The story behind the name of local indie rock trio Ten Peso Version is absolutely priceless.
Taken from a line in the classic 1986 comedy “Three Amigos,” starring Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Chevy Chase, it captures the sort of fun and friendship the band brings to their songs, videos, and performances, and explains why they’ve quickly risen in the West Michigan music scene.
“Out of context it just sounds like an indie band name,” vocalist/guitarist Ruben Resendiz Jr. told Revue. “Towards the beginning of the movie, these characters are trying to get a telegram sent. And so they have a guy typing out their telegram for them and he’s counting the words to tell him how much it costs. It’s going to cost 23 pesos. And they’re like, ‘Oh, well, we only have ten.’ So then he’s like, ‘OK, I’ll give you the ten peso version.’ And he starts scribbling words out. It’s a movie my mom and my uncles quoted all the time because they saw it when they were younger. And that was one of the quotes that I heard that just always stuck out to me, and makes me laugh.”
Resendiz started what has become Ten Peso Version with drummer Tom Nissen near the end of 2021. At their second show ever, playing as a duo at Tip Top in February 2022, bassist Collin Jones came up after and asked to join the band.
All three had recently moved to Grand Rapids with the goal of playing music. Resendiz grew up near Manistee, and he and Nissen had previously played in a college band together in Mount Pleasant back around 2018. Jones, meanwhile, had spent time working on another project in Lakeview, and later commuting from Alto, before relocating to the city.
“As a kid I was always drumming on things, as most drummers do, right?” Nissen said. “And then I grew up playing the trombone, all throughout school and in the marching band, and just kind of played the drums as a hobby. I really hadn’t played in an actual band, though, until I was in college and met Reuben. That was my first experience playing in a real rock band.”
Resendiz said that was his first real band as well. He started playing guitar at around 10 years old, but didn’t get serious about it until he was 14. After teaching himself through YouTube and guitar tabs, he went to Grand Rapids Community College and started taking music theory classes and guitar lessons.
With a foundation of classic rock bands and blues-inspired riffs, Resendiz said he got more exposed to funk and jam bands while he and Nissen played in their previous band in Mount Pleasant.
“That’s kind of what I’m going for, music that’s just really fun to listen to, or to dance to, or to sing along to, just something that’s fun, something that gets you going,” Resendiz said. “So we’re open to anything really. Like, it could be Spanish, it could be rock, it could be experimental, or whatever. That’s kind of where we all meet.”
When Resendiz and Nissen met Jones in 2022, he brought experience to the band, having played bass since he was 14. His father was a musician and music teacher, and he played in garage bands all throughout high school, before helping other people during his 20s. He later moved to Grand Rapids at 30 to get a fresh start, which he did with Ten Peso Version. Jones said he brings a post-rock influence to the band that’s not obvious on the surface, but the elements are there in what the band is doing artistically.
Last year Ten Peso Version released their debut EP, Forward, as well as a music video for the lead track, “Friday Morning Afternoon.” They followed it up last summer with a live EP recorded at Dogtown Studio, and will return with their second EP, To The Horizon, set for release March 6, with a special release party at The Pyramid Scheme.
“The first three songs on the last EP are kind of like Reuben finds a band, and then we wrote our parts to his songs,” Jones said. “But on the last two songs, it’s like us writing music together as a band. And the next EP, all five of those songs we wrote fully together. So it’s us transitioning into the next stage of what the project is.”
Ten Peso Version recorded the new EP, To The Horizon, at River City Studios in Grand Rapids, with Ryan Roullard working as engineer. Resendiz wrote the first two songs, while Jones wrote the last two, and the band collaboratively jammed on the middle song.
The title comes from a lyric in the song “The River,” and thematically builds on the title of their debut, Forward, by continuing to push ahead to what the band’s sound can become.
Ten Peso Version also just released a new video for their song “It Doesn’t Matter.” Made with their friend Kenny Acker and AVES Films over two exhausting days last August, the video showcases the band’s silly sense of humor, in addition to several Grand Rapids landmarks.
“Compared to the first music video we did for ‘Friday Morning Afternoon,’ this one was really cool because we actually got to get into character, and do some acting, rather than just playing,” Jones said. “And there’s a story that goes with the song.”
Ten Peso Version will have new merch available alongside their new EP March 6 at The Pyramid Scheme, with a raffle drawing and prizes. Both EPs will also be available as a single cassette at the show.
“I’m hoping that if we push hard enough people will start to knock at our door a little bit more,” Resendiz said. “We’re hoping to keep playing throughout the state and surrounding states, and we’re hoping to just keep it going.”
Ten Peso Version - Towards The Horizon EP Release
Wsg. Tiberius, Squatch, Joey Gaydos Jr.
The Pyramid Scheme, 68 Commerce SW, Grand Rapids
March 6, 7 p.m. (doors), 8 p.m. (show), $15 advance, $18 at door, All Ages
tenpesoversionband.com, pyramidschemebar.com
