Since their 2016 formation, the Britpop-inspired Dutch indie fourpiece Pip Blom (who take their namesake from their lead singer and guitarist) have made an international splash. From playing support slots for the likes of The Breeders, being featured on some major festivals across Europe, and got healthy airplay on international radio, the band consisting of Pip, her brother Tender on lead guitar, Darek Mercks on bass, and Gini Cameron on drums, have solidified themselves as a must-see headlining act.

Part of their live appeal comes from their relentless frenetic and youthful energy on full display, with nonstop dancing and headbanging, married with a solid and consistent on-beat performance of their fast-paced, melodic and relentless punk-infused indie bangers. The band’s first two albums – 2018’s Boat and 2021’s Welcome Break – both encapsulated the sound which made Pip Blom popular in various indie scenes, both domestically and abroad. Pip tells Post-Burnout about trying to distil their iconic live energy onto their studio records.

“With Boat, especially, people said it quite often to us, that they felt we were way heavier and louder and more energetic live than when they listened to Boat,” she says. “So, with the second album [Welcome Break], that was something we wanted to do different, of course. We wanted to try and see if we could capture that live energy a bit more. But, then again, I do also like that things are different on a record than they are live because it’s fun to experiment in different ways on a record. Like, you can do stuff that you just can’t do live, or you can try to do it live, but that is going to become really difficult because you have to bring lots of different instruments or buy really expensive gear. So, part of me wants to capture that live energy on the record but then also, do something else.”

And with their third album Bobbie – due to release this October – doing something else is precisely the goal. “With this new album, it’s a lot less about the live stuff; it’s more computer-produced stuff, as well,” says Pip. Part of the reason for this new direction is due to a very significant logistical purpose: “The set-up has recently changed a bit, because our drummer, Gini, she’s leaving the band, as she’s having a baby,” says Pip. “So, we had to think about a new way to play it live, and if we wanted to do with it a drummer or not, and the new tracks that we’ve made have quite a different sound to what we’ve made previously, but whilst coming up with ideas and rehearsing, the energy is still one of the main things we want to maintain. We just, personally, really like energetic live shows. So, yeah, I think that’s a big part of the type of band that we are, and it’s also what makes it fun for us, as well, I guess. Yeah, it’s just when you play live in front of people and they enjoy it as well, it gives you so much energy.”

Eight days after this interview was conducted, Pip Blom would perform for the first time as a three-piece with an electronic drum, when they supported Blur at the 17,000-capacity Ziggo Dome in Amsterdam. At the time, we asked Pip how she felt the new set-up without Gini was going to work. “I think to me, when we heard the news, we started thinking about what we could do, because it was going to be so difficult to replace Gini,” she responded. “And we thought about lots of other drummers, but it’s just really difficult, and then we had one drummer in mind, and, in the end, that didn’t work out, so we were just like, ‘Maybe this is a good time to do everything differently, and with the new tracks, it is doable, as well.’ So, that’s when we decided to do it without a drummer, so the whole set-up is going to be different, which is frightening because we just don’t know how the live show’s going to look, but we’re working on that, and how people are going to react to that.

“But then, at the same time, as we were writing the tracks – especially ‘Tiger’ and ‘Is This Love?’ – I thought that it might be too much pop for people, that they would miss the band sound, but, in general, we’ve just had a really good response, so hopefully we’ll have the same with this. That people will still miss Gini but because it’s something different, it’s easier to focus on that, instead of being like, ‘Oh, but this drummer isn’t as good, or as cool, or as quirky as Gini.’ So, we’ve thought about it, and I think it’s really exciting to do something different. Because we’ve been doing this for quite a while, it’s fun to have a new way of doing stuff and figuring out everything…But, yeah. We’ll get there! [Laughs]”

As demonstrated by the three singles released so far from the album, at the time of publication, Bobbie sees Pip Blom go in a more dance-punk, electro style. “So, I think from the beginning, I’ve always wanted to combine more electronic stuff with the band stuff, but I found it really difficult because I always thought, ‘Oh, I can do that in the studio,’ and then it turned out there was never any time to do that,” says Pip. “So, I was always a bit like, ‘I like what we’ve done, but this isn’t what I had in mind.’ And with this record, I thought, ‘OK, it’s going to be the third record…,’ yeah, and there was one thing, as well, which happened last time with Welcome Break, even though I thought it was really different, compared to Boat, we got quite a lot of reviews from people that were saying, ‘It’s the brother or sister of Boat,’ which made me feel like, ‘OK, I think I’m doing something [wrong] if people feel it’s the same-ish.’ So, I felt, ‘OK, I need to do something else, this time around, because it’s time for that as well.’ So, then I decided to go and work with [producer] Dave [McCracken], because we worked with him on [their EP] Paycheck and on Boat, but mainly on Paycheck, he influenced the sounds a lot and it sounded more produced and different.”

