INTERVIEW: Pinkshift Go In-Depth With The Sounds, Influences, And Favorite Tracks from their Debut Album "Love Me Forever"
Last weekend Pinkshift, the angsty alternative rock band from Baltimore Maryland, stopped in my hometown for a one-off show. They were kind enough to speak to us about the beginning of their band, the upcoming album, their successes, and what the future of the band may look like. They have come a long way since their very first release in 2020 with “i’m gonna tell my therapist on you”, and it was interesting to talk to them about their entire journey as a band. The members of this increasingly popular band - Ashrita Kumar (vocals), Myron Houngbedi (drums), and Paul Vallejo (guitar) are not only talented musicians, but are wonderful people who agreed to an interview and answered some questions for the press and fans alike.
It seems like you guys have blown up, and gotten so successful with ease and at such a quick pace. Do you have any idea how that happened, and how does that make you feel? (Their first release was during the pandemic of 2020.)
Myron: It was pretty remarkable. I feel like it was a combination of like right song right time, plus all the work put in, in terms of getting people to talk about the song beforehand…contacting a lot of people to get songs on playlists and publications for there to be some press about it on the day of release. But also just the fact that everyone was just home and…
Ashrita: Just ready to consume things.
Myron: People were very receptive to that specific song at that specific time….And I think people really resonated with the music video, and how DIY, down-to-earth it was. All while people were having periods of self-reflection…they really attached themselves to it.
The new album comes out next month. Are there any common themes we are going to notice on the release? What are these new songs about?
Ashrita: A lot of songs are a lot of what we already have; they're very internal…Whenever I try to write lyrics, I try to write about something, but I always end up writing about myself….It’s kind of like a mental breakdown. The beginning of one. The middle of one. The end of one.
What is the difference between this album and your past release in terms of sound and how it was made? How much have you grown since?
Paul: I think the main difference between this record and the last is all three of us have collaborated pretty excessively on it, whereas the last release- some were already written a while back and Myron only joined at the tail end of Saccharine…Everything is a little bit more intentional, as opposed to the last release which was kind of a collection of songs. This one there was more intention with our writing, how we chose the songs to flow, how we chose the vibe of each song to present itself at the point of the album.
With your new release coming out soon, what song are each your favorite?
Ashrita: I always say my favorite song is “love me forever”, which is the title track. I feel like that one is really cool. I can’t believe we did that.Paul: I like the last song…it changes, but right now the last song is my favorite. “Dreamer.”
Myron: I was gonna say it’s between that one, and another song called “Trust Fall”.
Ashrita was recently featured on the song "Imperialism" by Anti-Flag, released in early September. Their intense voice adds so much to the song, and it was a pleasant surprise for all fans to see their name appear with the song’s announcement.
My next question is for [Ashrita] because you are featured on that new Anti-Flag song. How did that come together? Did they reach out to you? How does it feel to be featured by such an iconic band?
Ashrita: Oh yeah! It was pretty sick. Out of nowhere Chris texted me and he was just like “I feel like your vocals go well with this, do you want to do it?” And I was like, “Sure!”...He was so nice. It was really fun, he’s really cool, and the rest of them are really cool too…I just recorded it in my room, and sent over the vocals. He also said “If you have any ideas just put them in there too”, so I did. I think I did the outro on the bridge too, which wasn’t what I was supposed to do, but they kept it. That was cool. They’ve been really supportive of our band since the beginning.
Pinkshift has been collected into the pop-punk genre (based on the tours you've done), but is that the type of music you want to be associated with?
Ashrita: I mean, sure why not. I feel like it’s changed a lot over the years.
Myron: There’s a difference in being in a pop-punk band, and just having pop punk elements in a song. I feel like we live outside of like punk
Ashrita: …historically
Myron: Yeah. When you boil it down, we’re not just like a pop-punk band, we don’t exist only in that genre. So I feel like, especially with the new album, it will be a lot clearer. We kinda perverse different genre, and it’s not like we’re really defined by any specific category of music…there’s grunge elements, there’s punk elements, pop-punk elements,
Ashrita: Hardcore elements.
Myron: Unofficially we describe our music as rock music because that’s what makes sense.
Ashrita: Yeah we all listen to different shit.
Yeah I feel like you got pinpointed into that [pop-punk genre] based on people you’ve toured with, and based on who likes you…and I don’t know if that makes sense. What is the style of music that is most influential?
Ashrita: For me, it’s probably 90’s alternative, grunge is super influential for me. Arctic Monkeys are super influential to me.
Myron: For the past year, it’s been a lot more hardcore. For the album I was learnnig more things by covering hardcore stuff. But recently, post-album, I’ve been really inspired by The Deftones. That more half-time feel.
Ashrita: We both discovered Deftones this year.
Myron: It’s really bad. [laughs] But that half-time, upbeat feel, heavy riffs, is what I’ve been inspired by recently.
Paul: I think I’ve been the most pop-punk kid out of the three of us. The 2015’s pop-punk stuff, like State Champs, Neck Deep…that was a huge part of my musical development. My Chem even, that pop-punk, post-hardcore stuff. A lot of melodic things. A lot of guitars. And I think that’s been pretty consistent with what I contribute.
Is there anything besides music that influences your band and has any effect on your music? LIke any other type of art/entertainment?
Ashrita: I feel like the past couple of years have been really influential for the album. It’s been a weird time to grow up. Current events have been a really big influence…Anxiety. Anxiety is a big influence for all of us, I think.
Myron: I think, for me…I used to watch a lot of anime and there were certain times I would feel a very specific way while watching…and thinking about it right now I want to make music that makes me feel the way I am watching that.
Ashrita: I feel like, for me at least, it’s not music I would have necessarily ever listened to…I don’t know if I’d be a fan of our band. But I feel like it’s a separate reality. Pinkshift is a different reality. When we play shows, I feel like a different person.
What has been the standout moment in your time in a band so far?
Ashrita: I think everything in the past year has been insane.
Myron and Paul: Yeah. It’s been a lot. [laughs from all three]
Ashrita: I think literally a year ago yesterday, we started our first tour with Mannequin Pussy. Everything since then has just built and built.
Paul: It’s wild, it's only been a year.
Ashrita: We self-released an EP. We did that in the past year and a half….I think almost everything has been huge.
The last question is: what is the next realistic career goal you all want to achieve?
Ashrita: We wanna tour the world!
Paul: I think something that’s achievable that we've been talking about is writing songs where Ashrita plays guitar.
Ashrita: Oh yeah, that’s an achievable goal. Changing the instrumentation.
Paul: Maybe like, changing who does lead vocals on a song. Stuff like that. Just ‘cus it’s fun and we can. We are very much not trying to stick to “this is what everybody’s role is”. This is a space where the three of us are allowed to encourage each other and grow as musicians.
Myron: We’re all still learning and growing. Ashrita’s been learning guitar for the past year, and I started a few months ago too with playing guitar and bass. Hopefully when new ideas come out it will be like unlocking different paths in terms of songwriting.
