Tickle Me Pink: “More Than Just a Name”

Tickle Me Pink have been called emo, pop-punk, punk, screamo, and everything in between, but the only genre tag that truly fits the Ft. Collins, Colorado based group is “ROCK.” Comprised of Sean Kennedy (lead vocals, guitar, bass), Johnny Schou (bass, guitar, backup vocals), Stefan Runstrom (drums), and Steven Beck (guitar, vocals) Tickle Me Pink have grown and nurtured a loyal following of fans in and around Denver, Colorado thanks, in large part, to the hundreds of emotion filled live shows played locally. With two independent EPs and a #1 song (“Typical”) at Denver’s KTCL under their belts, the band have just released Madeline, their Wind-Up Records debut.

Madeline marks, not only, the band’s debut Wind-Up release but it’s also their first release with an experienced producer in Lee Miles (The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus). “Lee Miles came into the picture while Puddle Of Mudd was recording at The Blasting Room (the studio Johnny was working at). He heard our demos and pretty much begged us to let him produce it. We were hesitant at first seeing as we’d never had a real producer before, but after a few weeks of pre-production in California and Colorado, it proved to be the greatest decision we could have made. Our previous albums had never been very focused or thought of as a collective whole, but with Madeline Lee really helped us define ourselves stylistically,” Runstrom explained.

Featuring lead single “Typical” and title track “Madeline,” a cautionary tale of substance abuse, documenting the death of the album’s namesake heroine, Madeline is a timeline of the band’s growth as both musicians and people. “Each track can be placed in a specific time or place. A lot of the songs on the record are incredibly personal… I think collectively we could all agree that “Madeline” holds the most significance to us.”

There will be a lot of firsts for Tickle Me Pink in the coming months, as the rest of the country takes notice of their addictive melodies and explosive vocals but for now the band is focused on the road and winning over fans one by one at each stop of the Finch and Scary Kids Scaring Kids tour. If local radio station KTCL (Denver) is any indicator of the band’s future then may just be poised to take over the world.

Article by: Melissa Goldberg