Sketchy Trench - Gnarly Punk Rock from San Antonio

Your music has refreshing melodies without challenging the integrity of a true punk rock attitude. What was your initial approach when starting the band?

People say punk rock ain't got rules, and musically that's true. For a lot of us the core is still about the same shit it's always been about - subversion of imposed norms, rebellion against a corrupt society, and musical and personal freedom. But the specific sub-genre you might get labeled under isn't important. There are so many amazing, passionate bands out there, all playing different styles, and we wanna play with all of em. So we intentionally put a mix together that hopefully allows us to do that. Our sound is basically a blend of shit we grew up on, shit we love, and shit we found ourselves more naturally able to write. We enjoy being creative, so people who dig melody and harmony might like that. But we also play hard and fast and loud, cuz that's what we like to see when we go to shows.

Sketchy Trench is a unique name. What is the story behind it?

Just skateboarding, really. Sketchy trench, like a gnarly ditch. Embankments and drainage ditches are just my favorite shit to skate. Also I guess we thought the phrase had a bit of a ring to it.

How has your music evolved since you first began playing together?

We might be too young of a band to have much of an answer for that; we've been playing less than a year at this point. Once we had a full setlist, we started gigging and haven't really stopped. Playing shows is all I really ever wanna do, so it's cool. But it makes it challenging to find time to write. We plan to take a month off soon and dedicate that time to new songs. Hopefully once that's done we'll have something to compare our current set to. That being said, I'm admittedly very fortunate to have the band members I do. They're talented and dedicated, so in that regard I can say the music continues to become tighter all the time, for sure.

How long have you all known each other? How did you meet?
Sexy J plays guitar. I've known him since 2nd grade. We each moved around for a while, but then we both ended up in San Antonio recently. We use to be in a band together, so we decided to try to start another one. About a year ago he and I wrote some demos right before we recruited Sketchy T (he plays bass). T and I had been playing for a few months in a thrash band, which I stole him from (but they're cool with it.) With the help of my primo (shout out to Ryan), we put the demos out looking for a drummer. Did a few shows with a few different drummers. Then Chia came highly recommended, and once he sat in, we saw why. Booked the first show in April 2017, first show with the current line-up a month or two after.

You do good amount of touring. How often do you hit the road and what are some memorable stories?
The cool thing about living in Texas is you can basically tour without ever leaving the state. There's a ton of rad cities and scenes, so we can stay playing all the time without having to really go too far. So that's most of what we've been doing. We did do a run to California in January and we hit a half-dozen states on the way there and back. The whole thing was memorable. Makes you wanna just do that all the time. Stories from that trip involve hotel rumbles, beached whales on the curb at Denny's, geriatric circle pits, and drugs so good you forget how to walk. But nothing crazy. So we're planning a midwest trip in the summer and hopefully a longer east coast tour next year.

I really enjoy all your videos and graphics. People do not seem to understand the amount of time it takes to create this sort of content. Is this all done within the band or do you have help from friends?

Thanks. Dude, no shit. I spend most of my waking life just making flyers and messaging motherfuckers all day. But it has been effective in keeping us booked, and that's the end goal. And I do enjoy it. Honestly, I enjoy everything about being in a band, so that makes it easier to spend the time it takes. But specifically for videos and graphics, we definitely couldn't do it without friends. The music and art communities here work together beautifully. We're honored to have homies contribute their talents whenever possible. Shout out to Cros, Evil Dave, Crazy Dave, Gilstock, Speed, Antons, Avi, and all the friends who lend us your art or shoot us at shows.

Final words?

Our girlfriends rule.
https://www.facebook.com/sketchytrench/