an interview with san francisco's preschool

(From left to right: Corbin, Ava, Nikki)

So how did you guys meet and start the band?

Ava:

We all met at a place called San Francisco Rock Project, which is on Harrison St. It’s an after school music program and that’s where I first learned how to play drums. I met Nicki first, we got along because we liked the same music, we were like 12 and we did a Patti Smith Show. I met Corbin through the same thing, The Rock Project, and then we became close and we started dating.

Nicki:

Yeah we met at Rock Project and I met Ava first and then Corbin never really talked to anyone, but we were all apart of this other band thing, the house band.

What’s the backstory behind your guys name?

Nicki:

Me and Ava were gonna start a band and I liked the name Puddle and we were thinking other names we could use and one day she was like Preschool!

Ava:

I also liked Peach Pit!

Nicki:

But there’s already a band named Peach Pit that’s really good! But then she just thought of Preschool and we were like yeah, okay. We should have a more interesting backstory to the name haha. We’re like preschoolers, we’re open to everything! We’re open minded… we’re inspired by the world around us haha.

What bands or artists are you biggest influences?

Nicki:

My friend Francesca said we sound like a mix of The Beach Boys and Brat Mobile.

Ava:

For drumming wise, I like the band the Five Six Seven Eights, this Japanese band, it’s all girls and they’re really good and really cool. I’m influenced by the way she drums which is kinda like surfer style.

Corbin:

I’m more influenced by rhythm and blues and old rock and roll. I like more old fashioned music, like tiny bands and stuff.

Nicki:

I’m just influenced by what I listen to, which is everything. I like Frankie Cosmos a lot, Beach House, TV Girl, Pale Hound, Puzzle, Grateful Dead, I wish I could play bass like that.

Do you think your city or community has had an effect on the type of music you play?

Ava:

I feel like the people living in the city forsure do because the bands that we’ve played, I feel like their music inspires us and their personalities inspire us, I don’t think the actual city does, but the community does. I also think when we play shows at different venues, we try to play to the room, but it’s more about the energy, we’re all for the energy and the people in the room, going back to community.

Nicki:

I agree with that. The music community in the Bay Area, the art community, is really close and like tight knit and you get to know everybody and that’s helped a lot. We have a lot of friends who are in bands, like Small Crush, who really inspire us, because they’ve come really far and it’s so nice to see friends do that, it’s really inspiring because I wanna get to that point. People in the city inspire me to write lyrics because they suck sometimes haha.

Corbin:

I’m happy to be contributing to the music here because it’s pretty fun.

When did you first discover the local music scene in your area?

Nicki:

I first started going to shows when I was like 11 or 12, I was super scene though so I went to Pierce the Veil concerts and stuff haha, and then I think like the past couple years, I kinda figured out there’s a community of people that play music and I started meeting a lot more musicians, I kinda realized it was all over the bay area, not just San Francisco, that there’s so many people and so many bands.

Ava:

For me personally, it was actually just starting the band and having our first couple shows. I mean the same kind of people went to our shows, but you start seeing different faces and more and more people and you just make new friends all the time.

Corbin:

Most of the bands I became familiar with out here were all introduced to me by Nikki. Before we started booking and playing shows, I wasn’t really going to a lot of local shows.

Nicki:

Starting the band opened us up more to new people, even just meeting other musicians that we played shows with, I learned about so many bands that are from the Bay Area.

Ava:

When you get billed with other bands that you don’t even know, then you look on their Instagram and you’re like, “Oh my god! They’re totally cool, we never knew about them!” That’s super cool.

Nikki:

Green Day was my first favorite local band! I loved Green Day oh my god! I cried when I first saw them, I was 9 years old, I saw Billie Joe Armstrong and I started crying.

Have you guys always sounded like this or have you experimented with other sounds?

Ava:

We’ve had growth in our sound forsure, because in the beginning, we were just jamming, we didn’t really know what we were doing. I think we sorta found our sound through our practices.

Nicki:

So we started out as just drums and bass actually, it was me and Ava. We started in like December of 2017, so we’re still like super new and then our friend Gabe was gonna play guitar and do vocals for us, but he wasn’t really feeling it, he wasn’t ready to be in a band, and then we were just playing drums and bass and trying how to make original music. Corbin is dating Ava, so he was just like, "I’ll play guitar for you guys!” and it sorta just developed, I think we’re still developing our sound actually. Corbin’s riffs are super surfy and that’s just how he plays and that just adds to it, hopefully we’ll grow still.

Do you guys have plans for an EP or album in the future?

Nicki:

So we’ve been trying to record another song. We’re trying to record an EP, but it’s just a matter of time because we’re all super buys, but hopefully this year! I’m hoping for a four or five song EP, because we have enough music. Keep your eyes out for more Preschool music on Soundcloud!

What are your guys favorite local bands?

Ava:

Our friends’ band Weeny Witch forsure, because they actually just had a member who went off to college, but they’re still pursuing the dream and getting their music out there and that’s so exciting and inspiring. They’re also now an all girl band which is just so cool! Their passion is so inspiring. Small Crush because just they’re amazing, they’re such nice people and their sound is awesome. It gives me hope for our band because we’re all the same age as them, some of them are younger than us.

Nicki:

I agree, Weeny Witch, those are some of my best friends and I’m just really happy for them. Small Crush I’ve been into for a while and they’re also really sweet and great to work with. Blank Minds, we actually just played with them last month, they’re from LA. We have a show coming up with them. They’re just super nice and talented. Green Day obviously like I said, I grew up on that. Pllush is really good, I think they’re form San Francisco. I just love seeing people come from the same place as I have and be successful. Also Maya and The Revolutionary Hell Yeah, they’re amazing. Burd! Yeah she’s amazing, so talented.

Corbin:

There’s a great metal band from Pacifica called Rip.

Nicki:

That’s his band haha.

Corbin:

White Fence, Kamikaze Palm Tree, that’s it.

What are your guy’s favorite local venues to go see shows at or play at?

Nicki:

Bottom of The Hill is my favorite venue in San Francisco, I just love it so much, we actually just played there with White Fence. We played the instrumentals for Tim Presley, he’s in White Fence so we played with him. He did a benefit with the music school we went to. I like playing at Gilman, I don’t like going to shows at Gilman that much, but I like playing there, it’s pretty fun. Great American Music Hall, I like the smaller venues in San Francisco, Honey Hive, too.

Corbin:

Oakland Secret.

Ava:

Bottom of The Hill is great because you’re so close to the stage and whoever is performing you feel a one on one connection with, but I love the Chapel so much, I love playing the Chapel, they supply you with so much food there and the atmosphere in that room is so fun.

That’s all my questions! Is there anything else you guys would like to mention!

Ava:

If you are a teenage band in San Francisco, make sure you are nice to everyone around you because it really effects the show, the people you’re playing with. For me, I wanna play with people who are nice and passionate, I think that’s important to have when you’re playing shows and your young.

Nicki:

Honestly this is so cheesy, but if you wanna play music just do it! Even if it sounds like shit, I was making really terrible music for years and I still have recordings in my voice memos that are just so bad and it still happened, but I’m in a band now. Also don’t have an ego because no one is gonna like you.

Ava:

Thank you to Mac for being our first ever interviewer! This is exciting!

Corbin:

This was a lot of fun. Thanks to everyone who listens to us. We hope to have more music out shortly.

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All photo and words by Mac