 😅 and of course providing the boom! boom! bash! And we'll wrestle together with something until it feels right to both of us.
SK: Melody is definitely a focus, which has not always been true for me. Z is more naturally melodic than I am. It's a little bit of a mystery to me so it's been really nice to hear people sing along at shows, it means we're doing something right! In the past I've done lyrics & music at the same time, or lyrics first & then music, but in this band we tend to start with the music. Either a jam, or something one of us hears in our head (or in a dream). Then we build from there. I mean—if you're going to cast a musical spell, it ought to be something people can remember & bring home to use for their self!
ZS: I think the rawness & chaos that comes through in our music simply happens because neither of us is ever going to do anything exactly the same way twice.
SK: Or even once.
Origins & Alchemy
You’ve known each other for 14 years, but TPGK was born relatively recently. What was the catalyst that made you start a band together — and why now?
SK: It took that long to convince Z she's a drummer! She has perfect time. Some people do. (I do not!) So at a certain point when I was between bands & feeling ambivalent about starting yet another one, I said "let's go get you some drums & see what happens"—& this is what happened!
ZS: We got an electronic drum kit first. We weren't supposed to have band practices at the place we were renting in Seattle so this was one way to stay under the radar... though we did amplify the kit through a monitor speaker and Selena did play through a smallish amplifier most of the time... we didn't get any noise complaints! Anyway, I started playing on that & we had a lot of fun playing together. The very first time TPGK played live happened because I couldn't find someone to open for the last night of a weekly residency I was setting up for one of Selena's other bands. She tentatively suggested that we could play and after some hesitation, I decided why not? The first few months we played out, I didn't have a proper drum kit of my own. I was very fortunate that our drummer friends were so gracious and willing to share their drums with me for our shows when we were first starting out. (Thank you JP! & Sheridan! & Adrian!) And it keeps being fun so we keep doing it!
The name “Trash Panda Go Kart” is perfect. What’s the full story behind it, and what does it mean to you beyond the raccoon imagery?
ZS: Thank you! "Trash Panda Go Kart" does get quite the response!
I think "Trash Panda Go Kart" gives off a friendly yet feral vibe. It lets you know that we have a sense of humor & don't take ourselves too seriously... and we might be a little bit unruly & unpredictable!
Our band is named after our car & the whole experience of me learning to drive stick shift in Seattle! Selena tells this story better than I do.
SK: Our name came out of me teaching Z to drive stick-shift in hilly Seattle. She said, "Can we put a sign on the back of the car that says 'student driver, please keep your distance'?" I said, "How about it just says 'Trash Panda Go Kart'? If folks have any sense they'll stay away!" (We do actually have a bumper sticker now with just the band name in black type on white. It's like a label for your car! & people do tend to back off after they read it.) & then we had to name our band & it seemed appropriately joyful, feral, chaotic, ramshackle, cartoonish. Two raccoons in a rickety contraption seems to sum up our general vibe or at least our experience of moving through the world?
ZS: That's basically my internal filter when it comes to the songs that feel like they are Trash Panda Go Kart songs versus the ones that don't feel like they fit: Imagine a couple of raccoons careening gleefully down a hill steering some sort of 4-wheeled contraption... and maybe one or two of the wheels are in danger of falling off?! If it fits through that filter somehow, then it works.
SK: I'd say we owe something name-wise also to Melt Banana & their album titles Teeny Shiny and Cactuses Come In Flocks.
You live on a misty, forested island near Seattle. How does that environment influence your sound, your process, or your sense of identity as a band?
ZS: how it sparkles!
