Soldiering on
Despite a recent tragedy, Tickle Me Pink charges forward
By Steven Booth 07/24/2008
Tragedies happen to one and all, sooner or later. There are times, however, when it is especially cruel. Take the Fort Collins, Colo.-based band Tickle Me Pink: With a new song making the rounds on radio, their debut LP released by hit-savvy Wind-up Records, and a tour with Scary Kids Scaring Kids and Finch just beginning, the future seemed especially bright. But on July 1, bassist and co-songwriter Johnny Schou was found dead in his apartment, due to reasons not presently known.
An understandable reaction would be for the members to throw up their hands and quit. Schou was a key component of the band, sharing songwriting duties with singer-guitarist Sean Kennedy and singing backing vocals in their harmony-laden music. On top of that, he played a major role behind the scenes, helping the band flesh out their sounds on record. While the band is shattered emotionally, the remaining members are nonetheless determined to continue.
“We feel like Johnny’s with us, and Johnny would be pissed if we didn’t carry on this tour,” says Kennedy, adding that the band planned to tour for at least the next 18 months and was in the final process of scheduling dates beyond the Finch tour. Helping them out in the wake of Schou’s passing is former Brotherhood of Dae Han guitarist Joey Barba, a close friend of the band whose old group played many shows with Tickle Me Pink. Barba was present for much of the recording of TMP’s Madeline, and even plays on portions of the accompanying DVD. “He happily stepped up and offered to fill in for Johnny,” says Kennedy, who will move over to bass in the new configuration.
The fact that they’re carrying on doesn’t mean they’re not pretty broken up. “It’s very hard,” Kennedy says. “He wasn’t just a bandmate. He was our best friend.” Despite the grief, when the band met to discuss their future, the members ultimately decided continuing as a band was the best thing to do. In a statement, drummer Stefan Rundstrom adds, “For two weeks, we were wrapped up in what seemed to be an enormous setback for our band. Now, it’s proven to be more of an opportunity to unite and see something through till the end.”
Kennedy and Rundstrom started Tickle Me Pink as a three-piece in Fort Collins, a city once listed in Money Magazine as “the top place to live in America” and home to a very cool music scene. The Aggie Theatre is a must-stop for touring bands, while the Blasting Room, a studio owned by punk legend Bill Stevenson, boasts a clientele featuring everyone from young bucks Rise Against to Stevenson’s former band, old-school punk icons the Descendents. TMP eventually rounded out its lineup with guitarist Steven Beck and bassist Schou, who worked as an assistant engineer at the Blasting Room, and put out two EPs before the recently released Madeline.
TMP’s sound is more or less a summation of their musical tastes. Schou was a huge Rise Against fan, while Rundstrom favors the big drum sounds of Led Zeppelin and the Foo Fighters. Kennedy is a fan of the more introspective and poppy Third Eye Blind and Brand New. On Madeline, they mix and match catchy guitar pop with hard-edged rock, not unlike the Foos or a pissed-off 3EB. “Typical,” the new single, is a good mix of these influences, combining clean, catchy verses with a pounding chorus. Also on the record are some dark ballads, such as the title track, which is about a drug-related death of a friend. Based on the strength of the album, TMP should follow in the steps of other Wind-up bands like Evanescence and Seether, artists that have done well turning their angst into alternative radio gold.
“Our goal is to make our music poppy and eclectic at the same time,” says Kennedy, who is also aware of how close to home his lyrics about drugs, death and bad breakups come. “I’m not really a pessimistic person, but I do over-analyze situations. If I write a song about it, I can kind of make light of a bad situation.” While he is now more-than-aware of the almost prophetic nature of his words, he also sees positives coming out of them. “It’s a message we can tell to kids,” he says. “If they listen to the words, and realize what we went through, it might help them get through whatever they’re going through.”
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