Watter

Since their debut album, ”This World”, back in 2014 Louisville band “Watter” has slowly built up a reputation as one of the most interesting instrumental bands around. Developing and expanding further with their second album “History of the Future” released in 2017 and some touring later, we hooked up with Zak Riles and Tyler Trotter in 2019.

                 Courtesy: Watter Band (2014)

We first heard about “Watter” from an American taping friend who provided us with a copy of one of your concerts back in 2015. After listening back to that tape, we bought both the CD and LP-version, and that was the most spinned LP-vinyl of that year. Was starting “Watter” a conscious decision or was it solely a solo project in the beginning?

Tyler: Originally it was a conscious decision to do a recording project. Zak and I both owned stores (Bluegrass Green and Louisville Beer Store) that were right by each other in downtown Louisville. The basement of Bluegrass Green was a large concrete rectangular space with a low ceiling. At the time it was only being used to store insulation for Zak’s shop. On a “Grails” tour we talked about how it would be fun to combine our gear and setup a little recording space down there. The idea was to invite different musicians to come and record with us and just see what would become of that. Britt Walford was one of the first few artists we invited to record. He enjoyed it enough that he came back to record several more times. Before we knew it, we had about half a record worth of songs together. At some point Britt asked us what we were going to name the “band”. It wasn’t until that moment that we actually considered it really becoming a band.

Zak: Once we decided there would be a full length record as a new band, I filled in some gaps with solo material that was originally supposed to come out on “Important Records.” Britt went back to school and became unavailable during most of the recording process so we learned how to use sequencers and drum machines to finish the songs. One of the main ideas behind Watter was to make a record with some of our early krautrock and electronic music influences in mind. I’m not sure we accomplished that goal but we’re still working on it!

Time flies by quickly and it seemed like it was only yesterday that you released your first LP “This World”. With some years and counting in retrospective, what do you remember from recording that album and how does it stand in comparison to “History of the Future”?

Zak: “This World” was recorded next door to the Louisville Beer Store so I remember we were often drunk on the finest beer and had a lot of fun. It was on the edge of downtown Louisville in a neighborhood that was being developed which is now called “New Louisville” or NULU. It was a central and creative place to be, at the time.

“History of the Future” in my mind was more of a transitional record. I sold my store where we had been playing and we began rehearsing in a smaller space and working on a couple of Britt’s songs there. We also did a song with Will Oldham during that period. After that, I moved out of town to a farm and continued working on the record there. Britt became unavailable again so we had Dahm Cipolla over for one percussion session which changed the direction of the record. I think some of the final songs we worked on at the Earthwave Farm have a more spacious and isolated sound.

You are all very skilled and experienced musicians with backgrounds in bands like “Grails”, “Slint” and now with Dahm Majuri Cipolla also playing drums for Japanese postrock band “Mono”. Do you still consider “Watter” to be a sideproject to all of these bands and other projects or is it now 50/50?

Tyler: “Watter” is probably more of a main project for us now than it ever has been. Britt is no longer playing with us. This has sort of helped us reset and return to the original idea of making it more of a recording project. We do consider Dahm the drummer, but since he is on an endless tour with “Mono” it is limiting to what we can actually write and record together as a trio. That said, we want him to be on as much of the new material as possible so we’re happy to wait for him. We are finding little windows where he is available and taking advantage of recording his drum tracks whenever he is in town. We have also been buying more drum machines since the last record and that definitely helps inspire the “electronic” sound of our music. Dahm is also really good at playing along to the prerecorded electronic drums. This makes it easier for him to jump in when he is available and for Zak and I to work on stuff while he’s not in town.

Zak: It’s something we keep doing because we like it. Other bands, work, and real life are all a part of the process. It will definitely become more of a priority when the construction of our new studio is finished (soon).

Tell us a bit about your hometown of Louisville, Kentucky. Is it a town where all musicians tend to know each other, because you have also had some great collaborations on both albums? How do you pick out musicians for your compositions?

Tyler: Louisville is a great little city. It has pockets with all of the good things you want and expect when you are in a big city, but without all of the hustle and bustle. At the same time, it can be shitty and depressing. Both of those things are what makes the music that comes from here so special. Many of the people that live here grow up and live their whole lives here without ever leaving. I say that because I’m one of them. It’s important for me to travel because I always come back with a new perspective and appreciation for the city. Louisville is an easy place to get stuck in because of it’s low cost of living and slow, easy pace. 

If you grew up going to shows here, you knew everyone in the scene. The idea of starting a recording project was the opportunity for us to reach out to many of these local artists that we had looked up to growing up and ask if they would want to record on a song, or maybe just record a jam. Some of them we knew very well and some we didn’t know at all. Folks from Louisville are very friendly and approachable so all of our collaborations just sort of happened naturally.

