Guitarist Krissy Morash mid-riff at the Pittsfield basement rehearsal.
was putting on a metal show in Pittsfield.“ I heard there was a metal show going on in Pittsfield, and I was like,‘ What? That’ s unheard of,’” Altamirano remembers.
Among the shows he attended was the basement appearance of Wormrot. Altamirano kept showing up, became friends with the members of Escuela Grind, and watched the band grow for years before joining it. By early 2022, he was traveling with them as a road companion— sleeping on strangers’ couches and floors alongside the band— before eventually becoming part of the lineup himself.“ It feels crazy that someone who’ s lived in the Berkshires most of their life can get an opportunity to travel with their homies, play music that we all like, share a laugh around the world,” he says.“ It means a lot to have found that here in this town.”
Fuentes, who grew up around the much larger Dallas music scene, developed an eye for musicians whose technique suggested they could push Escuela Grind forward. With Altamirano, he remembers noticing his picking hand; with the band’ s newest member, drummer Jake Sanders, the introduction happened digitally.
Sanders, a New Jersey drummer and the newest member of Escuela Grind, joined in 2026 after Fuentes encountered videos of his playing online. Sanders had built an audience of his own by posting technically demanding drumming clips on Instagram under the handle @ jrs. drms, and his playing immediately caught Fuentes’ attention.
The current five-piece band— with Economou on vocals, Fuentes and Morash on guitars, Altamirano on bass, and Sanders
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34 // BERKSHIRE MAGAZINE Fall 2026