Review Fix Exclusive: Sketchy Trench’s Ralphie Trench Talks ‘FISH’ EP And More

Review Fix chats with Sketchy Trench’s Ralphie Trench, who discusses the band’s new EP, “FISH,” as well as the band’s origin and goals for the future.

Sketchy Trench is:

Ralphie Trench:  Vocals/Guitar (& the one answering these questions)
Sexy J:  Backing Vocals/Lead Guitar
Sketchy T:  Bass/Headbanging
Chia:  Beatin’ Skins & Wigglin’ Shins

Review Fix: How did the band get together?

Ralphie Trench: J and I were in a band together like 15 years ago, then recently we both ended up in San Antonio, so we decided to start something up again.  Early last year, once we had some songs written, we put out a demo and found T and eventually Chia.  We started playing shows in April ’17 with some mixed line-ups for a month or so, until we ended up with the current line-up.  (Shout out to Executioner for letting me steal their bass player, and to Paul Bouffard for sending me like a dozen drummers, including the right one.)

Review Fix: How did you get started in music?

Trench: My dad was a musician, so instead of enrolling me in sports or whatever, he was always buying me drum sets and guitars.  Been playing since I was 10 or 12, I guess.  The rest of the band is the same, been playing music since we were young.

Review Fix: What’s your creative process like?

Trench: Usually just start with riffs; melodies and harmonies that pop into your head, or something cool you come across while messing around with an instrument.  Lyrics are kinda secondary.  The focus so far has been on keeping the music interesting and trying to avoid too much repetition.  Then once we have a basic structure, we play it different ways until we like it.

Review Fix: What’s your standout song on the current album? How was it written?

Trench: The band seems to agree that “Plate” is the best song on the album.  Maybe because it has a lot going on? and there is a bit of everything in there? (fast parts, slow parts, dual vocals, every instrument has some highlighted moments, etc…).  The song is actually one of the first ones we wrote, although it has changed dramatically.  Once we decide to record something, we spend a week or two tearing it apart and putting it back together, trying to come up with our favorite version of it.

All that being said, if any song is gonna stand out at all, it might be the song “Skirt” because it’s gonna be on the next BVI Records comp (thanks, Rich!).  And we made a video for it:

https://www.facebook.com/sketchytrench/videos/1495993220477905

Review Fix: What did you learn from this last album? How did it affect your future?

Trench: One thing we learned for sure is how much of a badass Tommy Munter is over at Matador Studios here in S.A.  Honestly, we’re proud of our songs, but Tommy made the E.P. sound as good as it does.  We’re already scheduling our next sesh with him, so that’s one way it affected the future.  But another way is that every time we record, I always listen to the final product and find things I wish I would have done differently, or things I would have liked to add or remove.  So hopefully the next time, I’ll just be a little more prepared, more critical, more patient.

Review Fix: What are your goals for 2018?

Trench: #1 goal is always play shows.  That’s all I ever really wanna do.  But we also have plans to record some splits, one with a rad S.A. punk band called Lemmings, and another with a killer S.A. thrash band called Violent Practice.  Hopefully we’ll hit up SXSW in March.  Then closer to summer we are planning to tour with San Antonio’s punk rock heavy hitters Knockin’ Chucks and Destroy Orbison.  After that we plan to start a new album.  And then throughout the year, we’ll sprinkle in a few music videos here and there.

Review Fix: How would you describe your sound to someone who’s never heard you?

Trench: Musicality in a two-minute punk song.  Everything loud, everything fast.

Review Fix: How do you want your music to affect people?

Trench: Hopefully it makes them wanna skate, or start their own band, or come see us live.  Or at the very least, bang their heads for a second.

Review Fix: Why is this new album special?

Trench: It’s not, I guess, in the grand scheme of things.  But we love it.  I gotta say tho, the artwork definitely is special – shout out to Evil Dave!

If you wanna hear how not-special it is for yourself, the album is on Spotify, Google Play, iTunes, YouTube and a bunch of other streaming sites.

Review Fix: What’s next?

Trench: We’re about to tour for a week and a half with our buddies Sonic Ammunition, (kick-ass S.A. street punk band).  We’re gonna take the homie D’ante Speed with us, of Mach Speed Productions, to film the whole thing, so when we get back, we’ll have some legit documentation.

Review Fix: Anything else you’d like to add?

Trench: Thank you to our girlfriends, wives and families for taking all the neglect. Sorry.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 13819 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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