A Pinch of Kinch
Written by Lauren Cusimano
The young, Phoenix-based rock group Kinch has swam instead of sank, each one keeping the other above water and will now find themselves playing South by Southwest this spring.
"We all have our roles," Malone says, and it's true. Cousins Brian Coughlin and Andrew Junker along with childhood friend Jake Malone started making music a decade ago. Kinch consists of those three and newcomer Bryan Witt. Each member says they have to rely on each other because they are an unattached band, meaning unsigned and sans label. The band runs its own Web site, sells merchandise and takes care of booking. Coughlin is the financier and the booking agent. Junker writes the songs, Malone takes care of Web stuff and Witt makes the social connection to fans and venue/bar owners. And even with all this, Kinch still manages to make music.
Their sound doesn't dabble with the specific genres of indie-rock. "When it comes down to it, it's just rock," Junker says. He hears a lot of people say its piano rock, but doesn't really agree. The music doesn't necessarily have a theme except maybe, "Feeling worried," Junker says. There's also the idea of record Kinch, and live Kinch. "I think the records are good enough to stand on their own, but seeing us live makes it all come together," Witt says.
Many will see Kinch live in Austin, Texas as they take part in one of the biggest music festivals of the year. Junker says the fact they were invited to SXSW was confirmation their music careers were going well, that they are a healthy band. "It's a good indicator for us," Coughlin says. Malone says if the band had been told in the past they would be playing SXSW, their reaction would have been disbelief. "The thought of this opportunity happening a year ago would have been so far off," he says.
Kinch first toured in spring 2008 - or "adult camp" as Coughlin calls it - a year after each member started giving Kinch his full attention. "That's because even though we graduated from college in May of 2006, it took us those six months to find a new bassist and rehearse our material and book some decent shows," Junker says. The band was even personally invited by Phoenix darlings Dear and the Headlights to tour this spring. Throughout the excitement, Kinch decided to make sure they were always available. Malone quit his full-time job, as did Witt. Junker is a writer for The Catholic Sun, the official newspaper of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Phoenix, which he can do from the road. And Coughlin? "I have really good credit," he says, but lowering his head, "or did."
The band's first demo, Corinth, was recorded while each member was attending separate colleges. Coughlin attended Loyola Marymount University where he met Professor John Hartmann, former manager of America, Crosby Stills and Nash and The Eagles. "He's actually a real close friend of mine," Coughlin says. "He's helped us make a lot of big decisions for the band." Kinch then self-released its own full-length album, Advances, in 2008, which was named the "Best Arizona Album" that year by the Phoenix New Times. Coughlin says it has been easier to book shows out of town because of this recognition. The Economic Chastisement, a three song EP, was recorded in two days in Austin, Texas and released in February. Despite the touring this spring, the band says they still plan to record even more. "I would be shocked if we haven't recorded at least a little something by the summer," Junker says.
Although each member holds his own role, one thing is agreed upon: they're not trying to be the biggest band in the world. "We just want to be able to continue to write and record music and go on the road and play for people," Malone says. "And support a family," Junker adds. "We don't want to play arenas or anything like that - if we can do this and support ourselves, that's definitely the goal." Another goal, "A booking agent," Coughlin says. Kinch is full of insights like this.
Getting even more philosophical, Junker explains the best thing ever to happen to Kinch was realizing to not play pretend with the band. He says there's going to be a lot of pointless shows and empty rooms, but it's best to just keep going. "I think that a lot of people love the idea of a band much more than what it takes to be in a band," he says. "It's not about orchestrating stage moves to an empty bar - early on, we just got over that."