We’ve loved Pledge Drive since their debut Genuinity back in 2017. A blitzkrieg of intense tongue in cheek punk rock that is a blast from the past. With an early 80’s bent and a no holds barred attitude this six piece brings it every single show. We talked to them from quarantine about the new record, their influences, the tour they had to cancel, and how we can support artists in this time of need. Visit their bandcamp page to purchase some a digital copy of Second Impressions!

PD: Pledge Drive

Line up: Kelli (vox), Kelsey (guitar), Pam (bass, vox), Tara (keys, vox), Miriam (sax), Whitney (drums)

Your new record, Second Impressions, is the follow up to 2017's Genuinity, what is the main difference between your debut and the new EP?

PD: The biggest change since Genuinity is that Miriam joined on saxophone. I think we also let ourselves get weirder and groovier, and maybe a little more sinister with time. The recording style and the tones on the keys, guitar, and bass are also different because there’s been two years since the first EP. We left the basement to record, and we’ve seen gear come and go.

Could you share a few stories of how the songs came into the world? Particularly interested in "Pyramid Scheme" and "Identity Theft" but will take a tale about any of them.

PD: “Pyramid Scheme” is a headbanger about predatory business practices. In the song, Kelli is sippin’ gin and scrolling LinkedIn when she stumbles upon a million-dollar business opportunity and, in an Orwellian twist, becomes the boss of an MLM scheme. 
”Identity Theft” is about trying to steal someone’s money by stealing their identity, but in the end it turns out they never had any money to begin with. A lot of our songs are pointing out different aspects of the absurdity of our lives under capitalism. We also write a lot about the internet and being online. We’re all in our late 20s or early 30s and we all grew up living much of our lives digitally. 

you mentioned the addition of sax. Have there been Any other fluctuations of band members since Then?

PD: Kelli and Kelsey started writing music in late 2015, and Tara and Pam joined about six months later. Whitney replaced our former drummer, Brian, in early 2017. Miriam joined on sax in 2018.

There's quite a bit of classic punk influence on Second Impressions, thinking in particular of X-Ray Spex, The Slits, and The Raincoats. Fans of any of those? If not, who drives your musical interests?

PD: Those bands are absolutely ones we have listened to together. When we were considering adding an additional member on saxophone in 2017, we were feeling excited about sax punk (past and present) like X-Ray Spex and Romeo Void and The World and French Vanilla. We love Chicago punk bands like Bev Rage & The Drinks, Melanin, CB Radio Gorgeous and Clickbait. But overall our musical interests are pretty chaotic. And we’re inspired by lots of other things too: friends’ bands, commercials, wrestling, zines, conspiracy theories, YouTube, fake gems, uncommon animal friendships, and skateboarding.

Sorry to bring it up, but We wouldn't be doing Our job if WE didn't. You recently had to cancel a tour. Had you already invested any of the band fund and were you able to get any of it back? 

PD: We appreciate you asking. Yeah, we had to cancel the tour we booked through the Midwest and Southeast, and we are sitting on a stack of shirts and tapes at the moment. It was a small loss, and we are doing okay. We’re hoping to reschedule as soon as we can, though we likely won’t be able to travel through all of the nine cities (all of us work full-time and are in other bands).

Outside of buying music and merch is there a way to support you right now?

PD: In general, now is a great time to be supporting local musicians. A lot of people in our community are uninsured or underinsured, and many of us work in industries that have been impacted pretty hard by COVID-19. We’re feeling the impact on our friends and loved ones pretty hard right now, so we’d like to get the word out for people to call or text their representatives and ask them to guarantee the rights of health care workers and grocery employees, and to ensure essential medical supplies during the pandemic. And vote for Bernie Sanders.

When we're all allowed to hit the town again, what would be your dream show?

This tour was actually our “dream tour.” All our shows were with friends. We were stopping in some of our hometowns, and all the drives were nice and short! Now our dream show is one where COVID-19 is gone from the Earth. Our friends and family are in attendance. We’ve all been given 24-month rent repayment periods, emergency rental assistance, and a moratorium on evictions; and we achieve peaceful catharsis playing loud music and standing as close together as we want to.

(Photos from Tina Mead’s article for Midwest Action covering Pledge Drive’s show at Sleeping Village on 1/26/20)