5 Questions with Peggy Wang of BuzzFeed
You might recognize Peggy Wang from her time spent behind the keys of über-twee pop band The Pains of Being Pure At Heart, but did you know she was also the first employee of listicle behemoth BuzzFeed? Between all the touring and news churning, she’s also managed to publish a book on life-changing food hacks (it drops August 19th) and — most importantly — answer a few questions for us on her favorite things to do around the ‘burg. After the jump:
Age: 34
Neighborhood: East Village
Record you’ve listened to most in your life? Ponyoak by Kleenex Girl Wonder. It came out in 1999 and has 25 songs on it. But I don’t listen to it and think, “Oh, remember 1999?” Its wistfulness and optimism still feels super relevant to me. Every year, I re-discover a new favorite song from it. I don’t get wrapped up in lyrics the way I did when I was 19, but for some reason, this album just really holds up lyrically to me. I can still apply it to everything happening to me right now.
Brooklyn-based band to watch? Jerry Paper. His music feels nostalgic to me in a totally new way.
Favorite place to go see a show? Baby’s All Right, just because it seems like any band I would want to see seems to play there. The first time I went there, I was surprised by how fancy it was. I thought it was going to be like the next 285 Kent or something, but they actually serve cocktails with green juice in them. And guess what, I had one, and it was delicious, and basically I am too old to care now about whether that is lame or not. My number one criteria for venues is not sound or whatever, it’s a nice bathroom. The ones at Baby’s All Right are pretty all right, and you never have to wait too long to pee.
Favorite Brooklyn bar? Donna, which is re-opening as we speak after a fire. My friend Art got married there and it’s the sister bar of my favorite East Village bar, which would be Elsa. Except Elsa does not have tacos, so Donna wins.
Go-to drink? Vodka with lime juice and soda because it’s only slightly less boring than a vodka soda. A super spicy bloody mary is really the best thing ever, though. It’s like the chips and salsa of alcoholic beverages.
