We Were Pirates

We Were Pirates is DC-area native and multi-instrumentalist, Mike Boggs. Boggs writes and records his songs in his home-studio.

2012 marks the release of We Were Pirates’ second full-length record, Change. Lyrically and musically, Change is slightly more mature and aggressive than Boggs’ previous albums. Thematically, the question of whether or not people are capable of change is explored. Fear not though, the new songs have the same trademark WWP catchiness that will cause listeners to curse the band while humming the infectious melodies over and over.

Wired Magazine featured We Were Pirates in their March 2012 issue, saying: “You heard this band’s public radio-friendly pop on This American Life and you heard its tracks on MTV’s: The Real World: DC. So don’t miss “Better Off Without You” from the new album. Catchy synths will have your crew dancing a jig.”

Change is the first We Were Pirates record to feature contributors Gabe Fry (The NRIs) on guitar and Kate Rears Burgman on cello and bass. Also a departure, the mastering process was outsourced to the very capable TW Walsh (Sufjan Stevens, David Bazan, Ra Ra Riot).

We Were Pirates’ 2009 release, Cutting Ties, was fortunate enough to reach #41 on the CMJ Top 200 chart for college music airplay in 2010. That same year MTV featured “Don’t Forget” and “Settle Down”, two tracks from Cutting Ties, on “The Real World: DC”. Cutting Ties also features a version of “The Three of Us,” a cover song that Boggs recorded which was featured on the Chicago Public Radio show, This American Life. As a result, Chicago Tribune rock critic and co-host of Sound Opinions, Greg Kot, heard We Were Pirates’ version of the song and described it thusly: “Pure pop. This should be the next Fountains of Wayne single…genius.”

At the moment We Were Pirates live shows feature Gabe Fry, Kate Rears Burgman, and Pat Frank.