As my bestie describes Kerretta, they’re not as mellow as Mogwai and not quite as heavy as Isis. They’re somewhere in the middle meaning in the broad musical spectrum, they’re almost perfect. Truly an instrumental band like no other, Kerretta’s currently available albums Vilayer and Saansilo will hit you like no other. Bassist William Waters recently took some time to speak with The Blerd13 via email and introduce us to the (Soon-to-be) phenom that is Kerretta:
1. For those who don’t know who you are, how did Kerretta form?
Kerretta is an instrumental band from Auckland New Zealand. We have been around for a few years now. We started as a very casual studio project that morphed into a more structured existence.
2. What does Kerretta mean?
It’s based on the name of small coastal settlement of New Zealand but we adapted the name, changed it a little and respectively took it as our own.
3. Just to preface this, I’m a huge fan of vocal-less bands (Pelican, Red Sparowes, Karma To Burn) but I was curious what led to the decision to go at it as a band without vocals??
Well, as I mentioned before we started out experimenting in the studio. When you get three people in a studio complete with a bunch of guitars amps, drums and effects with no real plan the result is always going to be interesting. It’s not so much like that now but that’s how we came to be. Vocals weren’t needed then, and they don’t seem to be now. But who knows. Maybe one day.
4. Speaking of Red Sparowes and Pelican, what bands inspire Kerretta?
Perhaps not the obvious to be honest. We get filed under Post Rock or Post metal a lot but I’m not so sure it’s exactly where we see ourselves. We were kids of the 90’s so stuff from that era is naturally a huge influence: Nirvana, Killing Joke, Shellac, The Melvins… Like everyone we are always looking for interesting new music, regardless of genres. It’s kinda hard to pin down a certain few influences. Music that’s innovative is what we really go for.
5. What is the biggest difference between Vilayer and Saansilo musically??
Vilayer included some of the very first songs the band wrote and songs that were written up to or in the studio sessions. It had a much larger scope to draw from. Saansilo was a much more condensed project and perhaps more experiential in some ways. We were confidant enough to take more risks.
6. Saansilo sounds so much more epic than Vilayer (Don’t get me wrong, they’re both incredible!) yet structurally they’re very similar, what was the inspiration for Saansilo??
Thank you. I really hope we sound consistent, but at the same time I think one of the strengths of Saansilo is that we managed to experiment with new elements sonically and songwriting-wise that were quite drastic, they may not be obvious at first but they are there: some sort of subtle sonic sorcery!??
7. A friend of mine (And a big Russian Circles fan) wanted to know how you create the bass sounds that you do??
That’s easy – it’s one part bass, two parts pawn shop effects pedal hustling.
8. Being a relatively young band, how hard is it to make music that stands out from what’s around today??
Good question, who knows. Anyone can put an album out these days. It’s really odd. I’m moving more to the less is more approach to albums more often these days. There seems to be a lot of ‘throwing shit at the wall and seeing what sticks’ approach to music these days.
9. You were recently featured as one of Alternative Press’s “100 Bands You Need To Know in 2012”. How important is exposure like that for you or do you feel that with social media and the way it is used now, exposure in a magazine like AP isn’t as important as it once was?
It all helps. I actually stumbled across that AP mag in the San Francisco airport bookstore on the way back from Europe.
10. Are there plans to invade the US again anytime soon?
I really hope so, we had such a great time there. So many great shows and fantastic people. I’m sure it will happen.
11. Speaking of touring, what would be your ideal venue to play? Stadium, small clubs, someone’s backyard, etc…??
Well the tour of Europe we just completed had just about everything you could think of…. from reasonably sized venues with full PA ,lighting rigs and stage managers to underground punk shows in abandoned buildings. We never really knew how each day would present itself, but that made for an unforgettable experience. Just like the US we met some great people and really enjoyed touring as a whole. We can’t wait to get back into it. It’s perhaps my favorite part of being in band.
12. Saansilo was released in September of last year, what is next for Kerretta?
More writing and more touring…fresh ideas are creeping in and its time start working on new material. Who knows how the next record will end up sounding like.
13. With the music industry the way it is today, what’s the best thing about being a musician in 2012? The worst?
I don’t think we think about it too much. We just get on with it.
Both Saansilo and Vilayer are available now. Head on over to Bandcamp now for a full helping of Kerretta.