Started in 2023 by childhood best friends Gabriel Marroquin, Calvin Beck, Will Frederick, and Garfield student Jack Ferguson, Princess Pulpit is one of the most notable up and coming bands in Seattle. They’re known for their angsty indie rock style and unique cover art.
Their new EP, Facing Forward, was released on October 27 of this year but has been in production since last December. The EP features 5 new songs, sung by both Ferguson and Marroquin.
A lot has changed since the release of their first album, “that first album we treated kind of like an anthology where it’s like a bunch of random songs, they’re not really connected.” Ferguson said. “We didn’t feel like it was an accurate representation of us at the time.” Additionally, this new EP was recorded and produced entirely by Ferguson, who is largely self taught. “ I’m hearing these songs, like, a 100 times over and over and over again and at a certain point, I have to take a break and, like, refresh my ears. But I think overall it’s still beneficial because I had to put in the work,” Ferguson said. Due to the fact that the writing of the songs and actual recording part were so far apart from each other, Ferguson said, “I’ve still learned so much about recording since then that, like I wish I had done this or if I had mic’d this amp up differently and I could have gotten this sound much more easily. That’s another aspect where it’s like I’m limited because it’s older and I’ve learned more since then.”
Along with the writing, recording, and playing, so much work and detail went into curating this album. For example, the cover art was inspired by “one disposable camera photo that Gabe had [taken]. I just really liked that photo and it was just a tree in a park [in] fall,” Ferguson said. Along with greenery and urban landscaping, a huge inspiration for them aesthetically was “this 500 year old medieval manuscript called the Voynich manuscript [which was] this big mystery when it was found because it’s in a language that no one’s seen before, no one’s recognized, and no one’s been able to decipher.” Ferguson said.
The entire process in making this album has been a huge step for the band, both in creating music that they’re proud of and in finding the courage to express themselves in ways other people can see and relate to. “For [the] people who know who we are and listened to that first record, I want them to know that this isa different step [and] that we’re gonna do other things,” Ferguson said. “The EP is called Facing Forward and that’s kind of the main thing. We’re changing directions because this is us being more solidified, and again being more proud of this specific work. Phonetically it’s transitional, it’s very liminal.” The EP marks an exciting new chapter for Princess Pulpit and fans are looking forward to seeing where they’re headed next.
