Events

[INDIE ROCK] In a few days the Tins will get into their white 2005 Ford Freestar minivan and drive approximately 1,600 miles to Austin, Texas—with a couple of videographers in tow—to play their first official SXSW showcase. This’ll happen after they put in a few more hours of studio time at GCR on their next full length record, which they’ve been recording with producer Robby Takac at the helm. On Thursday, March 12, the three-piece indie rock band will play a send off show at Nietzsche’s as part of our series, The Public Presents, presented by The Good Neighborhood, and Takac’s not-for-profit organization Music Is Art, along with support from Bryan Johnson & Family and Zak Ward. The Tins’ yet untitled follow-up to their last full length record, Life’s A Gas, will be a re-examining of the band itself.

“A lot of these songs are about patterns and repeating cycles that we’ve found ourselves in as a band and artists together, and trying to break out of those old habits and move forward,” says The Tins keyboardist and vocalist, Michael Santillo.

The band formed in 2006 at Binghamton University, where the trio—Santillo, singer and guitarist Adam Putzer, and drummer David Muntner—met as English majors. They released their first record, Tins, in 2010, when they moved to Buffalo. There was a roughness to that first EP, says Santillo. Life’s A Gas, a highly polished record that was a step in the right direction for the band’s songwriting and production, followed. The new record will strike a balance between the loose, vibey grooves of the band’s debut, and the highly polished sounds on Life’s a Gas, says Santillo. 

In 2012 the Tins played an unofficial SXSW showcase, but they’re excited to be an official part of the massive music and art street festival this year, along with some of their favorite bands like The Zombies, Spoon, and Frog Eyes. Last summer the band went on 25-date tour across the country. Though the tour was a success, when they returned to Buffalo they reassessed their commitment to the band.

“It revealed a lot of issues that we had with each other, so when we came back we were unsure about what we wanted to do, whether we wanted to do another record or go our separate ways.” They decided to soldier on, after some inter-band self-therapy sessions, and to write their next record—the aforementioned untitled record they’re in the progress of recording with Takac, who helped them break out of the habits they’d gotten too comfortable with.

“Because we don’t have a bass player—we have a synth bass live—[Takac] has had some good suggestions for kind of locking in with the drums and what’s best for the groove. We tried to experiment a lot with more space. Less constricted to this pop-song sensibility, although that is still something we all really appreciate.”

They’ve also come to terms with the music industry, and what to expect out of it, so for this record, they’ve decided to run a Kickstarter campaign, which fans can find on their website: thetinsmusic.com.

“My expectations for the band are to just get to a comfortable place where we can keep writing. When we started out as college students, we wanted some kind of fame, not like that was the goal, but there is always some kind of ego involved that you’ve got to keep in check.”

The band has realized that success is a slow grind, and keeping it consistent is a key. Buffalo has been nurturing to them—though Santillo is still trying to characterize our ever-changing scene.

“There’s this scene that’s built up around things like Steak & Cake Records, and buffaBLOG with the shows they’ve been putting on. And hopefully now The Public too, with these regular shows at Nietzsche’s.”