“Been sixteen days since I’ve seen any sight of you, stupid fights, sleepless nights you know, I don’t know what to do...”
These are the opening lyrics that Harry Wirstrom chants on the song “What Love”, a driving riff based rock track that has been finding its way into festivals and venues in
Wirstrom is the co-founder, lead vocalist and guitarist for local indie rock band Drink Me. Joined by Josh Lucero on guitar, Dylan Seniceros on bass and Nelson Wirstrom on drums, the quartet have been jamming across town since 2014.
Serendipitously, Wirstrom and Lucero met through a dubious Craigslist ad posted by a musician who claimed falsehoods of sponsorships. Unphased by the deception, the duo denounced their initial plans and split from the fraud, only after coining their band name
“I was itching to play in a band but we just ended up in this sketchy situation,” Wirstrom said. “We wanted to write our own stuff and it wasn’t going down like that. No creative control. We left, and the first song we wrote was about him called ‘Big Game’, just about a big liar.”
The first thing one notices about the band might just be the name, a reference to the classic story "
On that note, their name seems to reflect the band’s unique aesthetic. Wirstrom is the definition of a rock artist, often sporting colorful hair and dancing around on stage while singing. Their songwriting translates fluently on-stage with catchy vocal melodies and a surplus of energy.
After Seniceros joined on bass via Craigslist, the band recruited Wirstrom’s brother, Nelson, on drums. Thus, Drink Me as a collection of musicians was born, and promptly recorded its first self-titled five-song EP.
“We recorded the Drink Me EP at South Mountain Sound produced by just one guy in the mountains with a computer. And he did a pretty good job with what he had," Lucero said. "Quality wise you can hear the difference with our more recent stuff. Our latest single is Hangman, an interesting one because it was the first song that ‘wrote itself’ in a way.”
Drink Me’s approachable style have snagged them performances in venues across the city such as Low Spirits, Burt’s Tiki Lounge and Launchpad. They’re known to blend post-modern grooves within the classic rock paradigm, such as with the song Limousine that incorporates funk elements over a bouncy, consistent rock beat.
“Look forward to the re-recording of that one,” Wirstrom said.
The band most recently played the South Valley Pride Day Festival and will be using the earnings to shoot a music video for Hangman, the long-term goal being to promote a kickstarter to help out the band record their debut full length album, expected sometime in 2017.
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
Check out Drink Me playing at the Co-op June 11th as well as Duke City Sound Stage on June 20th, as well as on their bandcamp page: https://drinkmeband.bandcamp.com/
Audrin Baghaie is a culture reporter for the Daily Lobo. He can be reached at culture@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @DailyLobo.
