The members of Valley band Whyte Kastles boast some impressive tours of rock duty on their resumes: Sebadoh, Deluxx, Feathers, Sunburned Hand of the Man. The quartet—guitarist/vocalist Bob Fay, guitarist Greg Petrovato, noisemaker Conrad Capistran and Amanda Petrovato on vocals, percussion and various stringed instruments—decided to join forces by turning social gatherings into a working group.
"We started getting together in our kitchen once a week back in 2007," says Amanda. "Bob had some song ideas and we started with those. Things quickly mutated into a gooey substance that was impossible and stupid with fingers. When we realized we could get drunk together and still be productive with song ideas, harmonizing, and fractured randomness, we decided to make Wednesday night our band night."
Whyte Kastles create an otherworldly blend of folk, psychedelic rock and avant-experimentation. Songs start up hesitantly, then gain momentum and energy until they sound as if they just might fall apart, but never do. There is a genuine feeling of spontaneity to both their live sets and their recordings.
"Some songs have come into the group after one of us has worked on it alone to the point where we think it's complete, but there's always further evolution once everyone is contributing," Amanda says. "There is a lot of jamming, and most songs are never played the same way twice."
The band's members are all serious vinyl collectors, and Amanda says that the band spends countless hours together listening to and being inspired by those records: "When we try some powerful, lovely song which we've heard over and over again, and it comes out sounding like a ramshackle cargo-cult approximation, we're all looking at each other and yelling 'Nailed it!' with high-fives and hand jives all around."
"Our philosophy is simply to enjoy ourselves and make music with what we've got, as people have always done and continue to do, even as it all comes crashing down around us," says Amanda. "We sit around a kitchen and have fun playing songs either Bob or I wrote or covers—we don't care!"
For songs and show listings, visit myspace.com/whytekastles.photo courtesy of whyte kastles
