Pines of Nowhere was originally started by founding member Jonathan Kreinik (aka JK) as a musical project for his solo material consisting of tapes, drum machines, voice, guitar, and other effects. The band name was the result of JK and longtime friend J. Marinelli (Samuel, Glendale, Les Trois Malheures) aimlessly driving around the D.C. area and noticing how there seemed to be a “Pines of _____” restaurant named after every city and town in Italy. Pines of Nowhere eventually evolved into a full fledged Washington D.C. band that existed from 1999-2002 and the evolution goes something like this…
Stevie Treichel had been playing drums in the band Les Trois Malheures before they broke up. Around the same time Sebastian Thomson was playing drums in electronic/post-rock band Trans Am and JK was their sound engineer. According to Stevie they all met at the Galaxy Hut, after Sebastian had been on the receiving end of a bad haircut, to talk about turning Pines of Nowhere into an actual band. Seb wanted to play bass for a change, Stevie was available, and Jonathan was getting tired of playing solo.
This first lineup of JK (guitar, vocals), Stevie (drums), and Seb (bass) recorded a full length album at Trans Am’s National Recording Studio (NRS) which was released on CD by Slowdime Records in 2000. The band did some short trips back and forth to Chicago as well as up and down the East Coast before Stevie left the band. He was replaced on drums by Chris Turco (Kukim, Oswego).
The new lineup recorded a 7” for Level Plane Records in 2001. They also returned to NRS and recorded a second full-length album which was never released. The band toured the US with Trans Am, Oneida, The Fucking Champs, !!!/Chk Chk Chk, Burning Airlines, and even attempted to play one show as a 4-piece with Burleigh Seaver (The Ruby Dare, Shivers) on 2nd guitar, though JK’s amp blew up. The band played one more show as a 3-piece before breaking up in 2002.
Solid Brass is excited to help bring their catalog to streaming platforms for old fans to enjoy and new fans to discover. Follow @pines_of_nowhere on Instagram and stay tuned for updates.
