Introducing Pinpoint: A Chicago artist with new music on the horizon

Photo Courtesy Pinpoint / Cover art for single "6308"

Mitchel Kelsey has been singing and playing music since they were a child; they grew up listening to their mom play guitar, and she taught them how to sing, as well. Mitchel, 24, started playing their music publicly at coffee houses, cafes and open-mic events, and they began performing under the name Pinpoint in 2017. In September, they got the opportunity to play a show at Subterranean, which they say was the coolest experience in their music career thus far.

Pinpoint's single "6308" was released on Sept. 10, 2018, and their full EP, "4AM Coffee," is set to be released sometime around February or March of next year. I got the chance to talk with Pinpoint's Mitchel Kelsey about their music, who they are and what they expect for the future.

What's your process for writing music?

For some songs, I've literally sat on a lyric—and not necessarily a pivotal lyric—for over a month before I figured out what came with it. For other songs, I manage to sit down and write within a span of five hours. Like five hours and a short nap somewhere in there.

It seems like a main theme in your new single is anxiety and depression—would you say that's something that defines a lot of your music?

Yeah, kind of. Music itself is a very emotional outlet for me; it's something I feel like a lot of people can relate to, so I figured I'd have more songs out like that.

Do you feel your music represents you well?

I think it represents a part of me well. But at the same time, something I've been trying to work on is branching out into different styles of music because this only shows like one part of myself, and there's a lot more to me, I hope—there's a lot more to me than just being sad.

How do you feel people have responded to your music so far?

I get a lot of people who tell me like, "Oh, I related to this," or "I was in something similar to that." And that's pretty much what I was going for. I feel like music is one of those things that really kind of can give you a form of syndication or give you a feeling of solidarity, like, "Oh shit, this person has been through something similar," and that's pretty much what I go for when I play.

Who did you play with at Subt/who have you played with?

There's a band up in Milwaukee called Telethon, and I've played a show here and there with them; they're really fucking cool. For a lot of shows, I've played with bands that have also been starting up—local bands. I've managed to create like a really fun, little network of musician friends that way. That's probably the best thing to come out of all of this.

What keeps you going with this and pursing music?

It's one of those things I've just always been obsessed with in a way; it's just the idea that I don't want to let little kid me down.

Follow Pinpoint on Facebook to keep up with upcoming shows and updates on their upcoming EP, "4AM Coffee." Listen to "6308" on YouTube, as well as on all other major streaming platforms, and try to catch them at their next show!