Rediscovering tradition
Former Slint guitarist finds reality with Papa M
Indie rock has long symbolized not only a genre of music, but a caliber of musician who humbly confines himself to the lo-fi and DIY ghetto without regard for mainstream acceptance. For former Slint guitarist and Papa M ringleader David Pajo, crossing the line to commercial success as guitarist for the Billy Corgan-fronted pop anomaly Zwan, happened without warning. But when the group split up after just one release, Pajo resumed his place with Papa M, seemingly never missing a beat.
But making the move from working alongside underground luminaries like Tortoise, Stereolab and Royal Trux, to slumming with members of mainstream heavy hitters like the Smashing Pumpkins and A Perfect Circle hasn’t left him unaffected. As Pajo explains, playing music with Zwan and seeing how the other half lives helped keep Papa M grounded in reality.
Coming of age in the unlikely art-punk scene of Louisville, Ky., in the late ’80s — the scene that gave rise to Rodan, Gastr del Sol and Palace — Pajo made his mark playing guitar in Slint. Throughout their two albums, the group challenged the confines of traditional rock song structure, sparking the math and post-rock legacies that became signature sounds of underground rock throughout the ’90s.
When the group disbanded in ‘92, Pajo began releasing solo material under a variety of monikers, all centered around the letter M. “I didn’t want to have a band name, but I didn’t want to do it under my own name either,” he says. “I liked Prince’s idea of just using a symbol and I liked the letter M. I thought it was a cool symbol and there’s an M on every typewriter. But then I realized there was already a new wave group called M so I kept the symbol and have continually changed the name around it.”
With a handful of full-lengths and numerous singles, mostly as Aerial M and Papa M, Pajo laid the foundation for a body of fractured experimentation. The material, built around the same deconstructive aesthetic as Slint, but applied to a more pastoral sound, hit its zenith on Pajo’s 2001 Papa M full-length, Whatever, Mortal, released on Drag City.
“With Slint, we were breaking rules that we didn’t even know existed,” he says. “It was a far-out, weird band but it also had its appeal on a level of reality. With M, the idea was to try out a lot of ideas, but the same realistic approach. Now I’ve become much more interested in traditional song construction.”
After releasing Whatever, Mortal, Pajo joined Zwan, which became a full-time endeavor. But it was never his intention to bring M to an end, so, with what little time he had, he began recording a series of singles that highlighted his evolving push toward more conventional songwriting. His most recent outings have surfaced as four three-song releases, simply titled One, Two, Three and Four. As Pajo evolves, he’s currently focused on releasing a compilation of his early singles, with all newer material confined to forthcoming singles for the time being.
Along with the singles comes another change: the addition of former Zwan/ A Perfect Circle bassist Paz Lenchantin as a permanent Papa M fixture. “She’s as much a part of Papa M as I am,” says Pajo. “I’ll OK things with her before I do them and I’ve never done anything like that before.”
Champions of independent music aren’t known for being particularly kind to artists who make the transition to mainstream culture, and the prospect of losing fans due to his stint with Zwan is one with which Pajo is well aware.
“I can understand that way of thinking,” he adds. “I’m just as much of a snob as anyone else, but M will continue to exist in one variation or another, as long as I’m here.”
Back in the good ol’ ghetto.