Meet Pushing Pluto

Today we’d like to introduce you to Pushing Pluto.

Please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
The band Pushing Pluto was formed by Nick Tangen (lead vocals/rhythm guitar) in late 2015. There had been a rotating door of musicians up until 2019. Austin Johnson (current drummer) joined the band as a bassist through the recommendation of a previous drummer, Donnie. Later in 2019, Connor Lafferty (lead guitarist) joined the band after meeting Pushing Pluto at a house show.

Shortly after, Donnie left the band and Austin transitioned into the role of drummer. We met our final member, Adrian D Thomas (bassist), in 2020. Adrian had responded to a Facebook ad we put out, and the rest is history. Now that we have a full band, we’ve been writing new music, learning many covers and playing all over the valley.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It has not been a smooth road! Playing in a band is extremely hard because it is very difficult to find committed musicians that won’t flake out on you. Every time someone quits, you have to pretty much start all over again, and we’ve had a lot of different musicians quit over the years. Not until recently did the band find a steady group of musicians that are committed, and that is why we are finally getting some forward momentum.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar, what can you tell them about what you do?
Pushing Pluto is a band that plays original music and a wide variety of covers ranging from the 60’s, 70’s. 80.s, 90’s and early 2000’s. What sets us apart from many other local artists is our original music, and that is what we are most proud of. When I originally formed the band, I didn’t want to peg ourselves into one specific genre. Music has endless possibilities, and I wanted to explore it to wherever it brought me. A person can hear that when they listen to our original music – we play what sounds good to us, and that’s pretty much it.

Is there any advice you’d like to share with our readers who might just be starting out?
My only advice is that things don’t always happen right away, so don’t be discouraged and give up. Learn a lot of covers because it makes it much easier to get paying gigs, and then sprinkle your originals in-between. Don’t be afraid of saying no to gigs that aren’t going to benefit your band as well. These are all things that I wish I had known before starting out.

Contact Info:

• Email: pushingpluto@gmail.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pushingpluto/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pushingpluto
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCicJa8Qy0T5lBQBrx_-_4zQ
• SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/pushingpluto

Image Credits
Photos of us credit to Daryck Beam “cyberg_productions” Logo’s and design “pushing pluto”