Taking a beat with Nick Aguilar of Frankie and the Witch Fingers

Wondering what's so witchy about Frankie and the Witch Fingers? Perhaps it's bassist's Nicole Smith's, aka Nikki Pickle, ever-changing vibrant hair colors. Or perhaps the enchanting voice of Dylan Sizemore paired with effortless guitar by Josh Menashe. Or is it drummer's Nick Aguilar's vinyl collection that leaves you wondering how there are that many even in existence?

It might be a mix of the aforementioned. But I think the real answer lies in their sound and the inability to not groove along to their songs. With punchy, electric bass lines and bright power chords, it's hard not to become hypnotized by the energy of their music.

The drummer, Nick Aguilar was kind enough to make time for an interview in between his busy tour schedule and vinyl collecting.

At the time, the band was getting ready for their show Andy's Bar in Denton, Texas.

I like Texas. I like playing shows here. I've never really played a bad one here per se, so I'm a fan.

Despite liking Texas, I ask if there's a tour date he is most excited for.

Definitely Atlanta, Georgia. We're playing at this place called The Earl, which is definitely one of my favorite places to play ever. I played there a few years ago and just good people, good hospitality, good vibes, as corny as that sounds.

I mean, what more does one need?

Though Frankie and the Witch Fingers was originally formed in 2013, Nick joined recently in January of 2022.

I wasn't really looking to join another band or anything. I was somewhat busy with a couple other projects, but in December of 2021, Dylan reached out to me and said that they were looking for a new drummer to, you know, write and tour with. We met up once and we got along really well.

After we jammed and hung out for a little bit, I drove home and as soon as I got home, I got a text message from Dylan that said, 'Thanks, uh, we'd love to have you if you're down.' I was like, cool.

L-R: Josh Menashe, Dylan Sizemore, Nicole Smith, Nick Aguilar

So that was, that was pretty much it. We started rehearsing heavy and writing new material, like at the beginning of January of 2022. That's really when it all started, that's when I really started writing with the band and going over old material. It's definitely been a ride.

Before joining the group, Aguilar was a part of Slaughterhouse band. I inquired about balancing both groups.

To be honest, most of my time has been dedicated to Frankie, but I'm not upset at it. It's nice to put all of my creative force into one project, and for better, for worse, I kind of have to because we've been so busy on the road. Yeah. You know, as much as I wanna put a lot of creative energy into Slaughterhouse, I just haven't really had a lot of time and, you know, it bums me out and it bums them out, but they do understand. In a way, I feel like I'm at a bit of a crossroads right now, but I dunno, I'm happy with what I'm doing . I feel like being in Frankie has been nothing short of exciting, but a lot of hard work. We're a touring band, I think we've played played close to almost 65 shows this year so far, and probably gonna be close to like 80 by the end of the year.

Despite having so many to pick from, Aguilar shared his favorite show with Frankie and the Witch Fingers thus far.

I wanna say a highlight for me was, uh, playing this festival in Europe. Well, it wasn't even a festival, it was like a show that was like put on by Volcom and it was like a skateboarding event slash exhibit.I thought it was gonna be kinda a show where it's like, okay, nobody wants to see music here, they all just wanna like, you know, drink beer and look around and look at art. They don't wanna see a rock band. By the time we went on, this place was filled, and it was the gnarliest show I think we've ever played as far as like so many crowd surfers and so many people moshing and screaming. For us it was, it was kind of insane. That was one of my favorite shows. There's been others. I mean, Desert Daze, that felt really cool to be playing a such a big festival on such a stacked lineup. That was a highlight. You know, honestly, out of every show there is, I could probably count on one hand, shows that have been like bad or a bummer. Considering that we've played close to 65 shows this year, and I would say only four have been genuinely bad. That's like, what? That's like an A minus B plus, isn't it?

Speaking of favorites, after much contemplation, Aguilar shared his favorite song to perform live.

I wanna answer this right. Probably Tea. Like, I, I love playing a lot of our songs. But Tea is probably my favorite just because it's like such a punker and such a mosher and, you know, I grew up a punk drummer and punk music is what got me into touring in bands in general and everything. I usually like to end with that song too, because it's such an epic closer too. Something that gets the kids sweating the most too.

I'm all about movement. Whether I make people dance ,or make people mosh, or jump up and down, like that's the way I like to feel validated when I'm playing music for somebody.

The psychedelic rock band seemingly derives inspiration from iconic bands of earlier decades. Aguilar expanded on his favorite artists of the era and how they influence their current music.

Oh, man. Personally as a drummer, definitely like the early Captain Beef Heart stuff. I would definitely say that I love the Jimi Hendrix experience just as much now as I do back then. I know they're not psychedelic rock, really, but I mean, on the verge of being heavy, and psychedelic moments, Black Sabbath is probably my all time favorite band who I liked just as much now as I did when I was 12 years old. Gotta think about it. Contrary to popular belief, I wouldn't say that we even really listen to too much psych these days, in our, in our personal times. I mean, I'm always listening to Can, that's for sure. I think that's a big band that we all very much love about the same. They're kind of just like the best band ever when it comes to improv and the way they blended rock and roll with funk and jazz and that's what we like to do, you know? So I think they will always be an influence on us. I think that's the ultimate like psychedelic rock band from that, from that time who we still very, very, very much love collectively and me on a personal level.

Through all the glorious moshes and crowd surfing, there is always a moment of embarrassment to balance it out.

Oh, geez. On the spot, I feel like an idiot. Let's think about this for second. Sorry. If you don't mind I wanna actually think about this. Okay, I'll tell you right now. This wasn't really more embarrassing. This was more like, Wow, Nick, you're an idiot. We were playing a show in London a couple months ago and we were opening for Ty Segall, so it was a really big show and we only had a 30 minute set and it was like, you know, we had a lot to prove in 30 minutes. And my floor tom just was fucking with me for like, half the set and it kept falling down and I felt like I wasn't playing at their absolute finest because I was limited by my floor tom. I just beat myself up so much after the set because of that. And I don't really think anyone noticed too much or even cared considering we were opening and we only played for 30 minutes, which was about like six songs. I felt like I blew it and I cried after.I felt like an idiot. My bandmates had to like say like 'Dude, you're fine.' Our guy who was tour managing us at the time gave me a nice pep talk after, which was nice. I think as I play more shows and everything, I just really gotta go in a mindset where if something like that happens, get mad at the things that you can control, not the things you can't control. You know what I mean?

Mad you haven't seen Frankie and the Witch Fingers yet? Well, don't be, because it is in your control now to go see them as they're currently on tour. I highly recommend putting on some comfy moshing shoes, grabbing your ear plugs, and getting to a show because the energy is unreal- I for one will be definitely be seeing them again for their San Diego performance.

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