Pup's Stefan Babcock is one of Canada's best songwriters — just don't tell him that
The musician sits down with Q’s Tom Power to talk about Pup’s new album, Who Will Look After The Dogs?
Stefan Babcock of the Canadian punk rock band Pup is his own harshest critic.
With the release of the band's fifth and latest studio album, Who Will Look After The Dogs?, Babcock has proven himself to be one of this country's most sophisticated songwriters — and yet he can't take the compliment.
"I think I would like to talk about what I'm bad at," Babcock tells Q's Tom Power in a recent interview before immediately shifting the host's praise back onto his bandmates.
"I play with three guys who are way better at music than I am, who are all insanely creative in their own ways, and who can just bring something exciting to songs that are sometimes lacking a spark."
When Babcock initially wrote Pup's new song Olive Garden, he says it was just a "mediocre" acoustic demo until drummer Zack Mykula came up with an idea to make it heavier.
"It completely transformed the whole meaning of the song," he says. "Those guys should be given all the credit in the world. Thank God. Thank God for them."
On Who Will Look After The Dogs?, Babcock has tapped into his capacity for self-reflection and self-deprecating humour. While writing the album, he says he was going through a difficult time in his personal life as he contended with the end of a long-term relationship.
"There's so much humour in the darkness for me," he tells Power. "I think a lot of the songs I write, what I'm doing is looking back on my worst moments from a much better place and trying to find them funny and make fun of myself."
So what does Babcock like about his songwriting?
"Not much," he says. "I think I'm pretty good at being honest with myself…. One thing I fought for on these songs and this record was let's not overthink these songs. When it feels good, that's when we stop. And that is a really hard thing for any of us to do because we're all over-thinkers. But I'm proud of myself for that — for being able to recognize when a song feels good and is finished."
The full interview with Pup is available on our podcast, Q with Tom Power. Listen and follow wherever you get your podcasts.
Interview with Pup produced by Mitch Pollock.
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