The GR-Cincinnati emo/punk/jazz trio’s debut album gets featured for Local Spins on WYCE, which also debuted tracks by Tess Clark, Brie Stoner, Caliko, Chirp, Ten Peso Version and more.
Special Rock ‘n’ Roll Camaraderie: Pretty Sure (Courtesy Photo)
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There’s something potent, unyielding and special about the friendship, love and camaraderie of rock ’n’ roll bandmates, especially when they’re separated by 360 miles but still connect, collaborate and perform together regularly.
“We love each other first and foremost, and we love doing this with each other,” singer-guitarist Bryce Couch said of the bonds that drive the rock, emo, punk and jazz trio Pretty Sure. “Without that, it wouldn’t be possible.”
Indeed, despite that fact that Couch resides in Grand Rapids and bassist Colin Daniels and drummer Kyle Harmon make their home in Cincinnati, the band meets weekly online to create new music, recently recorded their full-length debut album at Grand Rapids’ River City Studios and are touring venues throughout the Midwest.
“I really think our friendship and our youth are on our side,” Harmon conceded. “There aren’t that many people I would drive that far to go hang out and play music, but Bryce is definitely one of them. … It’s just for the love of the game.”
Added Couch: “When you’re there (performing), it’s just this excitement that we have and we get to go play music and we get to be around each other and get to feel those things. It’s almost a euphoria of that is just the best time that we will have.”
Wide-Ranging Musical Influences: Pretty Sure (Courtesy Photo)
Friends since high school in Cincinnati, Couch moved to Grand Rapids two years ago with his girlfriend but kept in touch with Harmon and Daniels, eventually forming Pretty Sure, which releases its album, “Too Early to Tell,” at the end of the month.
The band hosts an album-release show at The Pyramid Scheme on Sept. 7, with Future Misters, Social Cig and Common Molly also on the bill. Advance tickets, $13, are available online here.
Describing Pretty Sure’s music as “a blend of Midwest emo, punk and jazz,” the band cites a wide array of musical influences, including The Strokes, Led Zeppelin, Queens of the Stone Age, Thundercat, Mac Miller, John Coltrane, Herbie Hancock, Victor Wooten, Modern Baseball, La Dispute, Tiny Moving Part, Miles Davis and more.
“We see no reason to limit our creative instincts, so we just dive into whatever sound feels natural,” Couch noted. “But to sum it up, we’re just a trio of 20-something punks.”
All three bandmates played together in their high school jazz band and Harmon said their influences “get molded together piece by piece” during their long-distance sessions: “It’s more of a mosaic. It’s really a lot of pieces from everywhere. I feel like we kind of slot into a place that is a modern approach to timeless classics – songs that people really love and trying to harness some of that energy and the contemporary space that we have today.”
That energy will be on display for the band’s album-release show, which features other acts that Pretty Sure loves.
“I think that a lot of the energy (of the bands) is very similar and a lot of that emotion and that youth and that raw, ‘Let’s play a rock show.’ I think that is a real energy that you’ll feel at the venue,” Couch insisted.
Pretty Sure will “top out” at about 30 live shows this year, but will continue to spread their wings on tour in the future.
“As long as I get to play rock ’n’ roll with my friends, it feels like I’ll drive pretty much anywhere,” Couch said.
This week’s Local Spins on WYCE (which spotlights Michigan music at 11 a.m. Fridays and 5 p.m. Sundays on WYCE 88.1 FM and online at wyce.org) showcased two tracks from the new Pretty Sure album – “Hard to Find” and “L7” – as well airing fresh music by Ten Peso Version, Tess Clark, Chirp, DJ Holographic, Will Jackson, Metzfire, Caliko, Brie Stoner and Hand of Giantsprety along with a vintage track from Hollywood Makeout (this week’s musicians’ pick by Pretty Sure). Listen to the radio show here.
PODCAST: Local Spins on WYCE (8/23/24)
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