Pacing - F*tness Application
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1. Thanks for coming down in person to fill in your application for Moths and Giraffes: A Fitness Universe. I notice you've had some issues in the past with PL*NET F*TNESS, is that what brings you to us today? What happened with those guys?
Pl*net Fitness makes you cancel your membership in person, even if you’re dead. And I think that’s bullshit for obvious reasons.
When my dad died in 2023 I spent a lot of time trying to cancel his subscriptions, mostly to feel productive and in control of something. Eventually I gave up and just closed the bank account. One day Ben and I were driving around Atlanta doing some horrible taxes-bank-insurance related death errand, and we drove by my dad’s Pl*net F*tness gym. So I made Ben pull over and I stormed in ready to take my anger out on a person. But they were very nice and apologetic and cancelled the membership immediately so I didn’t really get to be mad at them. It wasn’t the employees’ fault anyway, it is a policy set by some mysterious corporate overload high up the mysterious corporate chain.
2. I know what you might've read in the press about other gyms but you won’t find any zombies at the Fitness Universe. Oh, you worked with some recently? How was that?
It was so fun making that music video. All credit is due to Brett Koehn, who came up with the concept and filmed and directed and everything-ed it.
My friends Lara and Megan played zombies, along with our drummer Joe. They were all very professional. We had fun doing each other’s makeup. It was the 4th of July, and we had a pool party afterwards.
3. Ah before we carry on, have you paid for your parking at the front desk? Unfortunately we do issue parking tickets.
Parking tickets aren’t real. Neither are taxes.
4. It says here you stopped working out at home and joined a gym called District in San Jose for a while. How was that experience?
I’m currently interning at the recording studio District in San Jose, and it’s been an awesome experience. I now have a very thorough understanding of how little I know. We also recorded a good chunk of my album Gold’s Gym there. We did most of the drums and vocals and mixing. I learn a ton from Ryan, the engineer there. He’s a big the-world-is-ending-soon-in-civil-war guy. And also a big microphones-were-built-better-in-the-70s guy. The studio currently has six cats.
5. I see you've got a few gym buddies (Copeland James, Star 99, Career Woman), what do you like most about working out with these guys?
My favorite gym buddies!
Copeland - their whimsy
Star 99 - their sense of humor
Career Woman - her perspective
6. There's also a free gym pass here for someone called Hayley? Or is it Hailey? (Or is it Hayleigh?) What makes them the least annoying person in the world?
Hahaha it’s Hali. She’s my best friend, and she was our tour manager for Cheekpace tour earlier this year. She is a human like everyone else and in fact is also annoying. But that’s sort of the point of the song (Love Island). Every single person in the world is so fucking annoying in some specific beautiful way once you get to know them. And if you think they are not, you just haven’t seen them in a while or you haven’t spent enough time with them.
Everyone except me of course. I’m the only reasonable person on planet earth.
7. Can I get you a protein shake? Our intern is making them right n- Wait what have you got against interns?
Speaking of Cheekpace tour, we survived on Costco protein shakes in the van. We would mix them with coffee in the morning and whiskey at night. Yeck. I never want to see another Costco protein shake again.
Oh man. I’ve had some great and some terrible interns throughout my “career” at my “real job.” There was this particular batch of them that was really bad at writing, in my humble opinion. In the sort of way where they would add a bunch of unnecessary adjectives and always list them in threes. I could never figure out what the fuck they were actually trying to say. It made me very annoyed. I hate bullshit.
8. Just filling in your occupation, our notes say you aspired to work in advertising? Why?
I think I just watched too much Mad Men and wanted to be Don Draper. But I like the idea that Advertising is sort of pure unadulterated bullshit. It is clear in its intentions to sell you something. It does not try to have any integrity. It will lie to you as needed. There are no rules. It’s like war. The only goal is to sell you the thing.
I get tired of having artistic integrity. It’s boring sometimes, and heavy to carry around.
9. We've noticed you were unable to attend the gym in April and May…and also August? How did it feel being away from the gym for so long? Did you find it tough to adjust to life once you got back to San Jose?
Oh my god I love tour but I have SUCH a hard time going back and forth between tour life and “real life.” On tour you do pretty much the same thing every day at the same time. And you feel sort of free from the things that are going on in “real life” because you don’t really have time for them.
10. We recently had an influx of people called Beth signing up to the Fitness Universe. What do you like most about The Beths and what do you recommend as a starting point for un-Beths?
God I love The Beths. My The Beths cover band show is next week in San Jose on Halloween! I think my favorite record is Jump Rope Gazers, so maybe I’d start with that.
I have been struggling to explain what I love about them for a long time. Musically, there’s this sort of drone-y (?) thing they do that is like crack to me. I’d love to have the music knowledge to understand what it is. The lyrics are perfect poetry. Elizabeth tends to sing at the top of her range in a place that is sort of uncomfortable. I love my music to have a side of discomfort.
They are just a really really good band. When someone has a “normal” 4-piece indie rock band with normal instruments and normal song structures and they manage to do that in a way that feels really special and novel, that is crazy to me. They just do the thing we are all doing but better. It’s frankly rude!!!!!
11. Unfortunately, the Moths and Giraffes gym is located near London, England. Will you be attending in person any time soon?
Look, Teri, if you want to book me in London, England I will come there. You just need to find a promoter who can pay me enough to buy a plane ticket and find me a floor to crash on and I will do it. I’d love to tour Europe but it’s a terrifying endeavor to take on planning. I’m currently putting off booking a small US tour for Spring 2026 and I find that plenty terrifying.
12. The picture in the lobby? Oh yeah Mr. Rogers worked out here once. He was super cool. What do you mean you worked with him one time?
Hahahha. Yeah I covered a Mr. Rogers song without hearing it.
I have a Mr. Rogers vinyl sitting in my living room that I’ve never listened to. One day I picked it up and started singing the lyrics to one of the songs over some Elliott Smith chords, making up my own melody. The song is called “You Can Never Go Down the Drain” and it’s a lovely happy song reassuring children that they do not need to worry about getting sucked into their bathtub drain because they wouldn’t fit.
I think of my version as an unconditional love song for a cult leader. The lines “You’re bigger than soap // You’re bigger than water” take on an ominous tone when combined with repeating “You can never go down” way too many times. Repeating something over and over does not make it true, but it does make you feel kind of powerful.
13. You won’t have to cancel this membership in person, what will you do with the time instead?
Wow you hit the nail on the head with that one. There are so many things I want to do all the time, and it’s hard to figure out what to do when. It’s hard to get started. I know how I don’t want to spend my time and I try to work around that. I’m trying to make a lot of things and trying not to try too hard to make too many things. I’m investing in myself as a musician and producer and I’m learning a lot but trying not to get too caught up in learning the “right way” to do things. I’m reading a lot, and watching less bad TV. Not that there’s anything wrong with bad TV.
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Purchase the new album from Pacing called ‘PL*NET F*TNESS’ on her Bandcamp page, as well as her back catalogue.
Follow Pacing on Instagram, TikTok and Twitter @pacingmusic, and on Bluesky @pacingmusic.bsky.social.
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