SK: For one thing, we're out in the woods, so we can practice in our house any time we want & not disturb our neighbors! Because, what neighbors? It's really hard to overestimate the value of that, & how fortunate we are to be here in so many ways. (Sometimes we call it the Island Of Misfit Toys, in honor of Van Conner, but that's another story.) We'd be inclined to write & sing about nature & critters & trees & so forth anyway, but it's amazing to live somewhere that I can look out the window between jams & see a couple of deer ten feet away, or two barred owls on a branch. They don't seem to mind the music! (Our cats sometimes get impatient.) Or we can drive to the beach & literally see whales swim by. So inspiration is everywhere. Z is a city girl but I grew up in the woods in Vermont before spending a lot of years in Seattle and L.A. The places we've lived in each city have always had a funky backwoods vibe—side streets in Echo Park, or Ballard before the three-story-law was repealed. Rock&roll is a country music first & foremost, which was streamlined in the cities; & I'm a country girl & I'm very aware of how people from out here relate to the music—& that way of relating DOES translate to urban listeners. It always has. In that way, this is a much more universal place to locate our muse.
Performance & Visuals
Your live shows are rare but legendary. What’s the intention behind keeping your performances so selective — and what happens when you do take the stage?
SK: We took a few years off from live, just as we were starting out, during early covid—so I think people got the impression that we don't do a lot of shows? But it's not really the case. Folks on our email list can see that we work quite a lot. But we only play in Seattle maybe a bit more often than we play in Edmonds, Everett, or Tacoma. It's our intention to hit Olympia & Portland in the nearish future. We're busy, it's just that we're spread out around the region. This past weekend we played 5 sets on 3 stages in 3 cities in 2 days! As for selective—yeah we're particular but it hasn't really slowed us down. The Northwest is not short of queer-friendly venues. Venues that are friendly to people of the global majority can be harder to find. But I don't think we've had any major issues around that either. There are venues we like to come back to, bands we like to work with, festivals & events & record stores that have had us back again & again, DJs who have played us over & over, & we're grateful to all of them in a way that is difficult to fully express.
What happens when we take the stage... hahahahah I have no idea! We play songs & people dance. It's a good time!
ZS: Because we're intentional with the shows we book, we end up being a connecting thread between various bands & music scenes & communities that might not typically cross-pollinate or for whatever reason have never crossed paths. The weekend mini-tour Selena mentioned is one example — we drove over 300 miles in less than 48 hours to share & enjoy music all around Puget Sound.
(Where we live gives us access to all of western WA in a way that living in Seattle didn't. When we lived in Seattle, everything we could need or want was available in the city so it took more effort to reach escape velocity.)
We also recently catalyzed a lineup with two foundational Seattle bands — Student Nurse and Capping Day — who have never done a show together. Student Nurse had to cancel at the last minute but TPGK and Capping Day & the audience all had a great time and we hope to make it happen with all three bands in the future!
There’s a strong visual language around your band — from art to attitude. How important is imagery, fashion, and animation in telling your story?
ZS: I drew the very first TPGK logo — I think the handwritten style and colors give a very clear sense of our aesthetic. We love hand-drawn, handmade art; art that is intentionally produced by humans. We've been very lucky to have more than one artist gift us their art & give us permission to use it. Sage Mansfield drew a distinctive raccoon face for TPGK which we've put on a sticker so far and will likely turn up in other places in the future. Maeve McArdle drew the Vroom Vroom Go Kart Raccoon Girl™ who we've happily released out into the world on stickers, all of our TPGK apparel, and as the cover art for Raccoon Gods. Vroom Vroom Girl in sticker form also lends herself very nicely to Selena's stop-motion videos.
Every set list is unique. Hand-lettered and decorated with sigils and drawings specific to the intent of those songs in the context of that set for that show. (Did you know highlighters glow in the dark?!?)
Take it away, Selena!
SK: I've loved animation since I was a little girl so naturally it finds its way into our visual presence—Harry Smith's films are an influence, and Leo Lionni's "Swimmy". The original King Kong [1933]. I'm also invested, by way of The Velvet Underground & queer history generally, in Warhol & the Factory. So that plays in. & I've designed 40 or 50 album covers for my improv trio Beyond Captain Orca! so I have some idea by now of how to get what I want from an image. (The cover art for MIGHT AS WELL SPROUTED THE THIRD EYE is an actual raccoon from our yard, photographed with a trail cam!) Records are still my favorite format, when they're done well. It's been said a thousand times but staring into a 12" piece of colorfully decorated cardboard while you smoke a j & travel the musical spaceways, is VERY key to a lot of people's formative listening experience, including my own. CDs are much smaller, so it's an interesting challenge to say: "How do we make a cool little art object out of this?" Something that's fun to have lying around your house, or to turn over in your hands while you listen. But the Vroom Vroom Go Kart Raccoon Girl from the cover of RACCOON GODS, she really was a godesssend. When Maeve showed up & surprised us with her—she's a cardboard sign about 2.5' long & she lives in Zinnia's office most of the time—it was love at first sight. We knew immediately that she would be our champion, our icon, our fearless leader through rain & snow & fog & blazing heat. Her adventures have only begun.
