Crossing the Williamsburg Bridge is an action required of those looking to observe Pitchfork favorites and college radio standard-makers in their natural habitat of Brooklyn.  Here in Boston, walking over the Longfellow or Mass Ave bridges will land you smack in the heart of Boston’s indie rock headquarters at the intersection of Brookline Street and Mass Ave, where the Middle East and TT the Bear’s Place reside. Though Cambridge puts up a pretty good fight as Boston’s answer to hipster mecca, you can’t deny that the acts coming out of Brooklyn at the moment are defining popular music trends in their own right.  There’s something in the water in Williamsburg, Green Point and Park Slope that’s got guitarists and synth bands burning up the charts and lighting the feet of ironically dancing hipsters on fire, and a slew of these bands (The Antlers, Cymbals Eat Guitars, Matt & Kim) have been passing through Boston on the regular to kick off national tours or to close them before heading back to the borough.  One of our favorite shows from bands of this ilk to hit the Middle East in recent memory was headlined by Brooklynites The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart, and these guys [and girl with the most adorable set of bangs I've ever seen] had us feeling some good heart pains of our own.  Since exploding on the scene back in February with their self-titled full-length debut, The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart have been dominating small venues and sprawling festivals alike while performing tracks off their new EP, Higher Than The Stars.  Given their ability to get huge crowds of even the too-coolest of indie rock enthusiasts grooving, we find the EP’s title to be especially fitting seeing as the popularity of The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart is absolutely soaring.

Before packing Downstairs at the Middle East about a month ago, The Pains of Being Pure At Heart’s lead singer, Kip Berman, took some time out from his crazy schedule on the road to answer a few questions for us. Here, Kip gives us the dirt on where Brooklyn’s latest buzz band’s been and what The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart are looking forward to regarding their upcoming European tour and their plans for the coming months. Check out The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart this coming weekend at Kia’s Soul Collective, which is a free showcase bringing the splendiforous sounds of White Rabbits, Here We Go Magic and our buddies, Cymbals Eat Guitars, together along with some sick DJ sets all day at Artists for Humanity in Fort Point on October 18.  And yes, to get there, you’re gonna have to cross another bridge at Fort Point Channel for the festivities.  Indie rock and bridges, man.  Someone should look into that connection, for serious.

-Hilary Hughes

OPENING ACT: THE PAINS OF BEING PURE AT HEART AND THE TEAPARTY TEN

What’s your favorite breakfast cereal?

Kip: Corn Flakes

Who would you rather punch in the face: Long Duk Dong from Sixteen Candles or Mouth from The Goonies?

Kip: I like Long Duk Dong… considering all the cultural weirdness he contends with in the film, he holds up pretty well, and even seems to have a good time and get some lovin’.

If you were a kitchen appliance, what would you be?

Kip: Coffee maker.

You go to bed, you wake up, you go to brush your teeth… and you realize that you’ve morphed into one of Jim Henson’s Muppets overnight.  Which Muppet are you?

Kip: Gonzo is the one with the large nose, right?

After a raucous night out, you wake up at some point the next day and you realize that in your fit of crazy you got inked.  What tattoo did you wake up with?

Kip: I’ve never been so crazy as to get a tattoo.

Would you rather be a rodeo clown or a sumo wrestler?

Kip: I think Sumo Wrestler involves a lot of buffets, so I’d go that route.

If you were a particular kind of cheese, what kind of cheese would you be?

Kip: String.

If you were a particular style of facial hair, what style facial hair would you be?

Kip: I don’t really like facial hair…

What’s your quintessential “I’M GONNA DANCE AROUND MY APARTMENT IN MY UNDERWEAR AND LOVE LIFE!” song? [Note: This question is entirely inspired by Tom Cruise’s performance in “Risky Business.”]

Kip: I think for Patrick and Kurt’s benefit (my roommates) this song should not be found anywhere on my iTunes or record collection. Or if it is, it ought to be a really short song, like “Velocity Girl” by Primal Scream…

What’s your favorite word?

Kip: Epic!

THE MAIN EVENT: THE PAINS OF BEING PURE AT HEART TPB INTERVIEW

Can we get the back-story on The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart?  How did you all meet, and how did the band come about?

Kip: We were all friends first, and spent a lot of time hanging out, going to shows and nerding out about music. Playing music just sort of emerged kind of accidentally, when I wrote a couple songs and wanted to play at Peggy’s birthday party with our friends The Manhattan Love Suicides and Titus Andronicus.

How long have you all been playing music, independently, and then how long have the members of The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart been playing music together?

Kip: I got a guitar when I was 13, so i guess that’s been most of my life. I’ve been in lots of bands that were fun, but never played a show outside of the zip code where I lived. This was just one of those things where I thought, “Ok, maybe a few friends will like it and we’ll have fun.” And we’ve definitely had fun, but as far as people besides the 12 indie-pop fans we know liking it, what’s happened has been way beyond our expectations.

