Four talented guys, a stolen drum mat, and above all a lot of passion for music: that’s This Pine Box in a nutshell. Around a year ago, the Ohio-based band, founded in 2016 by Jake Knight, Joe Tellman, JP Demmel, and Tim Garner, was still looking forward to a good summer. Just like for every other artist, 2020 turned out to be a year of cancelled shows and staying at home for the group. With all this time off the road, the band, like many others, started working on new music. Last November they released their catchy song ‘Watchya Got’, which is the title track of their upcoming EP. “It is one of our favourite songs we have put out so far,”, states the band proudly.
“If we were to describe our band, we would call ourselves “students of the masters”.” Meet This Pine Box, an ambitious and buoyant band from the United States. Usually, their years consist of playing between 40 to 60 live shows, but in 2020 they only played two. “Now that we can’t do in-person shows, we rather focus on making new music,”, explains the quartet. They have done a lot of recording the past year, but not in the environment they were used to. “We started recording in our bedrooms and building songs up from the ground, which is something that we hadn’t necessarily done before. It does feel like you might end up in a slightly different place if you are building it in your own space. There’s a different kind of workflow than when you are sitting in a studio.”
With an EP on its way and plans for their sophomore album waiting to be realised, the band is ready for a fresh start in 2021. “Our EP ‘Watchya Got’ will be out on February 12th – there are some bangers on there. Our album will be a little bit more parable based, which is a different direction than what we have done before.”
Looking back on the past rather than the future, the group remembers one particular moment that has stuck with them ever since. “We stayed at a hotel once and when we were leaving, I saw this rug that said, “making you happy makes us happy”,”, JP starts off his story about the stolen drum mat. “When we were done packing up all of our stuff, I went back in to grab a coffee but instead of going back outside, I kept walking, picked up the rug, and put it in the car.” The very same rug now serves as a drum mat, with the quote facing the crowd whenever they perform. “We apologise for taking the mat, but on the other hand, it has been greatly used. Someday we will buy them a new one,”, the group laughs. On a more serious note, the quote on the rug tells no lies, as making people feel happy is exactly what the band is here to do. “Sometimes the music that means the most to me is the songs that transfer something that I don’t know how to express or explain,”, Knight states. “It is awesome if our music can do that for people as well.”
Written by: Ine Vanvuchelen
GEM Magazine 