Pixies Bassist Change Brought the Fun Back

Pixies guitarist Joey Santiago says the addition of bassist Paz Lenchantin to their lineup has brought fun back into the band.

She’s their third four-stringer in less than a year after co-founder Kim Deal decided to quit last June. She was replaced by Kim Shattuck who last just four months in the role, and later claimed she wasn’t told why she’d been fired. Lenchantin was named in October.

Santiago tells MusicRadar: “She’s got a good stage presence and she’s funny off the stage. She laughs a lot. We have this very light thing in the band now, finally.

“It used to be there but it faded. Paz brought back that thing that you’re supposed to actually enjoy this job – it shouldn’t be too much work.”

While they haven’t invited her to become a full-time member, the guitarist admits he and frontman Black Francis, real name Charles Thompson, have considered it.

He says: “If anybody would be, it would be her. We absolutely love her. I know she has Charles’ vote and she has my vote.”

There’s one more thing they need to know about her first. “We’ll see if she has a good bedside manner in the studio,” says Santiago.

The Pixies will release Indie City, their first album in 23 years, at the end of April. It’s made up of material they’d previously put out as a series of EPs.