basically learned how to start a band online and so recently I was given an exercise to list all the things that made us unique as a band...basically what factors separate The Pleasant Uprising from every other pack of dreamers ever to take the stage at Locals' Bar n Grill this Thursday night at 7pm, cover just 5 bucks?

I mean shxt there's only 12 notes on this side of the planet...how unique can any band even be in 2026?

definitely a question worth answering...sure you could understand what we're going for here (like it or not) in about 5:10 of a show, but the fact is the vast majority of people in the musical marketplace have no idea who tf we are.

it is my sworn duty as ringleader to mitigate this issue to whatever extent possible.

...and so, first impressions first we have a fun look...this is pretty much the way I adorn myself on a daily basis (plus or minus a few ceremonial pieces) but people do like to look at cool stuff at "shows"...after all, do you go "listen to" a band or "see" a band?

of course, the music has to start at some point so one thing that stands out right away is the dual-vocalist setup, Zi and me...so there's some Linkin Park in there, some Evanescence, we definitely play off the fact that we have two distinct voices in the band. still we don't have to do the whole Fleetwood Mac thing, things are going pretty well between us atm.

one of us is a super plus singer, just casually one of the better human voices you will ever hear set to melody. her voice stops people in the street, makes them look up from their phones...it has the immediate "this is something special" factor, she'd definitely make it onto Televised Singing Competition if that's what she wanted.

it's actually kinda hard to even stand there next to her sometimes, her active talents being so instantly legible...or at least it would be if not for another of our signature attributes, swagger! 

I always carry more than enough for myself and plenty to share...the difference between me and the drunk girl at karaoke is mostly in stage presence and delivery.

I can only kinda sing--you don't have to be nice, we're comparing me with Prince and I know where I stand--but ZiZi can't spit hot fire like me so there chika chika mic drop.

as for the instrumentals, like a lot of club-level bands we do a mix of originals and covers...the genre blend is pretty eclectic, Paramore and Coolio living happily side by side in the setlist with our furious rhythmic rants and party jams. 

university-certified musician ZiZi has astutely identified the only real commonality as "funky basslines"--a plus rhythm section is an absolute must for this style, shout out to the Wolfpack--and as usual in this arena she is correct...you gotta figure there's a solid percentage of bands out there in which zero members have any understanding of music theory, at least here it's only me. 

really helps the whole freestyle flair thing stay on the rails when somebody definitively knows wtf they're talking about. still, rules should be more fence and less cage so Improvisation is also one of the band's strong points.

you can find some interesting stuff at the intersection between planning and playtime: "All the Things She Said" goes unreasonably hard for the meme it is, Val figured out it has the same chord structure as "Just the Two of Us"...or at least, he did once I started barking out the impromptu transition mid-song like a quarterback at the line of scrimmage last week, I was super proud of that lol.

you never know what's gonna happen when we're doing our thing...hell, I don't know half the time. for me chaos is like salt, just a little goes in everything!

EXPLOSIVENESS is something I wrote down too...is that not the "pop" you were looking for? love us, hate us, take us seriously or not, but TAKE THAT AND THAT AND THAT BOOMSHAKALAKA WOO-HAH!!!

you wanna ignore a band there's plenty in town to choose from.

speaking of which, our explicit leftist content also sets us apart...I'd rather have a smaller audience that truly believes in a better world than a packed stadium full of empty adulation. the fuck do I need a bunch of unaligned stalkers for?

people say stupid shxt like "oh we should keep politics out of the music maaaan" then get surprised when fash and phobes feel comfortable in their spaces.

nah mf, get out...I can pack you a knuckle sammich to go if you want but you gotta go right now baby boy. tell your bootlicker friends.

...but it ain't all mean mugs and street thugs, we are also silly af, that's important to the formula...it has never been more important to celebrate one's silliness.

so yeah, those pickup lines in "kisssssss?" yes most of them are mine and I would deserve to get lightly shot for actually using any of them in real life!

a Trump Shuffle in the middle of "dancin' on the grave?" what can I say, the guy is hilarious...would be even funnier in a box. 

robot voices when we pull out "Get Lucky?" it's part of the song, otherwise you're doing it wrong! what, you wanna piss off Daft Punk, send them into Battle Mode?

...but what truly makes us unique is the individuals who spend some of their only lives making the pleasant uprising everything it is, has been, and will become.

call and response segments are always fun (and a great way to test out new protest chants!)...not everybody does 'em, in fact one of the things I was disappointed to learn about RHCP is that they just kinda jukebox it out onstage...I'd actually be kinda sad.

so we damn sure do, and crowd participation is just one of the ways we connect to the human beings that choose to assemble with us...because above all our demonstrations are people practices, spaces for social experimentation...excuses to create community and check in with friends old, new, and unlockable. 

if you want a village, you gotta be a villager amirite?

more than anything what sets us apart is the humanity in and around us.

it ain't just a sign-off yall, some cute little phrase before you like share and subscribe...it is a guiding principle of the initiative, an acknowledgement that without the human beings that comprise and support this project, there is no project...and so, in defining what makes our band special, what will see it succeed or cause its demise, I leave you with it once more.

all power to The People.

--Flor!