BULLSHARK is the project of Nashville-based songwriter Sissy Dinkle.
After nearly a decade of playing as a first-call bassist, she has finally
turned her attention to her own songwriting and creative process.
BULLSHARK takes inspiration from artists like Indigo de Souza, Mitski
and The Staves, with a very lyric-forward, heartfelt indie-rock sound that
will leave you in your feelings… but like, in a good way.
Check out the premiere of BULLSHARK’s debut single here:
Q&A with BULLSHARK
GIRL GANG MUSIC: Tell us a bit about the way you found music and what you’ve done since, let’s say, 2005?
BULLSHARK: I’ve always been in music since I was a little kid, my moms side of the family are all musicians so I definitely grew up learning music the way most kids learn to walk and talk. My journey since 2005, wow! I was in 8th grade back then so I mean I was in choir and band and stuff at school, but I always knew I wanted to do music full-time as a career. Fast forward to college I graduated with a BMus & MMus in music performance for bass and vocals, moved to Spain to get my masters degree for a year and a half, got asked to be the bass professor at a music school in Zaragoza, turned them down (it was a Christian school and I was kind of in the process of figuring out my beliefs at the time), typical of myself I had no “plan B” and ended up moving to Nashville on a whim in October of 2015 with a friend I had met at school in Spain!
Since being in Nashville I’ve definitely had my ups and downs with music but I always stuck with it – one thing about me is that I’m tenacious as fuck and if I want something I will work and work and work until I can make it happen for myself. So I grew my career as a bassist in town and I have been doing music full time as a work for hire bassist / background vocalist in some capacity or another since I moved here, but officially able to transition into full-time music as of 2021! During that time I was writing songs for myself as well but I definitely wasn’t putting in as much energy into that side of things as I was into my bass career until about 9-10 months ago when I finally found an artistic vision I connected with and decided to go full steam ahead with BULLSHARK.
GIRL GANG MUSIC: Love that you’ve refocused and we get to share some of your new music! How did the band come to fruition?
BULLSHARK: I’ve always used writing songs as a form of working through and identifying my emotions but it was usually more of a “for me” kind of thing, especially when I was younger I would get embarrassed by what I was feeling and didn’t want to show anyone. But since I’ve become more secure in myself as I’ve grown up it seemed more and more important to me to be able to share my feelings and experiences with people, especially having spent my entire career helping other artists bring their visions and emotions to life and witnessing the impact it made on them and so many other people.
The main issue I always faced in starting my own band was that I never really
had a clear vision of what I wanted to be or how I wanted to be perceived –
having spent so much time and energy being whatever an artist wanted me to be on their stage it felt a little daunting to decide on that for myself for the first time if that makes any sense haha But once I figured out what kind of sound I wanted and how I wanted to be presented it seemed like a floodgate opened up inside of me that couldn’t be stopped until this project existed outside of my head.
GIRL GANG MUSIC: How was the new project made? Who was involved, what was the experience like, what did you learn?
BULLSHARK: Like I said before, it was a little bit of a snowball effect getting this project started. It was sort of a combo of having friends show me bands over the past 5-6 years like Soccer Mommy, Snail Mail, Mitski, Palehound, Bully, Jay Som, Wednesday… that I really felt like there was a space for me already carved out. Like I had a community so to speak. In my bass playing I am more of an RnB, soul, groove, Motown type of player, which I LOVE, but it’s definitely not how I identify as a songwriter. So finding other female and queer fronted indie rock projects that I liked really helped me decide what kind of sound I wanted to have and give me a solid starting point to dive into figuring out a direction and purpose for this project.
I also really felt like I had an advantage having spent nearly the last decade in Nashville meeting other musicians and artists of all kinds to be able to be really intentional while building up the team of people I chose to be involved in this specific project. Justin Ulibarri (of Off to Sleep) has been an incredibly helpful resource in figuring out my tone and guitar pedals and gear over the last 4 years. He also recorded bass for this EP! Along with my recording/mixing engineer Matt Schumacher (of Pale Lungs & Lockstep), guitarist Taylor Wafford (of Blood Root) and drummer April Lee (currently MD for Becca Mancari) this record was seriously recorded by some heavy hitters. But more importantly than that, they are some of the kindest souls and supportive friends I could ever ask to be involved in this project and they have all made me feel incredibly loved and seen through this process.
As dumb as it sounds, it’s so scary to make music. This sentiment is something I
BULLSHARK
have had the privilege to support so many artists through during my career, but
I really had no idea how truly emotionally draining and like so scary it is to put
yourself out there like this.