Zak: I was familiar with many of the artists from Louisville before moving there in 2008. When you dive deeper into specific genres I think you meet people working in similar territories, no matter where you’re living. Playing with Britt made a lot of sense as Tyler and I are both longtime “Slint” and “Evergreen” fans. I asked Rachel Grimes to overdub on the songs “This World”, “Lord I want more” and “Final Sunrise” because those songs all seemed appropriate for her style. There’s been no shortage of great musicians to call upon in Louisville anytime we’ve wanted a specific instrument or sound on a track.

You did tour both “This World” and “History of the Future”. Among the highlights must have been playing at the “Roadburn Festival” in Holland back in 2018? What do you remember from these two tours?

Tyler: I only remember Roadburn :)... That was magical and unforgettable. It was also the last show we played so we are really gonna need to up the ante for the next one.

Really just kidding. We have had some incredible shows and we have also had brutal moments where we ask ourselves why we’re even playing shows. It’s really spanned the whole spectrum from amazing to absolutely horrible. I think that is normal for most any touring band. You just keep doing it because you love playing the music.

Zak: Our European booking agent, Vincent (Odyssey Booking) is a longtime friend from booking “Grails”. On the last Watter tour, we ended up playing many of the same venues and festivals (Roadburn) that I played at with “Grails” well over a decade ago. I ran into people I hadn’t seen for quite a while. That was nostalgic and surreal, for me.

Could you tell us a bit about the rigs and pedals that you used both in the studio and when playing live?

Tyler: We have both been creating an arsenal of instruments since we first started playing. It has been important to acquire more gear and upgrade studio equipment to help the sound of the music evolve. Towards the end of recording “History of the Future”, I had just purchased a Farfisa VIP 500 and a MiniMoog Model D. Both of those made little appearances on the record, but we’re really looking forward to using a lot more of them on the new material.

Tyler’s live rig for the “History of the Future” tour was: Moog Little Phatty, Roland Juno 6, Mellotron 4000D Rack, Moogerfooger Analog Delay, Moogerfooger Low Pass Filter, Eventide H9, Fender P-Bass, EHX Big Muff.

Zak: I use the Strymon Timeline delay pedal to mimic the Moog analog delays we use in the studio for guitar. The Chase Bliss Tonal Recall is another fun analog delay pedal. Keyboards such as the Prophet 6, ARP Odyssey and Mellotron sounds are heavily used on the records and live. Lots of volume pedals. 

It´s not hard picturing some of your compositions in a movie. Have you ever been asked to include any of your songs in a movie or would you rather that the songs remain solely as “Watter”-material?

Tyler: Still waiting... Apparently not enough people in the film business have heard “Watter”. We love music that is specifically made for film. It’s a large part of what inspires our music in the first place. It would be great to someday score a full soundtrack. We are working our way there both as musicians and with the evolution of our equipment. Just need to get the music to the right set of ears.

Zak: It seems like the licensing world is pretty competitive right now. I think the days of bands not wanting to “sell out” are over. Most bands I know are desperate to sell anything. Of course we’d prefer to be asked to work on a Werner Herzog movie then do a Subaru commercial. I even signed up with a publishing agent (Secretly Canadian) to push “Watter”, my solo material as well as years of “Grails” compositions but still nothing… I suppose folks may eventually grow tired of the retro synth sound and at that point might look for something else?

As far as we understand some of you will be helping out “OM” on their upcoming tour over in Europe this year and as mentioned earlier, Dahm Majuri Cipolla is the new drummer for “Mono”. Is it easier or harder when you help out other musicians then when you are the “driving force”?

Tyler: I suppose I am now an official member of “OM”. Everyone in “OM” lives in different cities so rehearsing, writing and shows are all scheduled well in advance. This can be a challenge, but more so it makes it easier to know when I can work on “Watter” material. I am playing and practicing more than I ever have before. This is great for everyone involved.  “Watter” has always worked backwards by focusing on the recording first. Not rushing ourselves to create a song through the natural recording process. Then going back once it is all done and learning how to perform it live. It’s a strange process, but one that works well for us.

Have you already started to work on pieces for your third album or what does the future hold for “Watter”?

Tyler: We have recorded some new music. Whether or not it makes it on the next record is still yet to be determined. More than anything we are extremely excited to be finishing our new studios and taking our overall sound quality and production to the next level. We want every record that we release to be a progression from the previous one. As long as we feel capable of doing that we’ll keep making records.

Zak: Yes, there will be a more consistent flow of “Watter” in 2020, assuming the world holds it together for a little while longer. 

Many thanks for taking your time to answer the questions for us!

For more info / Buy their albums here:

https://watter.bandcamp.com/