Who are your musical influences?  Who inspires you, musically?

Kip: To us, influence is more than just the bands we like. It’s everything we ever experienced, and while that sounds sort of abstract and vague, it’s pretty true. Something about hanging out with your 2 friends in high school and talking about anarchy at all night diner’s, or tagging along with the goth kids in the park or just having nothing to do at all made us who are today. All those things, plus all the bands that meant everything– Sonic Youth, Belle and Sebastian, Nirvana and lots of pop punk and 90s Emo– those are the experiences and ideas that shape us as people and as a band.

Let’s talk creative process: How would you put the story behind the lyrics and composition of the music of The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart into words?  Does someone write the majority of the lyrics/the music/etc, or is more collaborative?

Kip: I write the words and the basic structure of the songs, but the reason it sounds a lot better than my demos is due to everyone lending their own ideas to their own parts. I can barely play any instruments, so it’s pretty crucial that everyone contributes as best they can. If we were mad scientists, i’d bring the skeleton, and then it would be up for Peggy, Kurt and Alex to provide the flesh, the brains, the electric shock and all that sort of thing.

How does playing live affect your music?  Do you find that songs you play with The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart evolve show to show, or do you try to retain the same feel of the record in a live setting?

Kip: We’re not really a prog rock improv band– i think our songs are a bit rawer and not so pristine live. But we try our best to play them the right way.

Are there any songs in the Pains Of Being Pure At Heart catalog that you feel particularly connected to, or look forward to playing each night?

Kip: The songs are about our lives, so we’re pretty connected to all of them, for better or worse. There’s not a lot of emotional separation between what we write and who we are. Live, I really like playing the faster songs, like Come Saturday, Young Adult Friction and Everything With You the best. But I never really get tired of any of the songs, and each night we play they feel fresh and exciting.

You released your first full-length album last February.  How was this self-titled debut a departure from previously released material of yours, and how is the music you’re working on now a departure from that?

Kip: Most importantly, the album featured live drumming– that was a big deal. When we started, we just had a drum machine, and if you listen to our first self-titled EP, you’ll realize that whoever programmed the drums (me) only knew about 2 drum beats. So being able to have Kurt in the band really improved things a lot, and lent a more dynamic feel to the songs.  We haven’t started on our secnd album yet– we won’t have a chance to do that until our touring is complete this winter. Our first album was more of a collection of our early singles and EP tracks, so in a way, what we work on next will be our first actual album. Maybe we’ll self-title it too… Red House Painters and Tindersticks had multiple self-titled albums, and I love both of those bands.

Where were some of your favorite cities to play on tour?  What are some of your favorite moments from your time on the road this year and this tour, especially?  Got any crazy stories from the Pains Of Being Pure At Heart tour bus?

Kip: We have a tour van that is decidedly not rocknroll. sometimes Alex and Peggy play boggle, or do crossword puzzles. Kurt, Christoph and I have recently acquired Nintendo DS’s, and like to play Mario Kart.  As for favorite cities, we’ve had really cool experiences in so many places, it’s hard to say one place has been exceptionally better than any other. Toronto, Glasgow, Portland, Boston, London, Chicago, Manchester, Los Angeles, Atlanta– and of course, most of all, New York have all been incredibly memorable places to play. I’m so excited to be getting to do a full US tour this September and seeing so many places that we’ve yet to go to and return to a lot of places we’ve had a great time in previously.

Of all the venues you’ve played across the country, what are your favorites and why?  Do you have any favorite venues in Boston?

Kip: I spent a summer in Cambridge when I was 19, and I went to a LOT of shows at The Middle East and TT the Bears. I saw so many great shows there, while learning so much about Indiepop from a friend of mine at WMBR at MIT. I heard bands like Rocketship, My Favorite, OMD, The Clientele and Saint Etienne for the first time that summer– plus, i got this sweet Belle and Sebastian Tigermilk poster that I still have. That was an awesome summer!

Are you listening to any bands out of Boston, currently?  If so, who, and what do you like about their sound?

Kip: One of our favorite bands ever is Pants Yell! They are completely awesome, literate indiepop that tries desparately to remain obscure. They live in Cambridge, and we’ve played a bunch of shows with them in the past. I’m excited that their next record is coming out on Slumberland, so we’re officially labelmates.

What’s next for The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart after this tour?  When will you be heading into the studio next, and what do you have planned for 103?

Kip: We have an EP coming out this September called Higher Than the Stars. It features four new songs, including 103. We have a lot of touring to do in the US and in Europe, so we’ll be pretty much consistently on the road until things wind down in December. After that we’ll be working on the songs for the next album and hopefully get to start recording that sometime in the Spring.