Vatara may be young, but they know what they’re doing. Even though their still young (between 15 and 16) and still in High School, their music exudes a power and joy, and a depth, that goes beyond the binaries of being a teen, where you’re either filled with angst or just plain shallow. Their music reflects the past while looking toward the future, the most you could ask of any band, regardless of age.
Tell me about the bands beginnings.
We came together as a hopeful alternative to an otherwise uniform junior-high lifestyle. Since 7th grade the original trio (Ross, Danny, Kelly) has realized the music and chemistry is something special and worthy of defining our adolescent, and hopefully adult, lives. We have shifted from new piano players, guitar players, and singers as we form our quartet. Briann Oringdaulph the newest member of Vatara, is about as good a fit as we could ask for!
You’re all so young still, what’s the goal? Is this just a thing for fun or is it your future?
More than fame or fortune, we just want to get out there and make music that sounds good to us, and that other people appreciate. Music is most certainly in all of our futures, “Vatara” may not be the final format, or define our musical careers, but it’s a damn good place to start!
Where did the name Vatara come from? What does it mean?
“Vatara,” when translated from Sanskrit (an ancient language) means: “new beginnings,“ “moving forward,” that kind of thing. The name seems to fit as we always are in some state of change, whether its members, music, or style. Adopted in 8th grade the band name “Vatara” has stuck since.
What are some other influences you carry in your music?
Our music is most dramatically influenced by strong rhythmic tendencies we find in all kinds of styles. Whether it’s the Beach Boy’s 6/8, or the Beatles’ 4/4 to the floor, rhythm is what makes music interesting for us. We are influenced every time we come into contact with new music. Every band with no exception has something, worth taking away, worth appreciating.
What do you guys have in common besides music?
We all, for the most part, stand on common ground concerning life and well as music. With that deeper connection, and understanding the result is a very tight knit group of musical friends = a band with good chemistry on and off stage. We travel, go to school, play music, and essentially live together. If we had more in common, things would probably get weird.
What do you think is brought to your music because of your youth?
Fans have commented on our youthful energy, and an optimistic zeal during live show. We feel there’s a certain shock factor, no one expects any “music” to come out of high school kids. When they find out we’re for real the room fills up with a real sense of shock, and appreciation. That’s one of the best feelings we credit to our age.
What classes do you hate the most?
A resounding response . . . MATH x4! We’re not logic thinkers. We’re creative thinkers.
Your influences list on your Myspace page is a music geeks dream. How did you get into some of the more obscure bands?
Playing out as much as we do, we come in contact with tons of bands and tons of cool people. Word of mouth, and CD swapping is where our influence laundry list came from. One thing we have in common with most of those bands is; we are now all part of a music revolution that’s standing up to say, “fuck you MTV, lets make music about what it should be about . . . music.”
Who’s your average fan? For people that don’t necessarily listen to the kind of music you make, what do you think they could see in it?
There’s no “average fan,” at a Vatara show, we appeal to a wide audience and the show turnouts reflect that. We think everyone could benefit from our good ol’ fashion, down home, musical entertainment and fun, even if you swear by Zeppelin.
What musicians do you find overrated or underrated and why?
We simultaneously agree, the most overrated musicians are found on MTV. It’s hard to muster up much respect for bands who play music producers write, and who sell out to Multinational Holding Companies. We feel musicians who set out to do their own positive thing, and go unrecognized by the general public are truly underrated.
When and where do you write songs? In what kind of an environment do you rehearse?
We get together a couple times a week, in our liberal, modest Portland neighborhood. We keep things low key in our small practice area as it is in a residential area. Once the police were called on us for “breaking the sound decibel limit.” We practice in a positive, supportive environment, and collaborate on everything. Kelly’s basement holds a special place in all of our hearts. There’s always something down there that reminds you of the good times, and the good times to come.
What influences you to make music?
We write music based off our personal interpretations of experiences, people, places, and things.
What’s more important: your lyrics or the music?
They go hand in hand, however we like to lean more towards the power of lyrics. Words give you the ability to move people, to make people feel. When you have a room full of people empathizing with you it’s something special, the power of words opens that door. We don’t have anything against English class.
How does your live show compare with your recordings? Do you guys like live music or recorded music better?
Our wonderful recording engineer/producer Shay Scott has recorded our songs in a way that is comparable to our live show. We constantly find ourselves trying to live up to what Shay has done for us. However, live music always wins out over recorded music! In the studio you can go back and fix your mistakes, experiment with new things, and not face the stress of performing. What a musician can do on stage is how you measure his musicianship, in our opinion. It’s not about how many hours our how much money you can spend at a recording studio.
How are your love lives affected by your rock star status?
The more shows you play equals the more people you meet, equals the more girls you meet, equals the more love in the air.
What’s in the near future?
Currently, were working on material for the next album, and with Pedal Steel Guitar, Fender Rhodes, and Tambourine, it will be one of a kind. After we have completed recording, we plan to tour extensively, nationally and internationally.
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