From left to right: Milla Merlini, Charlee Berlin, Sasha A’Hearn and Tuesday Denekas
Alex Tchoukhrova
It’s tempting to call The Inflorescence an overnight sensation. In their estimation, they’ve been together “a long time,” having formed the band when some of them were just 12 years old. But between classes, college applications, after-school jobs, and just the myriad activities and indignities that come with being a San Diego teenager, it really feels like “forever ago” when the quartet first started playing together, as singer-guitarist Tuesday Denekas puts it.
“We’ve evolved so much as players since then,” Denekas adds. “I don’t think we would be getting the same amount of attention if we were still, like, the same level as we were when we first started.” This is an astute point considering fellow singer-guitarist Charlee Berlin didn’t even know how to play guitar before they formed the band, with bassist Sasha A’Hearn and drummer Milla Merlini.
Over the last few months, however, The Inflorescence has taken off. They’re packing local clubs like The Casbah and, in that time, the four self-described “alternative girls and non-binary people” in the band found time to not only record their debut album, but also get signed to one of the most iconic indie labels of all time (Portland-based Kill Rock Stars). Known for breaking big names such as The Decemberists, Bikini Kill, and Elliott Smith, the label saw something special in the sounds coming from the local band; a clever mix of pop, punk, and power balladry.
That recently released debut, Remember What I Look Like, already has enough buzz that the band will soon be heading out on tour for the summer. “Listening to the album all the way through for the first time was very emotional for me,” says Denekas. “It was like, whoa, we did the thing.” But the band still finds time to be teenagers. “Two of us are still in school and we do rehearsals after school, and we gossip for like 30 minutes,” says Berlin. “We literally just sit at the table and gossip, and then finally we’re like, okay, we need to actually rehearse.”
