by Lennon A. Curtin

All female rockers The PINS are set to appear at the Showbox SoDo Lounge in Seattle, WA on Fri, Jun 19, 2015 - 9:00PM. The Manchester England based band just released their second album "Wild Nights" which was recorded at Joshua Tree's Rancho De La Luna. Their music is evolving from a strong garage/punk ethic to something more textured but still raw. I spoke to the lead guitarist of THE PINS Lois McDonald about life on the road and her band.

What is the biggest challenge you deal with on the road as an all-female band?


“Touring with a band isn’t an issue of being all female, its anyone who is a musician who is on the road. Long drive, being in the same place all the time. We break it up with tourist activities in the different cities we go to. “

For this tour they brought their Sound Engineer along and he has been the driver for the most part.
“We have one chance to see things while out on tour, want to see as much as we can”

The sound and songs on your first album are more elemental and raw and your second album has more textures, harmonies and layers. Your sound is evolving. Where do want the sound to go next? Are there areas you want to explore?


“Open to wherever it goes next” “there will always be a raw element... The first album was very new for us, the second, more instruments were available to us, that’s why you hear more sound coming through."

Being on the road can be hard. How do you deal with fights or disagreements when you are on the road. Or is everything always happy? 
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“We learn how to be around each other” Reading cues on behavior, when to be left alone- personal space. “things have moved slowly” sounds like they had a chance to get to know each other and play together, they formed by meeting each other through mutual friends—they were not thrown into being in a van and having disagreements in personalities..

Do you listen to the radio or streaming or just music you have while you travel?


One of the band members has a portable speaker, they take turns acting as DJ, playing what they like… They all have books & films & their own music (headphones) they listen to things together and separate to distract themselves while on tour stuck in the van.

Is your set list the same or do you ever introduce a new song during your tour?


“It’s a collaborative effort, we mix it up a bit. If we have a new song, we will play it live to see what the crowd reactions are and make adjustments accordingly”


So you write new music while on tour? –

“Yes, we are always coming up with new lyrics riffs, record them with Garage Band – and work on at another point”

Could each of your say who your main musical influences are?


“As a band Velvet Underground, we all love to listen to them” The Wire, we went on tour with them”

Is there was a specific sound you feel comes out of Manchester?-

“There are many bands in Manchester, around 50 gigs a day to go see”.


She noted in general the bands that come out of Manchester do a good job of making people feel “the darkness, hear the rain, hear the dirty streets, hear the industry” in the area.

How do you actually book your tours? Is that handled through a booking agency?


Early early on they booked their own, however quite early into their career they had a booker in the UK, now they have a booker in the US, it’s a combination of all parties deciding where to go. “if we fancy going somewhere we tell our booking agency, they plan the rest”

What is your personal style? How do you choose what you are going to wear?-


They only carry hand luggage, “Personal style blends together”, she said.


How do you decide what to wear when on stage? AND do you worry about what you look like?

..
“ No time to worry about it” “ We don’t have Diva Moments. By the end of the tour we trade everything back, or that black dress that I never want to wear or look at or ever put on again” one of the other members will take it..



Do you go out after your shows, or play it cool and chill out?“

I would say 90% of the time we go out after the show and have a few beers, unless we have to leave early the next day”

You can learn more about the band on their site http://www.wearepins.co.uk/