Getting to know the person behind the microphone is a sheer joy and today’s guest is certainly no exception. We got chatting to Ronja Riminsky, frontwoman for rising rock trio who are currently riding the waves caused by their fantastic new EP ‘Rituals’ – chatting everything from sushi to star wars to the delight of street performing…
KMB: Favourite food?
Sushi.
KMB: Favourite movie?
Star Wars Episode IV – VI.
KMB: Favourite album?
Very hard to choose only one and it changes often. But I think an all time favourite is The Wall by Pink Floyd.
KMB: Favourite memory?
Playing my first gig at a small festival near my hometown Kiel and the reaction of my friends and the crowd while and after the show. I had no idea how my music would be received. Since we didn’t even have any recordings at that time. So I didn’t even know myself how we sounded haha. Very surreal feeling that the feedback was so positive, I did not expect that by far.
KMB: Favourite season?
Again hard to choose just one. My three favs: King of Queens, Game of Thrones and Breaking Bad.
KMB: What is your creative process when writing songs/lyrics?
Lyrics ideas I often write down in everyday life, when I have an interesting line in my head or read or hear something that triggers an idea in me. In fact, this often happens during sports.
I often get the best melody ideas when I pick up my guitar and just play without a plan. I’ve often found that the first idea is the best one.
But sometimes we get a cool riff in the rehearsal room while jamming, which we then work out together.
For both, for lyrics and for melody, I focus completely on the feeling or the theme of the song and let it just come to me.
KMB: Tell me more about your relationship with street artists.
I think it’s so nice when there’s live music on the street. I was on vacation in Bordeaux some time ago and there are extra sockets in the walls of the houses for the street musicians, so they can amplify their music. That really impressed me. Very nice to see how this scene is supported there.
Music doesn’t need a stage to touch people and make them happy, that’s what street musicians prove to us again and again.
KMB: What was your experience playing at festivals like Open Flair Festival and Wilwarin Festival?
At big festivals, things are always very different than in a small club.
It has two sides, on the one hand you have this huge stage and big PA, which is really fun and has a lot of power. On the other hand you are very far away from the audience. I like to respond to heckling, but that’s hard to do on big stages because I can’t understand much due to the distance.
Still, I like to play both. At big festivals everything is very stressful behind the scenes and you have a strict schedule, but you also have the chance to talk to a lot of talented and successful artists, which is really nice.
KMB: How did you all meet?
Nils the bass player, when I met him, was not a musician but a soccer player.
I had great difficulties to find a suitable bass player for the project The Pinpricks and said one day as a joke: Please learn to play bass. That’s what he actually did and very quickly very well. After a few months I came along to a band rehearsal and he did it better than anyone else before. Which really surprised me a lot. Really a crazy story, but he just has a lot of ambition and when he sets his mind to something, he does it!
We met our drummer in our rehearsal room. We rehearse in a big bomb shelter, there are over 60 bands and you get to know a lot of musicians over time, which is really great. When he found out that we were looking for a drummer, he was right at the start. It fit humanly and musically right away.
For fans of The Pretty Reckless, Royal Blood, Blondie, you can find The Pinkpricks, their EP ‘Rituals’ and prepare for their debut album later this year via the links below: