Sick Pigeon is an original punk band formed in 2015 and rooted in San Francisco’s Tenderloin district. They have released two albums, with their self-titled release in late 2016 and the follow up “Street Diet” in 2019. Sick Pigeon was built on friendship, frustration, and an undying love for punk music.
It could be said that Sick Pigeon is what happens when you mix an Ecuadorian street punk with a giant heart, a Bay Area native born & bred on California punk, a Midwesterner with a passion for classic punk and an Italian who’s a gypsy at heart. In Sick Pigeon, they are blending their influences, defying genres and trends, simply doing whatever feels and sounds good to them, with elements of cumbia, reggae and ska taking the forefront at times. A 4-piece band at it’s core, Sick Pigeon often adds a horn section for it’s high-energy live sets. On their new record “Street Diet”, the band explores the message of unity and universal brotherhood in the first single “Oye Mi Hermano” and the perspective of an immigrant in "Todo Somos Inmigrantes". |
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EXpanded Bio
Sick Pigeon started modestly as an outlet for bassist Jack Kertzman and former drummer Nathan Winter to write and record punk songs. Being lifelong punk fans and recording engineers, the project allowed them to make music that didn’t necessarily require the tedious polishing and production of typical engineering work. These late night sessions, fueled by cheap beer, are responsible for the raw punk sound of the self-titled album in 2016.
The band wasn’t Sick Pigeon until David Saenz jumped on board early on in the process of writing the first record. “We saw David at like 4am during an open jam just screaming his ass off and owning the stage and thought, ‘Yeah, that’s our vocalist’,” said Winter. Saenz would become a major influence on the musical direction of the band, bringing latin influences and other world-music influences.
The band went through some major shifts in 2017, as Winter moved across the country just as the group was putting together the lineup for live shows. “David and I were both doing some sound gigs at Thee Parkside and going to a lot of punk shows there and that’s where we found Fede,” Kertzman said. Federico Tezzon was a natural fit at guitar and backing vocals. He became the major songwriter for Sick Pigeon’s second record “Street Diet.”
A long-time former bandmate of Tezzon, Darren Bunting rounded the group out on drums and this became the core lineup for the band since 2017. “I used to play with Darren in a band in the early 2000s and we basically lost contact for 15 years. I remembered he was a bad ass drummer,” said Tezzon.
In 2018, Sick Pigeon flew to Ecuador to tour the homeland of singer David Saenz. The tour was a galvanizing and impactful experience that thoroughly cemented the latin influence on the band. “Going to Ecuador and playing for my people was fucking rad; especially in this time of division,” said Saenz of the tour.
Sick Pigeon has gone on to perform with the likes of Charger, American Steel, the Re-Volts, and many other Bay Area punk staples as well as international acts like Los Caligaris (Argentina) and Berri Txarrak (Basque). 2019’s “Street Diet” incorporates much of the energy and influence of the live sets. “It’s more polished than the first record and shows more of our influences,” says Bunting. Check out their music videos for “Oye Mi Hermano”, “It’s On Tonight”, and “Last Call”.
The band wasn’t Sick Pigeon until David Saenz jumped on board early on in the process of writing the first record. “We saw David at like 4am during an open jam just screaming his ass off and owning the stage and thought, ‘Yeah, that’s our vocalist’,” said Winter. Saenz would become a major influence on the musical direction of the band, bringing latin influences and other world-music influences.
The band went through some major shifts in 2017, as Winter moved across the country just as the group was putting together the lineup for live shows. “David and I were both doing some sound gigs at Thee Parkside and going to a lot of punk shows there and that’s where we found Fede,” Kertzman said. Federico Tezzon was a natural fit at guitar and backing vocals. He became the major songwriter for Sick Pigeon’s second record “Street Diet.”
A long-time former bandmate of Tezzon, Darren Bunting rounded the group out on drums and this became the core lineup for the band since 2017. “I used to play with Darren in a band in the early 2000s and we basically lost contact for 15 years. I remembered he was a bad ass drummer,” said Tezzon.
In 2018, Sick Pigeon flew to Ecuador to tour the homeland of singer David Saenz. The tour was a galvanizing and impactful experience that thoroughly cemented the latin influence on the band. “Going to Ecuador and playing for my people was fucking rad; especially in this time of division,” said Saenz of the tour.
Sick Pigeon has gone on to perform with the likes of Charger, American Steel, the Re-Volts, and many other Bay Area punk staples as well as international acts like Los Caligaris (Argentina) and Berri Txarrak (Basque). 2019’s “Street Diet” incorporates much of the energy and influence of the live sets. “It’s more polished than the first record and shows more of our influences,” says Bunting. Check out their music videos for “Oye Mi Hermano”, “It’s On Tonight”, and “Last Call”.