Seminal New Zealand post-rock outfit Kerretta are on the brink of releasing Saansilo, their sophomore album and follow-up to critially-acclaimed Villayer. UTR caught up with bassist Will Waters to discuss the progression between albums, their overseas touring plans and how they avoided the "post rock pit of Hell".
You’re about to release your sophomore full length album. Tell me about the writing and recording process for this album.
We have been rather lucky over the last few years that our Guitarist Dave ran his studio VENN out of the former Kog Transmissions building in Kingsland. That allowed us to record all our practices. We then listened back to parts we liked and worked on the ideas from there…..That’s also where we recorded most of the album with a few additional tracks done at York Street. It was great to get into York street again actually, big studios like that are hopefully due to have some sort of renaissance. Nothing beats a good sounding room. Then when it came to mixing the album we packed down the Kingsland Studio and moved out Coatsville way and built a temporary studio named “The lunchroom” Once that was done it was back to York street for mastering…
Was there any particular musical or thematic focus for the record?
Sonically try to push it a little further, as always …also we were aiming for something more rhythmic this time… … Who knows, there’s a certain unspoken thread in there somewhere on how we approach the music … I mean a lot thought and discussion does go on. It all seems to be a simple accumulation from years experimenting coming into the fold.
What were you inspired by musically or otherwise for the album.
Well there were certain aspects that we trying to avoid really for fear of repeating ourselves and also of falling into the dreaded clichéd post rock pit of hell…actually maybe the post rock bog of stench… I think songs on the new record like “Bloodlines” really pushes us away from such things…much like “White Lie” did on the first record.
Tell me about how you see this album as a progression from your 2009 album Vilayer?
Vilayer was a combination of a few years worth of work were as Saansilo was made in far shorter time…perhaps that gives it a sense of urgency…We like to work fast and at times we have to. We gave ourselves deadlines with this one...
More generally, tell me about how the musical process in Kerretta happens?
Hit the record button and off we go! We then go back and pick the bones for tasty the bits.Or someone may bring in an idea and we’ll bash it out and see what takes hold…... It’s a fine line between pushing ourselves into finding unique tones from our instruments and keeping things simple and purposeful.
Going back, what inspired or drew you guys to create the kind of music you do?
Kerretta started out very casually. We would meet up on Sundays and had big long jams in Dave’s studio. It was a chance use and abuse every effects pedal in our armory. At this time we had Tom Clark from the Fanatics on guitar also…this went on for some time..as did the breaks between sessions.. because it was so laid back its hard to remember the finer details but at some point we played a party, decided on a name, then a few shows…from there we were lucky enough to get Big Day Out….I think the definitive moment was the release the “Death in the future” 7inch…that validated us somewhat …. its been steady as she goes from there on in.
You’ve toured internationally and opened for a few seminal international acts. What knowledge have you gained or experiences have you taken away from these moments?
Touring overseas is additive. The sense of adventure is always there, its such a great way to travel. From the outset you know your going to hanging out with like minded people and that\\\\\\\'s always good. America is a very cool place to tour, very efficient in the way they do shows and everyone is so helpful, the DIY aspect that bands like Fugazi championed is still going strong…Perhaps because we came so far to get there arises some curiosity and admiration….one guy did ask how long the drive from NZ was….no shit. Yes he was a drummer.
How has the way you guys approach the musical process changed since when you began?
I don’t think we have changed at all. The attitude is still much the same its as was in the start. It’s nice to tick the box on a few things but soon enough there’s something else to aim for.
What are the future plans for Kerretta once this album has been released?
After this record is released we will be heading to Europe to tour…it going to be great to hit that part of the world. Our label ‘Golden Antenna’ is also based in Germany we need to get there and back up all the hard work they have put into us. So that’s going to be very interesting. We have had a lot of interest from that part of the world. Following that we will move on to the next chapter as we try writing from different cities across the world. So that will open up a new set of challenges which is exciting really.
Ultimately, what do you want your audience to take away from this new record?
The best thing about Kerretta and other instrumental bands like us is our music hopefully can find a home anywhere…..it very adaptable. We really like the idea people can take from it what they want. It’s not inhibited by anything but the ringing in your ears.
