Denizens and fans of the DIY pop underground alike rejoice — as a rising trio of light has cast their beam of brilliance from the subterranean landscape of Sacramento. While Los Angeles and the Bay Area often garner a wealth of press and attention from the worldwide masses and ecstatic journos, the San Joaquin Valley spanning to Central California has provided the world with influences and underdogs that continue to inform the biggest names in nearly every emergent style, trope and trend imaginable. Consider luminaries like Death Grips, Pavement, Craft Spells and so forth, providing the groundwork and blueprints that are incorporated into countless artistic entities and works sewn and curated by innumerable creatives past, present and future. These are the visionaries who concern themselves not with the pretensions of genre and conventional constructs but seek to fashion new paradigms to aspire toward and exist within. The primitive painters that establish new building blocks of new institutions and artifices to create newer artifices, facets and functions of the artistic fabrics, tissues and textiles that will be talked about, written about and pontificated about for aeons, decades and centuries to follow. The world is all but lost, a new world is being reimagined and restored like never before, new terroir established, created and founded by today’s aesthetes and auteurs. For hope in the arts and humanities of today and tomorrow we proudly present Sacramento’s artists of promise and prestige — Fitting.

The culmination of veteran independent pop talents Eli Wengrin, Greta Soos and Phil Barkel; Fitting gives us their debut EP Minutes courtesy of DIY imprint Research Chemical. The three piece explodes the minutiae of the moment, the temporality of time, forging the facets of fleeting seconds that make up the hours and measurements that comprise the days, nights, weeks, months and years that can fly by us faster than we can consciously acknowledge. Fitting makes music to find the meaning behind the otherwise menial, perfunctory and procedural actions of which we pay little to no mind that are a part of our day to day. Fitting gives the world something we can feel, embracing the shadow play and gestalt of all the moving parts that are acting and operating beneath the surface when we are just going through the motions.

Minutes takes on the templates and itineraries and other assorted super structures that occupy and clutter the calendars of human existence. "Prepped Header" challenges the predetermined and self-fulfilling prophecies of log books and office grunt work for something of a deeper meaning. Phil, Greta and Eli rage against the machines that dictate the diagrams and forms our worlds can become consumed by, ferociously focusing on something that is more than skin deep beneath the surface of tedious schedules and outdated doctrines. The glimmering glow of "Convenience Trough" wades through the water closets and forbidden bodega bathroom stalls with mathematical chord calculations that dovetail neatly into the catering table spread smash and grab of "Craft Services". An ode to the obsolence of the weekend warrior rings out on "Sunday Driver" in modern rock tones that seek to get away from it all to a point of respite that blazes through the fanned flames of unrelenting praxis. Perspectives on coping and keeping on task with deliverables (and the desire for professional assistance) roar with the high rise tidal wave tones of "Four Month Glance", right before leaving us with the nostalgic tinged "Freebie of 1989" that showcases the sincere trademark touches of Fitting's ability to balance and blend endearing harmonies and spoken poetics. Minutes proves Fitting to be one of the most exciting things happening in the greater Sacramento area right now, a group that is developing their own sound and style devoted to questioning the hows and whys behind the performative acts we act at a time when every construct that we have ever known is in a major state of change.

Join us now for an exclusive roundtable discussion with Fitting’s own DIY vets Greta Soos, Phil Barkel and Eli Wengrin:

Reflections on how the three of you banded together to form Fitting.

Eli: I hadn’t really been playing music or going to shows much prior to forming the band with Phil and Greta. Phil hit me up to jam last summer and it seemed like a cool opportunity to get back into the mix. It’s been a lot of fun so far.

Phil: My previous band, Yawzea, played its first show in October 2017 in a Davis basement on a bill that Greta also happened to be playing. Not long after that show, Greta joined one of my all time favorite Sacramento bands, Boy Romeo. Through Boy Romeo I became more familiar with Greta and got to know John Steiner, Boy Romeo himself. John and Eli grew up together in Stockton and John introduced us at karaoke one night.

