be your own PET

  • Nashville, TN
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  • Rock
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  • 2004
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About be your own PET


Blasting out of Nashville, TN, like a bottle rocket, the teenage garage-noise-pop band Be Your Own Pet makes music that's as frenzied as it is catchy. The band formed in 2003 out of the ashes of Night Shift Nurses, which was the project of drummer Jamin Orrall and his bassist brother Jeff. The pair practiced in their basement and also ran the label Infinity Cat; and eventually joined forces with guitarist Jonas Stein -- who was in another band on the label, Jimmy Cushman?, at the time -- and singer Jemina Pearl, a friend from Nashville School of the Arts. Playing house shows and gigs at the all-ages venues Guido's Pizza and Bongo Java, the group honed its spastic-yet-poppy sound. When Jeff Orrall left the band to explore Iceland, Nathan Vasquez entered the band's ranks as their new bassist, and the quartet rechristened themselves Be Your Own Pet, taking the name from a song by fellow Infinity Cat group Art Circus. With a firmly established lineup and new name, Be Your Own Pet began working on demos with a handful of producers, including Jacquire King and Jamin and Jeff's father, singer/songwriter Robert Ellis Orrall. (The rest of BYOP's members also have musical pedigrees: Jemina Pearl's father is rock photographer Jimmy Abegg, Vasquez is the son of guitarist Raphael Vasquez, and Stein's father is manager Burt Stein.) The band released their first single, "Damn Damn Leash" -- a hooky, punky, whip-smart song that echoed the best of Blondie and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs -- as a CD-R on Infinity Cat; the track made its way to BBC Radio One presenter Zane Lowe, whose support for Be Your Own Pet won the band an early U.K. following. Meanwhile, attention-getting gigs at 2004's CMJ and 2005's South by Southwest began creating a buzz for the group stateside. A string of EPs for Rough Trade and XL followed, including a re-release of Damn Damn Leash and Fire Department in 2005, and Let's Get Sandy (Big Problem) early in 2006. Thurston Moore, another early fan, signed Be Your Own Pet to his Ecstatic Peace imprint to release the band's material in the U.S.; Redd Kross' Steve McDonald produced the sessions for the group's full-length debut. Summer Sensation, a collection of Be Your Own Pet's demos and EP tracks, became the band's first widely distributed U.S. release and arrived in spring 2006, just before Adventure was chosen as the lead single from Be Your Own Pet, which was issued that summer. The band returned to the studio in summer 2007, and returned the following spring with Get Awkward, a heavier but still mischievous set of songs inspired by punk, new wave and girl group pop. ~ Heather Phares, Rovi

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Music

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  • The Kelly Affair
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    The Kelly Affair
  • Fuuuuuun
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    Fuuuuuun
  • Fill My Pill
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    Fill My Pill
  • 9662816
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    • The Kelly Affair
      http://listen.vo.llnwd.net/g1/8/7/6/7/2/103627678.mp3
    • What's Your Damage
      http://listen.vo.llnwd.net/g1/7/1/8/2/3/107932817.mp3
    • Bummer Time
      http://listen.vo.llnwd.net/g1/7/9/7/2/3/107932797.mp3
    • The Beast Within
      http://listen.vo.llnwd.net/g1/2/4/2/8/4/107448242.mp3
    • Adventure
      http://listen.vo.llnwd.net/g2/7/0/8/8/4/915748807.mp3
    • Super Soaked
      http://listen.vo.llnwd.net/g1/1/4/7/7/2/103627741.mp3

Interviews & Exclusives

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  • BONUS: Subterranean asks Be Your Own Pet "What bums you out?"
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    BONUS: Subterranean asks Be Your Own Pet "What bums you out?"
  • Be Your Own Pet on being mean
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    video
    Be Your Own Pet on being mean
  • BONUS: Be Your Own Pet on Devo's "Satisfaction"
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    video
    BONUS: Be Your Own Pet on Devo's "Satisfaction"
  • Be Your Own Pet on turning down the Warped Tour
    be-your-own-pet
    video
    Be Your Own Pet on turning down the Warped Tour
  • BONUS: Be Your Own Pet on The Black Keys' "10 A.M. Automatic"
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    BONUS: Be Your Own Pet on The Black Keys' "10 A.M. Automatic"
  • Be Your Own Pet on Thurston Moore
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    Be Your Own Pet on Thurston Moore

Photos

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  • Ecstatic Peace
    be your own PET
    Ecstatic Peace

News

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    thank you for all your love and support these past few years — its been a blast but the time has come for the 4 of us to go our separate ways." The ba...
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    guest on Dirty Laundry, a web interview series where musical stars air their, what else, dirty laundry. Pearl's got a lot to talk about, and she hits ...
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Discography

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  • Get Awkward (2008)
    be your own PET
    Get Awkward (2008)
    XL Recordings/Beggars Group
  • Be Your Own Pet (2006)
    be your own PET
    Be Your Own Pet (2006)
    Universal Distribution
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