A drummer recruits another drummer through Craigslist to be a part of her band: it sounds like the start of a terrible drummer joke, but it’s actually the beginning of the Please Please Me. Jessie Torrisi moved from Philadelphia to the New York to become a musician, but she got tired staying behind the kit for a procession of go-nowhere local bands. Having secretly amassed a collection of songs on her own, Torrisi decided to relocate to Austin, and she started playing on her own with just a guitar and her voice.
But the solo route didn’t sit well either. A Craigslist ad turned up a fellow musician with a remarkably similar background: Agustin Frederic was also an accomplished drummer who had recently moved from New York to Austin. Torrisi quickly hired Frederic for a hectic tour, and something just clicked between the two of them. The duo then convinced another local musician, cellist/vocalist Alissa McClure, to quit her job and join forces as the Please Please Me. “So much of the time since then has been figuring how it all works — how the pieces fit together — with having rhythm being at the core of everything,” says Torrisi.
Since 2012, the band has logged 50,000 miles spread across ten tours, using the live setting to fine-tune their musical alchemy. They raised nearly $13,000 via Kickstarter to fund a new EP, Shake A Little Harder, the release of which the Please Please Me are celebrating tonight at Stubb’s Jr. Recorded and produced by CJ Eiriksson–whose diverse credits include U2 and Bob Schneider–the EP show’s off the band’s rhythm-centric approach, especially on the ebullient single “All Danced Out.”