After the quarantine was lifted, I had several songs written that felt out of place with my other project. I had spoken with Greta about playing together previously and I knew Eli was a talent on the strings. After a few texts were exchanged, we set up a time to meet in July 2021. From there, we arrived here.

Lessons and wisdom gleaned from the isolating world collapse of the pandemic.

Phil: It is not profound, but putting more effort into physical exercise felt significant in the quarantine. If I hadn’t, I’m sure my mental state would’ve deteriorated quickly. Like many people in the early months, I let a lot of time go; indulging in the usual pastimes, drinking and general consumption. There were other factors that dragged those days down, but finding a routine to get some physical exercise helped put my mind in a more sustainable and proactive place. I still indulge but with balance.

Notes on the creative processes at work in Fitting and how the art of song craft works between you all.

Greta: In terms of songwriting, Phil will bring a general song idea and structure with a million cool parts. Some writers are really attached to their ideas or come with a fully written song and want things a certain way, but Phil is always really open to collaboration and new ideas from Eli and I. It makes the band really engaging for all of us and makes songwriting fun and challenging.

Eli: As far as bass goes I usually roll with the first idea that I come up with. Phil and Greta will let me know if something sounds weird and I’ll revise accordingly. The feedback is super helpful. It’s always cool when a song idea that Phil brings in comes together with the full band. Vocals usually come in later or after the arrangement is ironed out.

Phil: The songs on this EP started to take shape in early summer, 2021. The process is not that different from project to project for me. I usually start writing on guitar by finding two or three notes of a melody, then finding a favorable route between them or from them. There is a lot of trial and error developing chord structures around the first melody. Often, I will replace single notes of that melody with a harmonized chord and try to find a new melody I can carry over the chord. I’ll record a bit of each new song on my phone and send it to Greta and Eli for feedback. We all ruminate on those recordings and experiment further when we get together. One of the strengths this group has fostered is an openness to constructive criticism. Rarely does any effort prove fruitless, which definitely helps maintain the motivation.

Thoughts on how the notion of time factored heavily in the inception and execution of the new Minutes EP.

Phil: Before the pandemic, I started to let this idea fester in my head that I was aging out of the proper time frame to pursue frivolous goals like writing and performing music. I always wanted to do more but the demands on my time outside of music seemed to be growing constantly. Once most demands were temporarily shelved in 2020; I realized how anxiety-ridden I was in my job and how stressed I was with these compulsions to be at a certain place at a certain time in life. With help from my friends; I was able to start over, recognize what I really wanted and how I needed no more than what I already had. Anyway, Minutes was a reference to notes taken at a meeting.

Meditations on assorted aesthetics and conceptual constructs that you all strive for and work with in your sounds, sentiments and visions.

Greta: For the drums, dynamics are pretty big for me. Not just in terms of volume, but with each beat and transition. I’m a big cymbal girl. Cymbals are my favorite medium of expressing dynamic, as I really think they’re the most dynamic and flexible part of the kit. You can get so many types of sounds and feelings from them. It’s a part of the kit I’m constantly working on personally and I hope it comes out for folks in the EP a bit.

Eli: Not sure if the band has a specific aesthetic or sound just yet. For now it’s eclectic, which I appreciate. We’ve had a hard time describing the band. You’ve just gotta see it to believe it.

Phil: The idea for this project, when I began writing the songs, was to use more traditional song structures while still testing those borders. I wanted to write songs that had a more consistent pace than previous work. We’ve definitely accepted that the structures probably won’t fit any traditional blueprint and sometimes the songs need a little breathing room.

Projections on the future of DIY pop art culture cultivations.

