Albany band Pinstripe reveal insight into original music following WA Music nominations

Albany indie-rockers Pinstripe are cementing themselves as a rising name in WA’s music industry after years of honing their skills at pubs around their home city. Putting on professionally produced light and music shows at venues around Albany, Pinstripe approach their music with dedication and a humble attitude. Still on a high after being nominated in two categories for WA Music song of the year, half of Pinstripe sat down with Inspire to spill their secrets. Consisting of lead singer Scott Mackenzie, drummer Paul Meyers, lead guitarist Mark Reebe and Tim Jeffs on bass, the cover band has recently released its first original single. Released in February, Everglow marks a break-out moment for Pinstripe, as they move away from pub pop covers and find their own sound. And for a first effort, let’s just say it hasn’t gone too badly. Everglow is a finalist for this year’s WAM song of the year awards in two categories — outstanding regional song and the top gong, song of the year. The track has received more than 200,000 streams. The band originally emerged from the remote Kimberley region in the town of Derby in 2012. After establishing themselves on Triple J Unearthed and touring across WA, the band moved to Albany. Led by frontman Mackenzie and Jeffs, they recruited a drummer and guitarist and kickstarted their journey in the Great Southern. With more than 100 years of musical experience between them, all four members are Albany born and raised. Their musical talent and production skills are well known on the local circuit, where they regularly pull big crowds. Now, Everglow is giving them wider recognition. With Mackenzie the man behind the melody, the musician said he had to overcome many hurdles before the release of their debut single. “I’ve always written originals, they’ve always been there, but for me it was building my own confidence up, actually pushing my own stuff out there, getting over the hurdle of taking it to the band and then getting it out into the public,” he said. He comes up with a melody first then chooses words to fit. When he’s not with Pinstripe, Mackenzie works in remote communities around the State. “I do a lot of driving, so I do a lot of writing on the road,” he said. “I’ll drive eight to 12 hours into some of these remote communities, I won’t have the radio on, there’s so many songs whirling around in my head.” Like the other three members of the band, Meyers is mostly self-taught. “It’s the only thing I’ve ever really done — had my first pub show when I was 12,” Meyers said. “It was the school of hard knocks really, get out there and do it. “Once you’ve kind of got into music, you can’t see yourself doing anything else. It’s your life.” Pinstripe debuted their first single at the City of Albany’s New Year’s Eve concert last year, where it received a red-hot reception. They have supported Fremantle indie-pop band San Cisco in Broome and Aria award winners 1927 in Derby. “Everglow was recorded in Albany which stacks up against the industry and the nominations confirm that,” Mackenzie said. “A lot was done in our shed. We recorded drums at the PCYC, so not professional places, and apart from the vocals it was all self-recorded.” Their next major step for the band will be releasing their second single, You & I,next month. “We hope to play more gigs in Albany, but it’s hard to get gigs locally,” Mackenzie said. “A lot of people want to see us and the venues can’t fit us in because of COVID restrictions.” The silver lining around COVID-19’s dark cloud is that it has allowed the band to focus on their songwriting as they get closer to producing their first EP. Pinstripe will perform at the WAM Song of the Year Awards on June 30 at Freo.Social.