One thing my favorite teacher in college would always say is showing someone your songs feels like “here’s my song… do you like me?” Being the kind of songwriter I am it literally feels like I’m standing on stage reading out of my diary in front of every single person I’ve ever met telling them all this stuff I feel or have felt regardless of it it’s going to hurt their feelings or change they way they view me and it’s terrifying. But at the end of the day, by choosing to love myself regardless of how others feel about me is the most empowering thing I can do. Even at this early stage in my bands existence, I have already had many folks talk to me after shows expressing how much my songs meant to them and how they connected with the lyrics on a personal level. For me that’s what this is all about and I can’t wait to be able to continue doing it!
GIRL GANG MUSIC: What is the significance of Blooming for you? Tell me about the single and why it’s the lede.
BULLSHARK: “blooming” is the title track for the 5 song EP I’m putting out this year, so naturally I chose this song to not only open the EP but to be my first step into the ring of being an artist. This song is so important to me and I really feel like it’s a great thesis statement for BULLSHARK as a project and for myself as a person and artist. This song comes out of a really hard period of my life. Back in 2017 I had been in a relationship with a person who was not a man for about 8 months, and growing up in a very religious family as a pastors kid and all that, I felt really torn about it. I hadn’t ever come out to any of my family members, but I was super close with all of them so I was kind of trapped in this place where I knew if she had been a man my family would have known about our relationship immediately, but there was this fear of some greater loss if I were to be honest about myself to my family members and here I was 8 months into this relationship and my family didn’t even know she existed.
“blooming” addresses the feelings I was going through leading up to the point when I finally had that initial conversation with my mom and then moving through that point to the hurt that came along in the weeks to follow while everyone was processing the information. The song eventually lands on the final phrase, “I’m blooming. How can you say you love me if you’re still not looking” where I’m finally at a point that I love and accept myself for who I am and extending an invitation to those who wish to be in that space with me to be there and everyone who can’t accept me for who I am to make their exit.
Thankfully, since 2017, I have been able to have a lot of conversations with my family and it has been really healing for me to watch them grow in their understanding of me and my life and feeling like I don’t have to hide myself anymore for them to love me but that they truly know me and still want me around. I was able to finish writing this song about a year ago once I felt like I finally let go of most of the shame I felt about myself growing up and stepped into a true place of self-love (and that’s on therapy and Zoloft lol). That’s not to say things don’t get hard but I’ve been able to find a really supporting community here in Nashville that have helped me release those feelings of guilt and shame and that release was what I needed to finally put a pin in this song I think. The chapter I was going through while I was writing this has finally closed and I was able to move forward with my life.
Many of the subsequent songs on my forthcoming EP stem from similar feelings about queerness, religion, a sense of loss, dissociation and other mental health issues but the thesis is really found in this song “blooming” – love yourself and choose yourself and the people who love and choose you will show up around you. Even if it’s not who or how you imagined it to be the people that are meant for you will stand by you and the rest of them will find you and fill the vacuum left by those who didn’t stay.
GIRL GANG MUSIC: What do you hope to share/do with your music?
BULLSHARK: I hope to help people who were in my situation as a kid and teenager to realize that they aren’t alone and that there is a light and a community at the end of the tunnel. That the hard work to be present even in the hard moments and to love
yourself for who you are is worth it no matter what else happens. I hope to connect with the adults like me who are still struggling with how to manage their feelings and connect with their roots while still remaining true to themselves. I hope to help people connect to others with similar experiences through my songs, to find a community of people who love and accept each other and build each other up. Ultimately I’m trying to find my own community and hope it helps other along the way!
GIRL GANG MUSIC: What is one piece of advice you’d give to your childhood self?
BULLSHARK: The poetic answer: be kind to yourself, trust the process, hard work takes you farther than talent alone every time so keep pushing and working, be kind and supportive to the people around you and trust your instincts.
The real answer: pull your head out of your own ass, you’re not as cool as you think you are but that’s what actually makes you cool and stop being so judgy girl, damn.
Keep up with BULLSHARK:
https://www.instagram.com/__bullshark/
BULLSHARK’s List of Artists to Check Out
Purser
Purser is an artist I literally cannot stop listening to. First of all they are one of the most beautiful writers and vocalists I have ever heard, but on top of that they are one of the must supportive friends I have and they have been nothing short of a hand hold and emotional support blanket for me throughout this entire process of creating and releasing my own music. They are about to put out so much incredible music this year as well so PLEASE do yourself a favor and follow them on all social media because when I tell you their music is unreal you just have to hear it to know what I mean.
Blood Root!
Another artist I’ve been listening to a lot is Blood Root! This is the project of the person who tracked guitar for my album, Taylor Wafford. She’s about to release a bunch of new music this year as well and I’m so excited for it! She is like a tone goddess and so smart when it comes to anything and everything guitar an gear, not to mention she has the voice of an angel. All the songs she currently has out are incredible and I can’t wait to hear the direction she grows this project. I was a big fan of her music before I asked her to be a part of my project, so it’s been like a dream to be able to work with her and you definitely wont regret following along with Blood Root!
