If you haven't heard of The Pumps, drop whatever you're doing, sit down and carry on reading. Reset had the lovely opportunity of speaking to one of the members, Aaliyah from
The Pumps, an upcoming girl rock band from the state of California. A refreshing sight to the industry. When asked about how she got into the music scene, Aaliyah responded that she had grown up doing music, she started off trying to do solo stuff like home recording and tried taking classes on production and song-writing. She explained that she has "always enjoyed writing songs and it developed when I met the band, things became more serious and more driven.
The inspiration comes in a variety of ways but"usually it's people, people I know, or am close
with" or "sometimes it's people that I'm not close with at all." She carried on by saying"I'll see someone I don't know at all and I'll try to sort of pretend I know them and make my own story about them". Sometimes, as unfortunate as this sounds, inspiration comes from a loss
"picturing them going somewhere else and leaving this place behind." The artist further explained how different it is writing in a group setting especially when she started out in a different genre!" I was very Adele, Billy Joel," she told us. As she mentioned a couple names there, the only fitting next question was "who's your biggest music idol right now?" to which she replied "I love Lady Gaga, Amy Winehouse, Debby Harry and Joan Jett..." an icon in rock for sure. When it came to forming their own rock band, it all started with the bassist and the drummer of the band, Rio and Alexis, "they wanted to create a girl rock band and knew each other from their separate bands, they'd seen each other in shows and such" from there they started looking for a guitarist online and via Instagram they came across Salem "a 15 year old star and a prodigy." Eventually, Aaliyah herself was found through the app Vamper. Which to put simply is like "music tinder, so you literally swipe left or right, but they're musicians, videographers, producers…." and now that the band is possibly looking for a second guitarist the members are on it at all times! Once Aaliyah was found, she sang with them, "it felt right", so they just took it off from there. So five words to best describe the sound of The Pumps, coming from the band member herself would be "strong, fierce, fun, energetic and empowering' which we'd definitely agree with, definitely need energy for rock and roll. The biggest challenge the group has faced would be the distance between them. Due to their locations the band has had difficulty in being able to get everyone together, especially since Salem is still in high school. Although, they have set schedules and see each other on the weekends, they'd want to be able to do things on top of that. Also figuring out how to"keep their jobs in the meantime, until anything else starts rolling in." Aaliyah
explained "the investment is hard, but thankfully we have a lot of support, we have management and are lucky enough to have certain connections that are helping us get to where we'd like to be," and "the plans this year are hopefully fortunate, not money wise but moving forward, it's an investment to get there, it's spending a lot of money and waiting for a long time to see if it comes back." When asked about any goals for this year, the singer responded "we have plans to record an album this spring," and have the much anticipated
music out.
She further went on to say "additionally I'd love to travel around promoting it even if it's just around the US. Maybe some shows or interviews." Although, there are some things they can't control; they "keep rolling nonetheless." The plan this year, if everything goes well is: Japan for a showcase! If the band could collaborate with any artist right now it would be Willow, who's just done a collaboration with Avril Lavigne, who's obviously another inspiration. The band loves coordinating as much as they love music, so they're always looking for ways to look cohesive, but if they had to choose the most fashionable member: it would be "Rio off the bat!" She's got a pure vintage style, "very Regina George
and just effortlessly cool. "Rio is also credited with coming up with the group's name. 'The Pumps' came from their love of fashion; wearing heels on stage embracing their feminine energy and their music which pumps people up. Taking a trip back to the past we asked Aaliyah for a piece of advice she would give herself to which she laughed and said "You're going be in a rock band soon so start changing it up and just keep practicing and don't stop." Carrying on from that, when talking about the future Aaliyah says she feels "optimistic looking at the girls and just being in a room with them, I see great things. Not just because I want it, but because there's something special and big." Now talking about the present they're starting pre-production for their album. They plan on coming out with snippets of demos on their social media platforms. They've also informed us that they'd be working with a mystery "rock legend. An amazing producer." which has definitely sparked some curiosity and we can't wait to hear more from The Pumps.
By NIDHISHA
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