Please Do Not Fight is currently based in San Francisco, but the South Bay has always been their second home. The band was created in Redwood City and it has strong ties to the South Bay with allies Picture Atlantic and Dogcatcher, who join PDNF for their final show on July 14.
Last year, they teamed up with Picture Atlantic to co-hosting the bi-monthly Rock Hop series at the Art Boutiki, which has proven to be quite successful as far as independent shows in San Jose go. Now, after several years and countless lineup changes, Zen Zenith, has decided to put Please Do Not Fight to bed. We asked him about his decision and what plans he had for the future.
Last year when I interviewed you, it seemed like things were really moving forward with Please do not fight. I’m surprised that you are now calling it quits. What happened?
Well, it was my decision to move on. Things had sort of started to become routine. Kyle, Chris and Geoff all had other bands and I saw them all get very excited for those projects. At the same time, it felt like we weren’t feeling that energy for Please Do Not Fight anymore. I’m certainly not in this business to make any money so if things aren’t fun and they’re not scratching that creative itch any more then maybe it’s time to move on. It had been brewing for a while and it just reached a point where I was finally able to make the jump.
What are your plans with music now?
We have our big final show on July 14 at Bottom Of The Hill and then I’m jumping right into a new musical project. We’re trying to take it slow though and not plaster it all over the Internet until it’s ready. That was one mistake we always made with Please Do Not Fight—putting the gander before the goose, so to speak. I was spending way too much time in front of a computer making flyers, designing websites, running our Facebook and not making music. That’s something I hope to break away from with this next project. I can say this—the new project is very ambitious and will feature a lot of familiar faces from the history of PDNF.
How does PDNF breaking up affect the Rock Hop music series you guys were doing with Picture Atlantic?
That is a great question. Right now, it seems like it will definitely continue. I’m as passionate about throwing events and supporting bands I believe in as ever. The Rock Hop will be taking a short hiatus but it will definitely continue, without a doubt. I love working with the Art Boutiki and Bottom Of The Hill and couldn’t be happier with how the events have been turning out.
Aren’t you the only original member of PDNF? Doesn’t that really mean that you are the band? I wonder why you didn’t just keep the name, if it’s already mutated so much since the beginning anyway?
Well, Erin recently rejoined the band and she was an original founding member but that’s a valid point. Honestly, the fact is I want to go in a new direction creatively and want the new musical project internally to work differently as well. I debated keeping the name and simply throwing the whole thing in a new direction but it felt like time for a clean slate.
Whether everyone else thinks this way or not, to me PDNF has a certain sound I associate it with and whether I mean to or not when I write for Please Do Not Fight I’m very much writing for the band. I wanted to break free of that and allow everyone involved in the new project to be as creative as possible and not feel constrained by the typical guitar/bass/drums/keys format.
Any special plans for your final show?
We’re basically going to be playing a combo of fan favorites mixed in with some tracks from our first LP for old times sake! This isn’t related to the show, per say, but we also just released our final song on BandCamp for free – it was recorded at PopSmear records and we’re really proud of how it turned out. I feel like it’s a great send-off!
Please Do Not Fight will play their final show July 14 at the Bottom of the Hill at 9pm with South Bay groups Picture Atlantic and Dogcatcher. Tickets are $10.
.Zen Zenith Discusses Please Do Not Fight Breakup