With influence from bands like Micachu and the Shapes and Sorry, respectively, Pip went to Dave for his experience producing pop music for the likes of Beyoncé, Alicia Keys, Shakira, and Scissor Sisters to help mould the new sound of the album. The first single released off the album was “Is This Love?,” which features a collaboration with Franz Ferdinand frontman Alex Kapranos. When asked how this collaboration came about, Pip responds, “So, we supported Franz Ferdinand a couple of times, over the years. We did four shows with them last year, and they were really fun and really nice people, and it’s funny because we’ve done a lot of support tours with different bands, and with them, they were just really nice…So, it felt really good, from the start, and, yeah, we talked a bit with Alex, like a couple of times, and I was in the studio with the producer of the album, Dave McCracken, and at one point he said, ‘What do you think about a collaboration?’

“And I’d never written a song with anyone before, so I was very nervous about that because I just wasn’t really sure if I could do it. I was just a bit afraid that I would get so nervous that I [wouldn’t be] able to write or come up with anything. So, I thought, ‘I need to ask someone that I think is really nice and is really cool at the same time,’ which is quite a difficult combination, because, yeah, I don’t know, cool people are not always really nice. And then Dave was like, ‘You should ask Alex,’ and I was like, ‘That would be the perfect person,’ because I think his voice is amazing, I think he’s a really good songwriter, and he’s really nice.

“So, yeah, that’s when I asked him, and it was all quite…we didn’t have that much time. So, I think he came back from a Japan tour, Dave and I visited him the same night, then he left for another tour the next day, and then, two weeks later, we had one day in the studio. We had this demo that we needed some parts for and we sent it to Alex, and Alex said something like, he liked the chorus but he felt it could have an even better chorus, and that’s what we started working on together in the studio, and it was really fun and I think we’re all really happy with the song, because it’s a bit different to what we usually do – it’s a bit more funky – and, yeah, it’s nice. I think it’s really fun – especially being in a band for quite a while now, too – to try different stuff as well and not always do exactly the same. So, I think it’s been really successful and really, really fun.”

In February, the band will return to Ireland for their first visit here since 2018, and this time they will tour the country instead of only seeing within the county borders of Dublin. We asked Pip if she was excited to come back. “We’re really excited to come back,” she says. “I think we were supposed to come back to Ireland somewhere last year, and then we had to cancel it because it was still difficult and stuff [with Brexit]. But, yeah, we’ve been twice, and we had a lot of fun, good memories, and I guess it’s going to be nice to do more than just one show, now, as well, because, yeah, it’s quite a big country, as well, so it just feels a bit silly to always come for one show. And that means we’re going to get to see more of Ireland, which is nice. And, in terms of the show, we’re going to do the club tour. At the minute, we’re working on a light show, as well. It’s going to be the three of us. I think it’s going to be a lot of new songs off the record – but that will be out by then, so hopefully people will know them then – but a couple of old songs, as well, some fan favourites. I think it’s going to be different, but it will still be really fun, and, hopefully, it will just be a good night out, where you can dance and enjoy yourself. I think that’s what we’re going for. We love dancing, so hopefully that will be possible.”

Pip Blom’s third album Bobbie releases on October 20^th and you can preorder a copy here and stay up to date with the band on their website.

The band will be appearing in the following places on their Irish tour in February:

8^th – Dublin – The Grand Social [Tickets here]

9^th – Limerick – Kashbah [Tickets here]

10^th – Belfast – Ulster Sports Club [Tickets here]

A more extensive version of this interview with Pip – where we go into further details about the topics discussed, as well as the band’s Britpop influence, writing in English compared to Dutch, how Brexit has affected them when touring the UK, releasing an album during lockdown, the Dutch music scene, and more – is available on today’s episode of POSTBURNOUT.COM Interviews…, premiering at 17:00 (IST) on YouTube and available elsewhere afterward.