Phil: The existence and lifespan of DIY venues has always been unpredictable. Between the struggle to cultivate a community that supports a space financially and a reputation to bring in great acts; it requires a lot of work to maintain. Keeping this in mind, it is clear the changes in Sacramento outside of the music community over the last decade, have made operating a small venue seem like a more and more temporary venture. Since 2019, Sacramento has lost a handful of small spaces that could be reliably booked. The rapid influx of money and people is changing the cultural face of the city but there are still plenty of unique qualities that persevere. Despite the losses, many people have stepped up and made their houses available for shows. Circumstances change, but no one is ruling out a future.

Further thoughts on the Sacramento and surrounding scenes and aesthetes, as there has always been such an influential and formidable underground series of sects of extreme interest and fascination.

Eli: The crew holding it down in Stockton right now is killing it. I grew up there and know first-hand how difficult organizing shows can be. Much respect to the individuals out there who continually go out of their way to put on sick shows for the community.

Phil: The history of loud, left-field bands fit my ambitions perfectly when I moved to Sacramento. That there is a consistent audience for it is baffling. I believe it is tied to a city-wide case of mild but constant dehydration.

The music community has, against the odds, remained healthy through the pandemic and the socioeconomic changes mentioned previously. I have a great appreciation for the many friends I have made in my time here. The pool of talent in Sacramento is deep and a constant source of inspiration.

Check out Winsome, Baseball Gregg, Dogs Barking, Mediocre Cafe, Plum Anderson, Bagel Pat, Meet Cute, Taylor Kohl, The Snares, Pilot Waves, Softie, Mired, Dog Dream, or Blous3; surely you’ll find another band sharing a bill with any one of them that will peak your interest. There are few wrong moves here as of right now.

Other artists and activists who have been a wellspring of inspiration and more.

Eli: I usually feel most stoked after seeing one of our friend’s bands play. There are too many to list but we’ve played with Winsome a few times who are absolute pop shredders and great people. Phil’s other band H Salt is really sick too. The drummer in that band, Eric Frankenstein, screen prints shirts for a ton of local bands [Fitting included] and is a badass artist as well. Those are just a few off the top of my head.

Phil: The list is long. I’ll keep it to musicians and bands. Lately, I’ve been revisiting Elliott Smith, which is always fun and lighthearted. Every album still feels fresh and I still take away new ideas with each listen. Minutes was inspired by a lot of current bands playing in a similar vein. I am not an island. I was listening to a lot of Stuck, Ovlov, Stove, Pet Fox, Landowner, Surface to Air Missive and Thirdface when writing the first songs. Reaching back further and broader I still regularly put on Blue Smiley, Kowloon Walled City, Sicbay, Purple Mountains, The Lemonheads, The Sound, Prefab Sprout, Townes Van Zandt, Guided by Voices, and Glen Campbell. I’m leaving out more than I’m including, some more important than what I mentioned above.

Hit up @datgrain on Instagram if you need any screen printing.

Notes on what you all discovered and learned over the process of making Minutes.

Eli: I’ve picked up a lot of musical ideas and techniques from Phil and Greta working on Minutes together. For example, I used to be anti-metronome prior to this band but they actually kind of kick ass and make you play better if you practice with them.

Phil: Before this project, I had never paid for studio time or gone through the process of working with an engineer to produce the record. I’m pretty frugal and generally have stuck to recording my projects myself. It was an awesome experience and took a lot of distractions out of the process. We worked with Jesse Nichols at Atomic Garden West in Oakland. He did great work on Minutes and we can't wait for everyone to hear the outcome. It helps ease the mind when you can take some of the recording responsibilities and put them in the hands of an expert. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Taylor Kohl. Taylor is helping consolidate and put out the best music Sacramento has to offer with his tape label Research Chemical. You can purchase Minutes on tape here.

Things you would want to tell your past selves pre-2020 that these past few years have taught you all.

Eli: Life’s a trip, enjoy the ride

Phil: Caramelize every onion.

Fitting’s debut EP Minutes will be available October 7 via Research Chemical.

Catch Fitting at their release show in San Francisco at Thee Parkside October 8 with Half Stack, Welcome Strawberry and Samson.