“I think some women of color and people of color in general feel like they have to be something they’re not in order to be called ‘good.’ That standard in your head has been created by the white icons who have always been in the spotlight, but we have so much more of ourselves to offer that people haven’t seen yet. Take what’s unique about you and flaunt it.”
A piece of wisdom from Pinkshift’s vocalist, Ashrita Kumar, illustrating their platform that aims to represent authentic expression while also empowering others to do the same. Pinkshift aren’t your typical punk band. They don’t stand on a silent platform. Pinkshift are here to represent how you can be whatever you want to be no matter where you come from or how you identify.
The story of Pinkshift started back in Baltimore, “Rat City,” during their college days, when Kumar met Pinkshift’s guitarist, Paul Vallejo. The two met through a music organization on their campus where Kumar says the two “discovered that we love to write original music.”
Around the summertime of 2018 is when the revelation to become full-time artists came to fruition. Kumar says, “We quickly started racking up demos and decided we wanted to start a band to play them out loud.” Then the two took matters into their own hands, as true artists do to get the gears of their vision in motion.
The puzzle was almost complete, but what is a band without its drummer? Kumar and Vallejo embarked on constant journeys to their colleges’ drum practice room, stalking the halls for fellow musicians alike, when one day they luckily stumbled upon drummer Myron Houngbedji.
After the formation of the band, playing local shows, dropping their EP, and their graduation, the pandemic struck.
Whilst trying to secure jobs and peddling their music on the side, Kumar described how Pinkshift handled the pandemic by using their “downtime to go about promoting the songs we had written before going into the pandemic.” Kumar continues by saying how the music “was really only a hobby before our music started gaining traction online.” Their highly acclaimed song “I’m going to tell my therapist on you” has accumulated over 4 million streams since its release back in July 2020. One could say they shifted the tides with that one!
People often place Pinkshift in a box by classifying them under the genre of pop-punk. Kumar elaborated how she is “not really drawn to that genre or any genre in particular.” This goes without saying her admiration for punk when she described the scene saying it “allows you to take up space and I like how catchy melodies are something everyone in a room can collectively enjoy together.”
She takes her inspiration from “older pop music that has punk elements, like No Doubt, and punk bands that had pop appeal, like Nirvana.” Listeners can hear this in their notable and catchy five-track discography that displays the range of the band’s musical spectrum.
Pinkshift’s versatility and unique style set them apart and isn’t attributed to only one member. Kumar makes it a point in that “the inspiration and original idea can really come from any one of us, and then we’ll take that idea and build on it together.”
Their creative process doesn’t follow any set formula. “It could start with guitar, piano, drums, a single vocal melody, a whole demo that we take apart—anything really. We’ll tweak each other’s contributions and ideas until it feels like the song is something we’re all proud of,” explains Kumar.
It’s safe to say that Pinkshift doesn’t just create for the meaningless void either. Kumar asserts, “We really do everything with purpose—we only release songs that we’re really proud of, and we believe in our project 100 percent.” This holds true as a trait to any aspiring and established artist.
“To convince other people to care about you, you have to be your biggest cheerleader, and that takes a lot of work. I also think we were lucky enough to release a good song that we loved at the right time,” Kumar said in regard to Pinkshift’s success. The statement serves as a testament to all aspiring artists in that believing in yourself will get you places you never could have imagined. Believe in yourself when one else does!
The members of the band “come from that similar background, so the groupthink between us is really cohesive,” explains Kumar. All in all, Kumar believes “being authentic and intentional in our representation of ourselves and our brand helps us reach people who actually care about us.”
A driving ethos of Pinkshift is that the band are an inclusive space for all people of all backgrounds. The band could be seen as a light on the underrepresented communities within the scene that “always existed in this space, and now we’re taking the stage,” exclaims Kumar.
Kumar assured that in 2022, “fans can definitely expect new music, both unreleased and live to be released on the record. It’s going to be a massive year for us, and we’re so excited.”
In terms of direction and creative risks the band will achieve on their next record, Kumar says:
“It’s really informed by what’s happening in the world around us and what this space has allowed me to discover about myself. It’s frustrating, and all that pent-up energy is going into the music. Every time we write a song, we take a creative risk, and I think that’s the definition of evolving. As our music is created by evolving people, I’m sure the music will follow.”
Check out the notable and ferocious hate5six recording of Pinkshift performing live at Union Transfer in Philadelphia, PA below:
Be sure to check out Pinkshift’s various platforms on the web: Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Bandcamp.
Photography courtesy of Yising Kao, Leigh Ann Rodgers, and Joe Calixto
