Today’s Exclusive Spotlight – Prinport. We sat down with the guys in Prinport from Winnipeg, MB to talk about their newest singles and their upcoming album set to release this April! We discuss the history of how Prinport formed, the musicians that inspire them and why the can of ravioli at every show. Let’s get started!
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Would you be able to introduce yourself? Please include where you are from, band name, and the genre/genres you would classify yourselves as.
We are PRINPORT, a progressive post-hardcore band from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. The band has a strong passion for the sound of both classic post-hardcore and more modern sounds, with the goal of being as unique as possible.
When did Prinport form?
The most official start date for the band was in late 2016 when drummer Connor Olynyk met Mackail Orth and Thomas Winslow through a mutual friend. The group had been searching for a drummer for some time, and after their first jam, it was love at first kiss. Shortly after the band began gigging around the city and growing a small but dedicated fan base. Through these gigs, the band also encountered vocalist Dylan Copeland. After some discussion the band felt it would be better for them to have a dedicated vocalist, this would allow them to create more complex arrangements and a more dynamic range of vocal parts. From the moment Dylan joined, Prinport was truly born.
How long have you been working on these songs?
Some of these songs have existed as ideas and fragments since as early as 2016 but did not really start to take form until the lineup was fully established. The full dedicated writing process for these songs began around 2018-2019 after the release of the band’s debut self-titled EP. Writing for the album really kicked into gear in late 2019 when the band decided to slow down on playing shows and focus entirely on the writing.
Who is your biggest musical inspiration?
Musically the band takes a lot of influence from a lot of the bigger bands in their genre, but what sets them apart is the influences they all bring individually. Everyone in the band has a very diverse music taste and is constantly bringing in new and different sounds to add to the Prinport soup. Dylan’s main influences in terms of his writing are Rou Reynolds from Enter Shikari and Dan Smith from Listener. Thom draws his influence from players such as Victor Wooten and Kilian Duarte. Connor is heavily influenced by progressive metal drummers such Joey Bacca from The Contortionist and Matt Halpern from Periphery, as well as having a huge influence from gospel and funk drummers. Mac takes his influence from players like Omar Rodriguez-Lopez from The Mars Volta and Chino Moreno from Deftones. Stylistically the band’s main goal is making the sounds we all know and love from their genre and making it spicy.
With a heavy influence from progressive music, their goal is always to keep the listener on their toes. They don’t want to sound like anything you’ve heard before.
What inspired these new tracks?
A big inspiration for these songs was the goal to improve and expand on what the band had done in the first EP. The goal was to push the limits of how heavy, melodic, and out there the band could get, while still maintaining our roots in where the band started. The songs in general are more complex, longer, heavier, and more interesting than what has been heard previously from the band. The main goal is to never stick to one sound.
When do you plan to release these songs?
The band has plans to release the next single in early February, and further singles in the weeks following that. The album is likely to come out in April.
I’ve noticed a theme to the track titles, what made you decide on fruit?
The concept started with songs like Peach and Pomegranate who were already named after a fruit. From there the band thought it would be funny to name all the songs after fruit as well. Thus, the album “Fruit Salad” was born. The concept behind it then became twofold, musically the album is a “Fruit Salad” because each song has its own distinct flavor, bringing a different set of sounds and influences than the last, while still having the cohesion of all being rooted in the classic Prinport sound. Lyrically the songs all take the approach of revealing the band’s “Forbidden Fruits”, things about their personalities that usually are kept secret. The album in that way is very emotional and cathartic for all the members, it represents growth and admitting to oneself that change needs to be made to thrive.
I can’t be the only person wondering, will there be a recorded version of pomegranate released?
Track 10
I’ve had the pleasure of seeing you guys live several times now and I just gotta ask, why the can of ravioli?
This started early on with the band’s live shows, they wanted to create some type of incentive to get the crowd moving at shows. The idea was that whoever went the hardest and gave the best energy during the set would win a prize to commend their effort. It seemed like a funny idea to give away small inconsequential items, starting with whatever, they could find lying around in the pantry, then random items from the dollar store. For some reason, people really gravitated to the ravioli so it just sort of stuck, and then 204 ravioli-core was born.
Do any of you have any other music projects you are currently working on?
Currently, guitarist Mackail Orth and drummer Connor Olynyk are working on a side project together, the sound and goal of which was to make much simpler and straightforward music. The band’s sound is a blend of Midwest emo, melodic hardcore, pop-punk, shoegaze, and indie rock. The project is still in its infancy, but definitely anticipate hearing more about that in the near future. Mackail also has an experimental hip-hop project entitled Sleech. He is currently working on a new album titled “DISESTEEM” which details some very complex emotions over top of warping and disorientating rap instrumentals.
Do you have anything exciting coming up that fans can look forward to from you guys?
The band’s single will be coming out on February 7th and they are currently working on a new merch drop as we write this. With concerns for the safety of everyone due to rising case rates, Prinport has no show’s currently booked, but will be back to play as soon as possible.
Prinport is one of those bands I always enjoy listening to and especially enjoy seeing live. These guys really put their heart into the music they create and it shines through. The energy and passion is hard to miss both on the stage and on the recordings and these four singles are no exception. So let’s dive in.
The first single off of this album, Grape was released on January 17th, 2022 & features Ashtin Perry, the vocalist of another local favorite of mine, Murder Capital. The song starts off strong with a newer yet classic Prinport sound of melodic guitar and there’s no denying the familiar voice of Ashtin Perry. This song is a nice combination of melodic notes and heavy hits making it an excellent choice to keep fans wanting more.
Exclusive
The next three singles to be released in the upcoming months deliver us more of what we love about these guys. They’re catchy and unique; you can’t help but jam along to them and when the time comes for us to safely enjoy shows again I know the crowd will eat it all up(no pun intended on the track titles). To whet our appetites the boys have provided us with some previews of their next three singles exclusive for Hidden Beats’ readers linked below, including my personal favorite Apple.
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