As the sun set across the San Diego skyline, screeching guitars, thumping bass, crashing ride cymbals, floating keys and voices spiting verses echoed across the neighborhood. In a tiny shed where six people gathered frequently, amps screamed, wires tangled, and laughter pierced. Those long jam sessions that bled into the night was the beginning of a special journey, the birth of Cheap Skates.
Since its inception in 2019, Cheap Skates has not stopped those improvisations. Split across San Diego, Cheap Skates consists of guitarists Domenic Spino and Brendan Collins, bassist Kaitlyn Alaire, keyboardist Alex Jimenez, drummer Diego Guardado, and vocalist Nic Placek. Honing in a unique style of music called “ride” they created a new blend of krautrock, punk, rap and pop. From those humble origins, Cheap Skates has turned into formidable music unit of pure energy and excitement. Their ten track studio album is out now with LPS and CDS on Bandcamp. For now keep your ears open to catch them live, or enjoy the recordings, you wont regret it.
