The upcoming JUE Festival gets a preview this weekend when The Pains of Being Pure at Heart hit the Yugong Yishan stage. The New York quartet will give the crowd a taste of what’s to come throughout March, and the show marks the first chance for fans to purchase advance tickets for JUE’s Death Cab For Cutie show on March 10. We caught up with Pains' singer and guitarist Kip Berman to find about navel gazing and bad influences. We've also got a pair of tickets to give away to one lucky reader, so read right to the bottom for your chance to win.

Why switch up your sound now, considering your moody, self-titled debut was so successful?
It's hard to have people who used to like your music suddenly hate you for what kind of amplifier you used to record a song. But we wanted to surprise people and show that we weren't just navel-gazing Scottish indie-pop obsessives. I mean, we are navel-gazing Scottish indie-pop obsessives, but we also grew up in America, with shopping mall goths, suburban punk and commercial alternative as a familiar soundtrack.

What changes did you make while recording Belong?
Whether it was removing a lot of the reverb from the vocals, trying for a heavier sound in the guitars and bass, or using the keyboards as a lead instrument rather than a texture, we made a bunch of choices that resulted in Belong sounding a bit different, and hopefully not in a bad way.

What about the lyrics? The intricate wordplay that a lot of fans loved on your debut is practically gone.
I think some people found the use of language on this new record to be naive or too simplistic. But I wanted to get to a point of honesty and sincerity, and not just use a bunch of words to prove how smart I am. I hate listening to music by some boy trying to prove he got a perfect SAT verbal score. Write a book if you want to be described as "literate," not a pop song.

There are some clever pop song titles on the new record, especially "My Terrible Friend." What is the best thing about discovering a friend's flaws, and why convey that to your fans?
It's fun to have a friend that's a bad influence. It's a passive approach to fulfilling your own impulses for “bad” things. There's been so many times when I've been best friends with someone who, to most people, seemed like bad news, but we always had fun together. Everyone should have a terrible friend. It's not all that terrible.

Why name your band after a children’s story written by Charles Steen?
That story, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, isn't necessarily related to what I write. But the title evokes the spirit of what we stand for – if you try to do something true, it's going to be a struggle, but there's a beauty in that struggle.

To win a pair of tickets to see The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart, just answer the following question: What is the name of the band’s keyboard player? Send your answer to win@thebeijinger.com by 10am on February 24. We will notify the winner soon after. Good luck.

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart will perform at Yugong Yishan on Feb 25 as a preview for the upcoming  JUE Music + Art festival. Tickets are RMB 120 presale, RMB 150 at the door. For more information, visit Split Works website.

Photo: fortunapop.com