Off the Record
If Raccoon Gods were a midnight snack, what would it be and how would it be served?
SK: Probably cheese, & straight out of the fridge! Smoked salmon another possibility. (midnight isn't even bedtime yet so there's that)
ZS: Late nite dumplings & bao? Spicy pizza? Cake?* This question is too hard. Give me all the snacks! Served in compostable or reusable/recyclable take-out containers is more than fine. And we do love cheese. Our fridge has a whole drawer dedicated to cheese.
*ask us where we get these snacks, we’ll share our favorite spots!
Describe the new single TPGK in the USA using only sensations — temperature, colors, textures.
SK: Bright & tough; wine red & black & grey & midnight blue; cool, still, strong—& yet, somehow, bouncy.
ZS: An unexpected cool breeze.
What’s something totally unexpected about how you write or record that fans might never guess?
ZS: Dream songs! (I talk & sing in my sleep)
SK: I'm a studio geek so this could be as long an answer as you or anyone wants… We do a lot of improvising, sometimes entire songs at a time (the music anyway, lyrics happen later). 'Raccoon Gods' started as an improv in our home studio, a year or two before we tracked it for the album. & 'Hello The Stars' on the RACCOON GODS cd actually IS an improv. Jack hit record, Z started a beat, & what we played is pretty much what you hear—plus lyrics, overdubs, etc. We track guitar & drums live, & usually we get a song down within a few takes. (There's always one that takes longer and it's never the one we expect.) We work very fast—for RACCOON GODS we tracked 19 songs in 2 days. Then we take the multis home & add vocals, acoustic guitars, percussion, etc. Consulting all the way with our friend & co-producer Jack Endino as far as mic selection & so forth. Honestly, I don't know how we'd do what we do recording-wise without Jack. He gets us, & his experience & expertise are hard to beat. We've learned so much from him, & he gives us room to do our weird thing without judgement—& *always* without condescension. His transparency about the recording process is crucial. His ears AND his brain are amazing. He's helped us a lot with dialing in the guitar & drum tones, not just during recording but in a way that I've been able to bring forward to live performance & other contexts. I'm a great lover of large tube amplifiers & typically I split the guitar signal through Jack's modded Mig60 & his Bleach Twin—the amplifier Kurt Cobain used on Bleach. It's been modded quite a bit over the decades & very much has its own tone. & it's a terrific sounding amp—if it were just for novelty value, or for musical tourism, I wouldn't be using it. It was Jack's main amp for years & he still plays through it at times to this very day. I love that it gets to work rather than being stuffed under glass in a museum somewhere.
If you could invite one historical raccoon (real or imagined) to join your band on stage, who would it be and what instrument would they play?
SK: There are so many wonderful choices... Rebecca Coolidge is the first to come to mind, but Rascal North is someone I think of often as well. I imagine that each of them would have issues to work through, & with that in mind I would absolutely encourage them to choose their own instrument & express themselves as they see fit. This go kart is, after all, a safe space.
ZS: I thought of Rebecca Coolidge too! But my pick is Rocket. I like that he's super smart & takes no shit. Given his personality, I think he would probably play drums or guitar. If he played guitar, Selena could play bass (the moon is our bass player!) If he played drums, I could just sing which might be fun for a temporary change of scene.
And finally — what’s the joy you’re chasing right now? And how do you know when you’ve caught it?
ZS & SK: how it sparkles!