Almost A Dirty Dozen with PAWN PAWN – February 2025

According to a recent press release: “Dark electronic trio, PAWN PAWN has just unveiled their latest EP, Halloween. The EP delivers a darkly electrifying journey through a spectrum of synth-driven styles, each track a study in emotional and sonic extremes. The Halloween EP is both a love letter to synthpop’s past and a step into its future. While inspired by film director, John Carpenter, the EP is named in honor of a holiday many dark hearts celebrate every day, Halloween’s trajectory goes through the brooding, pulsing opening track, “Trick Or Treat” to the seductive, shadowy anthem, “Tell You With My Eyes,” then closing with “Jealousy Looks Good On Me,” a high-octane fusion of ’90s industrial-pop that balances chaotic aggression with razor-sharp melodic hooks. PAWN PAWN is Liz Owens Boltz, Brandon Boltz, and David Daniel Smith. Each of the members were raised in Northwest Ohio, friends since their teens, and creatives in the Toledo music scene.” We get the band to discuss new music, influences, and more…

1. Tell us a little about your latest release – the ‘Halloween’ EP.  What might a fan or listener not grab the first or second time they listen through? Are there any hidden nuggets you put in the material or that only diehard fans might find?

Liz: Thematically, this EP reclaims emotions some of us have historically been discouraged from expressing. We’re supposed to stay calm and be modest; we’re expected to show grace and never look like we’re too thirsty. We’re supposed to show restraint. But Halloween is a holiday that can be an outlet for some of those extremes. That’s part of where the title comes from. And there are some hidden nuggets — in fact, there are two musical Easter Eggs in “Trick Or Treat” that also have to do with Halloween. Not to mix holiday metaphors…

2. What got you into music, and can you tell us about the moment you realized you wanted to be a musician?

Liz: Growing up I was always more of a theatre kid, but when I was about 10 years old, I formed a band with the kid across the street (this didn’t translate into actual musicianship until much later, though).

Brandon: I’ve always loved music and some of my earliest memories are getting into my parents’ records and staying up late to watch the MTV countdown.  I don’t remember ever not wanting to be a musician.

David: I’ve been into music as long as I can remember. I never took lessons, so I always sort of figured out stuff by ear/ trial and error. I think I realized I wanted to be a songwriter/musician when I was still in grade school.

3. Building on that, is there a specific song, album, performer, or live show that guided your musical taste?

Liz: Too many to list! But one band I always come back to regularly is The Cure. I saw them play in Cleveland once against the backdrop of an early summer storm. It’s hard to put into words what it felt like to dance along with thousands of other fans, on the lawn, in the rain, to “A Forest.”

David: Yes. The most important artist in my youth was Billy Joel, without a doubt. But, seeing Iron Maiden in ’86 when I was 10 years old blew my mind and certainly steered me toward heavier music. Other than that, I have always been obsessed with dance music artists, specifically stuff produced by Teddy Riley.

4. If you could call in any one collaborator to do a song with, who would it be, and why?

Brandon: Dan Nigro’s at the top of my list. Many of my favorite recent records have his name in the credits.

David: Trent Reznor. His melody choices are absolutely unique, and his sense of structure and sound design are unmatched.

5. What is your favorite activity when out of the studio and/or not on tour?  What do you like to do to unwind?

Liz: Running helps me unwind. It also gives me time to listen to new music, and the mental space to come up with ideas. I’m also a gamer. So, I have a nice blend of active and sedentary hobbies.

Brandon: I’m currently spending all my non-musical free time on pinball.  My bandmates are tired of hearing about it, so I’ll stop there.

David: Wait… There are activities outside of making music?

6. How would you describe your music to someone who’d never listened to you before? What is the one comparison a reviewer or fan has made that made you cringe or you disagreed with? Also, how has the style changed since the band’s beginning?

Brandon: We’ve always struggled to describe or categorize our music, so it’s only right to give others a lot of grace when they attempt to do it. We’ve evolved through our first two albums to this new EP from more of two guitar, organic indie sound to a more electronic synth heavy sound.

David: Kitchen sink core.

7. When your band is hanging out together, who cooks, who gets the drinks in, and who is first to crack out the acoustic guitars for a singalong?

Liz: David grills a mean veggie kebab, Brandon is the cocktail connoisseur, and I usually organize our jam sessions.

Brandon:  I do pride myself on my Manhattans.

David: I also pride myself on Brandon’s Manhattans… drinking them.

8. When was the last time you were starstruck and who was it?

Liz: When I was about 3 feet away from Stephen Hawking at the Starmus Festival in 2016.

Brandon: Last year, and every time, when I see the Smoking Popes.  They’re super nice guys.  I’ve seen them so many times and still feel like an idiot when I attempt to put words together in their presence.

David: A few years ago, I was in the cast of Green Day’s American Idiot in Chicago and Jack Black came to see the show. Afterwards I was at a loss for words, and didn’t know what to say. Looking back, I could have just said hi and stuff, but alas.

9. What is one question you have always wanted an interviewer to ask – and what is the answer? Conversely, what question are you tired of answering?

Liz: I don’t think I’m tired of any question, but since Pawn Pawn is a genre-bending project and our sound is a bit mercurial, it can be hard to identify bands that have a similar sound. We are very open to audience / reviewer input on that.

Brandon: I love talking about gear and recording. But it probably is only suitable for certain kinds of publications to ramble on about preamps and plugins.

David: I like talking about obscure influences and important underground music movements. I guess I’m kinda tired of attempting to name a genre we fit in.

10. Looking back over your career, is there a single moment or situation you feel was a misstep or you would like to have a “do over,” even if it didn’t change your current situation?

Liz: Not really a single moment, but I do wish I had started learning to play when I was younger, and my brain had more neuroplasticity.

Brandon: I wish I could go back in time and buy a bunch of analog synthesizers when they were much cheaper!  I also wish I would’ve put more of an effort into talking to the other bands on the bills when I was in my teens and early twenties.  My nerves prevented me from meeting a lot of cool people.

David: I think through the years spending too much time obsessing over how to sound like a certain thing or style or genre set me back for a long time. When I started embracing the concept of genre jumping and doing what is natural, everything sort of clicked for me.

11. If you could magically go back in time and be a part of the recording sessions for any one record in history, which would you choose – and what does that record mean to you?

Liz: Nine Inch Nails – Broken. Lyrically and sonically phenomenal, and one of my absolute favorites, start to finish. It would be incredible to see Trent’s creative recording strategies from that era.

Brandon:  It would be awesome to be a fly on the wall during some of the early groundbreaking synth recording sessions like Switched-On Bach with Wendy Carlos on the modular Moog or “Superstition” with Stevie Wonder on TONTO.

David: 100% the recording of The Cure’s Disintegration.

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Category: Interviews