Pets: Accidental Duo

By Angela Rosas

On a chilly Friday in February I found myself walking into Old Ironsides. I had just moved into the area, but “Old I” had quickly become my home away from home. Immediately I ask the bouncer about the band blaring inside. “Who’s playing right now?!?!” I yelled over the music. “Pets!!!” he responds. “How much longer is their set?!?!?” I ask. “This is their last song!!!” he yells to me, in turn crushing my spirit. This was my first encounter with Pets.

Fast forward to a month later. I am meeting Derek and Alison of the Pets at Press Club before their show with The New Humans. Some are here for the show, others scan the windows outside for tonight’s flyer, and a few just stroll in looking for a place to hang on a Wednesday night. Either way, the crowd at the Press Club was about to be introduced to Pets, the creators of danceable, electronic, pulsating, distortion. With the help of a drum machine, the duo is able to turn simple guitar chords and even simpler bass lines into a roaring party, literally. The crowd was instantly drawn to the stage as soon as the floor rattling distortion, danceable beats, and catchy lyrics began. This is indie on steroids.

Allison Jones and Derek Fieth are just like you and I. Alison works at a coffee shop, Derek works as a substitute teacher, they share a house together, and are in a rock band.

The pair first met at the Boardwalk in Orangevale in 2001. “‘Can I buy you a drink?’ wasn’t the first thing I asked her,” Derek joked, a loving grin on his face as he remembers the day they first met. “‘Can I buy you a drink/’ came later after I started talking to her, he said no anyways. But it still worked out.”

At the time Alison was playing with the Riff Randles and although it was fun, it wasn’t the right fit for her. Five months into their relationship they bought guitars together and started jamming. About a year later they had their first live show at an ex-band mate’s (from Sunshine Smile) backyard party. Shortly after their first (backyard) public appearance, the same ex-band mate invited Pets to play a show with them at The Distillery. The drumless lovebirds started playing shows wherever and whenever. By playing made-up power chords and by networking with the right people, Pets seemed to effortlessly become a favorite among many Sacramento clubs.

“There was really no goal when we first started out,” Derek said. “We just wanted to see if we could make the kind of songs we wanted to hear.”

“People used to come up to us and ask us why we didn’t have a drummer, and drummers would come up to us asking to be our drummer… but we like the drum machine,” he said. “We’d get equal responses from people who like the drum machine and those who didn’t.”

The drum machine, playing funky pop beats in the background, paired with Alison’s “Yeah Yeah Yeahs” vocals and Dereks “Sonic Youth” vocals, and extremely loud and manipulated punk riffs, provides Pets with the perfect formula to demand action… any action.

“Our songs are about action,” Derek said. “Like, being told you can’t do something… like freedom… words that sound good together.” Alison starts to laugh as Derek tries to explain what their songs are about. “Ok, well we treat our voices like another instrument. And we like to use them that way, especially Alison’s,” he said. Which explains why some songs make more sense than others, but that makes no difference.

Imagine, a small midtown living room stuffed with all the living room essentials: sofa, bookshelf, television, pictures… maps, concert posters, a skeleton hanging on the wall, amps, foot peddles, a keyboard, guitars, a bass… and a house cat. This is Pets’ practice space.

Derek pulls the guitar out from the corner and places a mic stand in the middle of the living room floor. Their cat races towards the door. “The cat knows when it is time to leave!” Alison jokes as she opens the screen door, letting the cat out. As they set up their gear for an afternoon Sunday practice, Beck’s cover of “Hot in Here,” by Nelly, plays in the background. They practice old, new and cover songs. They mess up a few lines, miss a few chords, and have a lot of redo’s… time for a breather.

“Having someone here makes us practice better… at least for me,” Alison said taking a drink of her Corona.

“Why? ‘Cause you take it more seriously?” Derek asked… knowing the answer.

Their practices are far from structured. And when Alison says practice is over, practice is over. “Practice is separate from our relationship. There is Derek and Alison, Pets. And Derek and Alison the relationship,” Derek said. In the practice room they have permission to be band mates and all that entails from the good and the bad. “If we have an issue outside the band, we have to be careful not to bring that up (during a band argument) during our practice session,” he said. And visa versa, or else a simple missed note could get personal.

Most may think that being in a band with your partner would add something to a relationship. Something both parties can share together. Wrong. According to Alison, it is quite the opposite. “Pets give us something outside our relationship,” she said. “It’s something bigger than us.” They view the band as a way to get out of their relationship, while having fun doing it.

“We’re just here to having fun,” she said. “We’re playing with bands that we would have bought tickets to go see!”

While Pets do not have the most structured practice sessions and are not out there pounding the pavement begging for listeners, they do have bigger dreams than being a few local club’s favorite. They have put out a full-length album, “Pick Up Your Feet;” a remixed single, “Cold House;” have a full summer schedule this year; and they are nominated for a Sammie Award under the Indie Category this year. But they still dream of breaking out of Sacramento’s music scene.

“We need to make more of an effort on our part,” Derek said. “We need to make Pets more of a priority. It’s hard to think of it as a business.

“When we started we just decided to do it. To listen to it and enjoy it,” he said. “We just wanted to be into the music we were playing.”

Having already succeeded in their initial goals: have fun, create “action” music, and be into their music, by their standards, they are a success story. But Pets are far from done. They plan on continuing as a couple and as a band for as long as possible, without any real vision of where either will take them.

“As long as we’re together,” he said, they will continue.

“As long as it lasts,” Alison corrects.

“We’ll do Pets forever!” exclaimed Derek.

“Yeah, the fun hasn’t stopped yet,” she said laughing.

You can find more information about Pets at www.myspace.com/petsmusic.

Or check out a live show: 6/23 Old Ironsides, 8/1 Caesar Chavez Park.