Plastic Pinks kick off the new year by discussing the history of the band, performing and their late
Plastic Pinks are no strangers to the Miami music scene. Back in 2010, brothers vocalist June Summer and guitarist/vocalist Augie Pink moved from Puerto Rico to Miami to start their band. Little did they know three years later the duo would soon turn into a five-man band and perform all over Miami and the US.
Plastic Pinks are a rock and roll outfit that serves an exhilarating and dynamic sound. Their fascinating yet intoxicating personalities are easily visible through their charged music and lively performances. With a strong passion for music and a deep bond between the members, Plastic Pinks have established themselves as a band that needs to be heard.
The band has performed among the likes of Black Lips, Neon Indian and fellow Miami-native, Jacuzzi Boys. Since forming, Plastic Pinks have also had the opportunity to perform at major music festivals such as III POINTS, Burgermania, Atlanta Mess-Around and SXSW.
The psych-rock band consists of co-founders Summer and Pink alongside bassist Dane Giordano, lead guitarist Rod Costa and drummer Trevor Mustoe. I was fortunate enough to sit down with Summer, Pink and Giordano and chat about the band, their passions and what fans are to expect fro the upcoming year.
So you two moved from Puerto Rico to Miami a few years back, what made you want to do the move?
Augie: It was very natural, it was way before Plastic Pinks. We had an other project before. It kind of happened when it needed to happen-it was nothing too far fetch but it had to be done. We just had to stumble upon another idea which was Plastic Pinks.
What was your previous project?
Augie: It was called Flashback Utopia. it was a start up so to speak. Yeah some things happen
June: it was our first intake of music. the first we put out was Flashback Utopia, then we ran into some conclusions that started plastic pinks
What made you want to start the band in the first place?
June: We've always wanted to do music.
Augie: Love for music, we had made a promise with each other, we're all of us, were doing music together
Dane: It was a promise within all our individual selves and the universe just had it all lined up for all to meet.
Augie: We just all became musical throughout the years.
Dane: Our love for music overpowers our lacking innate proclivity towards music.
Did you have any bands that made you want to pursue music?
Dane: Um, we really love, based to what we we listen to in the band. We all really like Velvet Underground, we all love The Stooges. We especially love jazz like Mile Davis and John Coltrane-
Augie: We just love music, and even then we don't express in this project we have many other things to express, this is what we do.
Dane: It take time, it's coming it's all coming.
So I have to ask... How did you come up with the name Plastic Pinks?
Dane: How we came up with the name? Well one day we were all chilling and we got really delirious and got really drunk and ate a bunch of acid and got Chinese food. So we ate all the Chinese food and we got the fortune cookies at the end and you know how on the back it tells you your fortune? The fortune said "follow your passion" or whatever but you know the words on the back, like learn Chinese? The words were 'plastic' and 'pink' so we were like, we should call the band the Plastic Pinks! It's on the fucking fortune cookie! And we were all tripping balls and it made perfect sense.
So what is your favorite part about performing?
June: I think I really love the interaction with the crowd and then being able to close out the crowd and go into my van, oh yeah we're doing this. And sometimes it feels like no one's there? But just because we zone out into what we do and it takes you to another place.
Augie: I think the best part of performing like obviously. The crowd is a big thing but when we connect up on the stage and we look into the crowd and back and just think, this is it. That's the most beautiful moment you can ever have playing in a band.
June: Especially when you see some smiles.
Dane: In all seriousness, it's when your thought escapes you and you're not even thinking about anything and everyone's mind becomes your own mind and you all share the same song, same brain for however long you play, and you're all just the same organism living breathing together and you just lost all though and all embedded norms and truly free for just a brief moment in time. That's the best part about being in a band. And I felt that tonight, I just looked at everyone and everyone just blurred into this single ocean and I felt really good.
Augie: It is very magical.
Dane: You feel that true peace and it's ever fleeting. It's a beautiful thing and only music can do that.
And how is touring for you guys?
June: Tour is one of those hectic things that you really like. It makes you feel like you're destroyed, but you're a new person. So like, maybe you go with this perception of what tour is and you feel like it's something very easy, like a big party. Then you take everything into account and realize, oh, not everybody does this.
Augie: It's a huge learning process.
June: It teaches you how to limit yourself. It's a very interesting process.
Dane: I've been in this band for about two years, and I've been on tour with this band for almost half a year. What's kind of beautiful about touring is that all the norms, social norms and what not, and time starts to lose and all you got are your basics. What makes you tick, what drives you to keep going. It's like a family. I've had family members die, and I have had friends die but the only thing that remains consistent has been my family members which is my band. And that's what's beautiful about touring.
How has this band impacted your life?
June: Oh completely. First of all, we're married to this band. So everything we do kind of goes around what the band is, so our life is completely surrounded by music all the time.
Augie: Going out on the road and just playing every night and meeting different people, you know it's like, there's no way it can't change you. As a person you grow and learn, make mistakes, and that's life, in itself. So being in a band it's like, living life in a very fast paced way.
Dane: It taught me how to listen more. None of us ever get our way 100% so we're constantly listening to what other people have to say, and other people's inputs. Which, constantly makes you challenge your own beliefs so we're getting better in our own way, which makes us better as a group. I've become a good music player as a good listener.
What was the thinking process behind El Animal? What inspired you to create it?
June: El Animal is a beast. It's an animal. We wanted it to be a beast, we wanted it to be an animal. We had been fucking thinking about it for a while and I wanted it to bite. And that's what we wanted to do and that's what we did.
Augie. We wanted to release the beast. We wanted to release the fucking Krakken. And that's what we did.
Last question, what should we expect from you guys this year?
Augie: We're gonna be really busy this year.
June: I was about to say the same fucking thing!
Augie: We have South by Southwest coming up. We're planning on touring UK and Europe, total world take over. We're also gonna release a second album, we're planning on releasing it this year.