You wouldn’t expect punk rock music from a musician with the last name Popp. But bandleader and City of New York plumber Bill Popp says his music is “British pop with a punk feel.” The singer-songwriter – who still plays with his original band the Tapes, which formed in 1981 – has toured all over the world. He’s gone from gigs at the Hard Rock Café in Bangkok to a steady gig at the infamous CBGB. He even played an acoustic set in a courtroom in Hoboken’s City Hall.
Now the master musician will perform at Symposia Bookstore, 510 Washington St. in Hoboken, on Nov. 24 at 8 p.m.
Although Popp has lived all of his 56 years in the same house in College Point, Queens, the singer-songwriter has formed a long-lasting bond with the mile-square city.
“About 10 or 15 years ago, the town held an event where they hosted acoustic bands in the courtroom at Town Hall,” Popp said. “I’m not kidding. That was a crazy night.” Popp and his band have been playing the normal Hoboken hotspots like Maxwell’s ever since the glory days of the Individuals and the Bongos.
“British pop with a punk feel.” – Bill Popp
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Although Popp said he loves playing with his band, the Symposia gig is acoustic only – one of only a few solo shows the musician has played in the last year.
“Playing acoustically certainly puts me more in touch with the audience,” Popp said. “Not that I don’t love playing with the band, but by yourself you have to be more on top of your game. You can’t hide behind nothing.”
In addition to stepping up his game, Popp said that a lot of his fans like the smaller setting. “People that like my music really get to hear my voice,” he said. “Everything is a lot quieter.”
Rats and the Ramones
With the full band, Popp has recorded four albums in a quarter century. Their latest, called “My Lonely Mind,” was released in 2008.
“It’s basically British Invasion with a punk rock feel. Ever since I saw The Ramones play at CBGB, I was hooked,” he said. But not soon after Popp’s music-changing experience at CBGB, the budding musician was playing on the very same stage.
“We auditioned CBGB in ’81 if you can believe it, and we played there right up until a month before it closed,” Popp said. “That place was professional. They did a real sound check and had a great sound system. But, it was a hole.”
On one lucky night, the band even saw a rat run from the drum riser right across the stage, Popp said. “Yeah, it was a hole that had fantastic sound.”
Now, the musician is focusing on the annual benefit he holds at Kenny’s Castaways in Manhattan. After Popp’s father died 25 years ago, the musician has been holding the event to benefit the American Heart Association.
“They used to call him ‘Daddy Tapes,’ ” Popp said about his late father. “He was always putting up with us – the band crashing at his house and whatever else. At the shows, this older man would be smoking a pipe watching a rock band. He was a real rarity.”
When asked whether his father was really into his music, Popp said, “No, he was just really into his son.”
For more information on Popp or the upcoming benefit, visit www.billpopp.com.
Sean Allocca can be reached at editorial@hudsonreporter.com