We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Donny Beck a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Donny, thanks for joining us today. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?
Thinking back, I don’t think there was ever a time when I didn’t want to be a musician. I can remember being 5 years old singing The Beatles and Bob Marley stuffed in the backseat of my parent’s vehicles amongst my many siblings but from their accounts this started much earlier, when I was around 2 years old. I felt more at peace most times to check out from conversation and meticulously pick apart and mimic the vocal melodies and instrumentation. Those were my first experiences with flow state and a feeling of release from inner turmoils and stresses and something I knew I had to pursue further.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
Nice to meet you! My name is Donny, and I sing and play guitar in a North Lake Tahoe based band called “Pipe Down”. On top of writing and performing our songs with my bandmates, I manage aspects of the band’s administrative side including Merch, Booking, & Social Media. I’m completely self taught and have no classical training or schooling in music or the business side of it but I feel fortunate to live in a time where connections are easy to make and any knowledge on any subject is a click away. Huge shoutout to my bandmates Scott Rescigno & Dave Pickford for their hard work and support also though, I’d be nowhere without them. We’ve been through a lot together and through it all they maintain the vision and I wouldn’t trade their friendship and brotherhood for the world.
Since the group was formed in 2021 we’ve amassed over 150 performances focused primarily on local and west coast markets, helping us to become a tightly knit band and build
a rock solid fan base.
This drew the attention of major festival promoters and last summer we were invited to perform at the Lake Tahoe Reggae Fest and live out our dream of playing in front of thousands of people in our hometown; something we will never forget. Since then we haven’t slowed down one bit. We’ve been invited to perform at two other festivals this year (Rise and Vibes in NM, & High Desert Fest in Reno, NV) and will be supporting reggae legend Josh Heinrich’s on his Cali Smokeout Tour next week.
Our online music catalog is currently limited to our debut EP “Vagabond”. 4 songs were recorded at Imperial Sound Studio with EN Young and self released in early ‘23 and one was produced and recorded in house. However, we just wrapped up another session with EN and recorded 9 new songs that we are all incredibly proud of. We plan to release them as singles throughout the year culminating in our first full length album at the end of the year so make sure to give us a follow on Spotify & social media if you wanna follow along in our journey.
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
Like so many others, the pandemic hit me like a ton of bricks and completely up ended my life. Had it not happened however, I don’t know if I would’ve ever had the courage to plug my nose and jump fully into the life I’m living now and I’m so glad it did. At the time I was working as a market launcher for “Spin”; an electric scooter sharing startup based out of San Francisco, traveling around the country and establishing new markets for operation. As lockdowns forced the world inside scooters became curriers for the virus in the public’s eye and our expansion was halted. Leaving me and my colleagues adrift in a sea of furloughs.
So, I packed my bags, spent my savings on a cargo van which I converted into a rolling home and moved back to Tahoe. Once there, the band slowly snowballed and picked up members. Our guerilla style of performing anywhere and everywhere was a welcome reprieve from the lockdowns and Tahoe embraced us whole heartedly. I haven’t looked back.
Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?
“Jonathan Livingston Seagull” by Richard Bach
My dad gave me that book when I was 12 years old and it changed my entire perspective. The book is rooted heavily in Buddhist philosophies like reincarnation but the underlying message throughout is a push to step outside the norm or “the flock”. It follows the story of a young seagull in his search to master flight and avoid the trappings and squabbling of his peers and I can’t reccomend it highly enough. Only 50 pages or so but powerful stuff.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.pipedownofficial.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pipedownofficial?igsh=OGQ5ZDc2ODk2ZA%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pipedownofficial?mibextid=LQQJ4d
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Pipedownofficial
- Other: https://linktr.ee/pipedownofficial?utm_source=linktree_profile_share<sid=527b068a-9eb1-458c-a8c2-0cdd777892cb
Image Credits
All photos by: Kelly Walsh