Rad City Sticky Pop. Upon my first encounter with this term, I didn’t even know their name. At the time, all I saw was a group of dudes on stage in their bathing suits, the glitter on their nails sparkling as they shredded. Naturally, I was in Churchills Pub this particular night and from that first moment, the Miami-based band known as Plastic Pinks, made a lasting impression.
Fast forward to mid-summer. My colleague/photographer/journalist #friend Diego and I are walking towards Gab Studio in Wynwood. This is where we were to meet the band and take some cool photos. Now, interviews with musicians don’t always go as well as planned. There is always a worry of the artists ending up being total douchebags, ironically saturated in their vapid cloud of ego-driven, “music”. Fortunately for us, Plastic Pinks were quite the opposite.
Lead vocalist, June Summer, and bassist, Charlie de Jesus, were outside of Gab waiting for us. A few moments after we reached them, rhythm guitarist Augie Pink (aka the “Puerto Rican Hunter S. Thompson”), and lead guitarist Luigi Toni La Rocca, pulled up in their car with a 12 pack of Corona. In that moment I thought that these were my kind of people. Unfortunately, drummer Nicholas Ochoa could not make it to the interview but was there in spirit!
There are no subtleties with the Plastic Pinks. From their electric garage pop to their painted fingernails, there is color woven in between their notes and in between the threads they wear. I hope the rest of the band doesn’t take this personally but for the record: I’ve got to say that Luigi won “Best Dressed” for the interview. Rocking zebra-striped creepers, small bathing suit shorts, and a t-shirt with blurred out porno polaroids, he definitely made a statement. As a whole, there was a Miami-meets-Fear-and-Loathing vibe to the band that definitely encompassed what the Plastic Pinks are all about: music, life, and having fun.
Plastic Pinks had just finished an east coast tour with one of their influences, AJ Davila y Terror Amor, a garage pop band from Puerto Rico, the homeland to 4 out of the 5 Plastic Pinks members. They described the tour as a huge learning experience and influence on their talents, saying that AJ Davila claimed to have never toured with younger musicians that wanted to go all out every show. June also added that only the shows they played in Florida, of course, never started on time but I’m sure you already knew that. Another thing that would never happen in Florida, is the return of Charlie’s lost bass guitar. Apparently, they had such a good time that he lost his bass after the show. About a week later, they were contacted by the venue staff saying that they found his bass in the middle of the parking lot of the venue, all contents still inside. They happily mailed his bass backed to him, untouched. As Augie said, “he literally dropped the bass.”
Now with the two newest members of the band, Charlie and Luigi, Plastic Pinks has been complemented by their playing styles as well. Luigi stated that he brings a little but more of a harder sound to the band and their new songs, collectively, have more of a harder, fuzz sound. The Livin’ On The Coast EP is expected to have more of a surf vibe and a lot more attitude. As Augie said, the new EP sounds like “If you sat down and held hands and sang kumbaya with fuzz.” “On speed.” Luigi added.
We also asked Plastic Pinks what their songwriting process was. Fortunately, we have the whole thing on video here:
“Will I break something?” is what Diego asked when Plastic Pinks informed us that they are going to be opening up for the renowned Ty Segall this September. The answer is most likely “yes”.
For those of you who don’t know, Ty Segall is San Franciscan multi-instrumentalist known for his psychedelic glam rock, influenced by Bowie by all the while just as influenced by Black Sabbath. The combination of Plastic Pinks and Ty Segall is definitely the recipe for having your musical mind blown, so if you’re into that kind of thing then I strongly suggest you this dose.