Interview with Jemina Pearl & Jonas Stein of Be Your Own PET

Be Your Own PET is one of the most exciting bands I’ve heard recently. The group of teenage rockers got together at the Nashville School of the Arts in 2002 and have already played some of the world’s most exclusive festivals and shows. Recently I was able to bounce a few questions off of guitarist Jonas Stein and singer Jemina Pearl about future performances, the new album and the Nashville scene.

Chris DeLine: How was the recent experience with your European dates, what kind of reaction did the band get?

Jonas Stein: We were selling out our gigs and several ambulances would appear throughout the night to take injured kids to the hospital.

Jemina Peark: Europe was a lot of fun. I didn’t know if people were going to be very familiar with our music, but every night there were people dancing and calling out their favorite songs. It was totally awesome.

CD: “Adventure” is the catchiest track I’ve heard all year, and the video is a complete trip. I love how much fun you all seem to be having in the video. What else can we expect to hear with the upcoming album?

JS: Adventure is the “Catchy” track of the album, the rest of the album is more of a blow to the head.

JP: The next single is “Bicycle, Bicycle, You Are My Bicycle.” It’s about riding bikes and kicking ass. The video is directed by our friend, Monty Buckles, who also directed the “Adventure” video.

CD: What kind of scene is there right now in Nashville and are there any other local bands we should be checking out?

JS: Yeah you should check out The Mattoid, Forget Cassettes and Faun.

JP: There’s not really much of a scene here in Nashville. There are a few good bands here. One of my favorites is a band called Party Cannon. They always put on a really good show!

CD: Having already received excellent feedback from appearances at Reading/Leads, Glastonbury, and SXSW what is the next big event the band looks to conquer?

JS: We’ll be at Bonnaroo this year, maybe we’ll try to make the stage collapse.

JP: We just played Coachella. That was pretty cool. We’re about to do a month long tour of the U.S. in June. Then we’re playing some more festivals in the U.K and in the U.S.

CD: If you knew you were going to be playing your last show, who would you love to share the stage with?

JS: Pearls and Brass and The Black Lips.

JP: The Black Lips because they’re the best band around today.