Originally formed in December of 2013, Pretty Shanks is a band headed by junior vocalist and guitarist Vincent Tinsay* and freshman drummer Devin Dohrmann, who have been playing their instruments for six and five years, respectively. In its early days, the band was a solo effort by Tinsay, who played all of the instruments.
As the band developed, Tinsay says, “I wanted to play with other people, and found some guy named Devin on Craigslist who wanted to play drums for someone. I had to pay him for the first few practices, because he was a session musician. But when I pitched the idea that we should be a band, he was fine with it and I didn’t have to pay him anymore.”
As a rock band, the duo’s style ranges from heavy metal bands such as Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin and Metallica to more alternative rock bands such as Green Day, Weezer, and Nirvana. However, they try not to limit themselves to a few certain genres. Tinsay says, “When it comes to lyrics, I’ve been slightly influenced by Hip-Hop and R&B artists such as Frank Ocean, The Weeknd and Clipping.”
The aforementioned influences can easily be heard in any one of the songs on their EP, Memory Foam. The band’s sound is characterized by guitar riffs and a strong bassline. Most notable of the songs on their EP include the first song, “Sail Away”—a Green Day-esque sounding song with a chatty intro—and “Atonement,” which features a guitar solo by Tinsay.
In the spirit of rock music, Tinsay says, “One thing that really attracts us to playing rock is the fact that it’s high energy. When the guitars are pumping, the drums are pounding, the bass is booming and the vocals are blaring, we can’t help but get into it. Another thing that really attracts us to rock is that we don’t have to really play ‘correctly.’ It’s pretty free-form, and we can do whatever we want in a song and not really follow a specific scale. We pride ourselves on our experimentation in practice.”
Tinsay emphasizes the band’s unique sound. “I love how we sound completely different from other bands, and that we can put our own spin on things as well,” he says. “I find it amazing to have a few people in a room just jamming out, and just naturally, they just play with each other even though it’s all improvised. The real thing that attracts us to music is that it’s so simple, yet so complex, but it’s something everyone can get into.”
As a fairly established band, Pretty Shanks has played at a variety of events such as the SoFA Festival in San Jose on Sept. 14. Tinsay says, “We enjoy playing venues where we can be up close with the crowd, but we don’t mind playing on stage either. Preferably, we would like to be on the same level as the crowd or just a little bit above the ground. Crowd interactivity is one of the things that we like to have during a show, because it lets everyone know that we’re real people, not just robots on stage.”
With regards to the future of the band, Tinsay says, “I can see our band getting signed onto a major label and playing a lot more gigs in bigger venues. I’m also seeing that our band is going to branch out in terms of musical structure, and experiment with different kinds of sounds. We don’t want to be a boring, forgettable band like many of those pop-punk and nu-metal bands in the 2000’s. We want to have a lasting impact. We want to prove that we actually have something that’s worthwhile.”
Check out our centerspread featuring the Pretty Shanks here.
Vincent Tinsay we weren’t able to fit much on the Centerspread, so here is the complete article!