By: Maya Barillas Mohan, Staff Writer
I have seen the band In Pieces live several times and can confirm: they know what they’re doing. Their sets are high energy and their members glow with the stagelights. The up-and-coming Vancouver rock band is fairly new to the scene, but they’ve already played at venues like The Rickshaw, and have their first album set to release this fall.
“Everyone has this dream of the rock star stuff, but that’s not the case for me. I [would say I] made it if I can make a living doing what I love in many different ways.”
— Paco Estrada, Founder and Guitarist of In Pieces
Founder and guitarist Paco Estrada sat down with The Peak to talk about building a career in music. “Everyone has this dream of the rock star stuff,” he began. “But that’s not the case for me. I [would say I] made it if I can make a living doing what I love in many different ways.” On top of working full-time at his day job, Estrada works on music until “two, three in the morning.” He mixes and writes for other bands, has projects with other singers, takes responsibility for his own band’s social media and emails, and of course, practices his solos late into the night. “How do you have the time for all of this?” I asked Estrada. “It’s my baby, for real,” he replied.
This ambitious work ethic is nothing new for Estrada. At just 12 years old, he started taking music seriously, practicing six hours a day. After graduating high school, he completed a music technology diploma at Douglas College to learn production and mixing. From there, Estrada worked in a variety of small bands. In Pieces is special; all five musicians are dedicated to the success of their band. Guitarist Caleb Liu expressed that “Paco certainly set a precedent and dedication, to which the rest of us have ascended.” Liu was a SFU student balancing a demanding job, classes, and playing shows every few weeks. “It’s about making time, not finding it,” Liu told The Peak.
Striving for success means adapting to (and also benefitting from) contemporary marketing. “The internet has done wonders for music,” Estrada said. “Back in the ‘80s, you had to get a record deal. You only really had one avenue to make it.” Now, internet algorithms allow independent artists to put themselves out there and make a career. His favourite part of performing is connecting with as many people as he can, and being able to share a piece of himself with the world that is otherwise difficult — a love for sharing his work is what drives him to put real effort into putting his band out there. While new to TikTok, Estrada finds it to be a valuable tool for outreach. “Making sure we have engaging videos is huge,” and luckily, the necessity of social media marketing doesn’t change the vision of what In Pieces is trying to create. Drawing on inspirational rock/alternative band Sleep Token’s strategies, Paco explained that posting is “useful in our niche; social media helps world-build around our work and make it bigger than just a couple pieces of music.”
Concluding our interview, Estrada wishes that readers “stay tuned” for new releases from his band.
Their next show will be at The Fox Cabaret on August 28.
