Inspire Lobby Session Interviews Part 1 (Terrestrea)
Kent Ridge Inspire Lobby Session is happening on 19th March this Monday! In light of that, we have a two part special on the external bands that are coming to perform for us! Check out their Instagram page @kentridgeinspire for more updates on the bands that are playing for the event.
Formed in 2014 as a creative outlet of expression for themselves, Terrestrea is the ongoing collective artistic endeavor of five friends, for whom music has nurtured as much as it has corrupted. Described by Juice Magazine as producing music that is simultaneously violent and beautiful, their songs have a dynamic that feels as destructive as a hurricane but calm when you suddenly enter its eye. Their band members include – Jared (Vocals), Imran (Guitar), Irsyad (Guitar), Kenny (Bass) and Ben Soon (Drums).
Some of their faces may be familiar to you as they only graduated last year. Today we will be chatting with Irsyad, Ben Soon and Jared to find out more about the band plus catch up with that they’ve been up to since leaving hall.
1. What made you guys start writing music in the first place?
Jared: The first song on the EP, “Sunset Memory”, was the first song written by Imran and I. Imran had a guitar riff that he was playing around with. Having known each other since JC, he approached me to help him out with the lyrics. Upon completion, we were very happy with how the song turned out and decided to expand the project. That was when the other members came in. Initially, I was also a guitarist and we were just a four-piece. After playing around with the dynamics of the band, we set on the lineup of Terrestrea that you see today.
Irsyad: It started simply enough, with Jared and Imran getting together to write a song called 'Sunset Memory' together. Eventually, as we solidified our line-up to what you see today, we now write music as a means of releasing pent up emotions (frustration, anger, happiness, etc.). Plus it's all really fun to create something, from ideation to the 'final' piece.
2. So how did you guys come to the band name?
Ben: We wanted to have a band name that had a meaning to it, so the first place we looked up was Wikipedia and we were looking through names of planetary bodies and Greek mythology. We found the words "Terrestrial" and "Astrea", which means something along the lines of "Earth" and "Stars" respectively, and combined them to form Terrestrea, and we hope our music manages to encapsulate everything in between.
3. Tell us about your music.
I: Dynamics are very important to what we do. We want to bring our listeners on a journey. Each song represents a story. The heavier parts convey aggression, but we also want to pull the listeners back in with the clean and smooth parts, so there’s an emotional experience. In terms of the dynamics that we are going for, I would say that the balances between loud and soft and distorted and clean are crucial. The clean parts represent resolution and distortion for conflict
4. Who inspires (pun intended) you?
I: Our influences are extremely wide and varied depending on our mood. We enjoy a little bit of Underoath, Exhibitors and Dance Gavin Dance, but we also love artistes like Frank Ocean, Rex Orange County and Charlie Lim, just to name a few. Lately we're really digging Amateur Takes Control's latest EP, but all in all, we each have our own taste in music which overlaps in all the right places.
5. Any funny memories from KR?
B: I remember once after holding auditions for the new KR Rockers members we decided to stay in the bandroom to chill and started singing karaoke with a Mac monitor and our speakers. Actually, most of our best memories were from the bandroom.
6. Whats the best gig you've played so far?
B: My favourite gig so far would have to be our most recent gig at the Ninth Sg Music Festival. The crowd was probably one of the livelier crowds we have played to as compared to our other gigs and probably our largest crowd by far. But I also enjoyed playing at Of Thrones Nemesis EP Launch as we got to play alongside bands that we really love (False Plaintiff, Exhibitors).
7. What is your song writing process?
J: We don't have a formula, but usually it starts with an idea like a riff or a beat or an image, anything really. Then, we share it with each other and if the rest like the idea too, then it just goes from there, adding and playing around and trying. So far we've been lucky in that songs have come out of it, we're still learning and adjusting every day. Throughout our journey as a band, we have never anchored ourselves to one particular style. It was more like we shared what we liked, and whatever happens, happens. There will always be elements of the bands that we try to incorporate into our sound and a certain standard that we hope to hit, but we don’t go out of our way to try to be that band that we aren’t.
8. Where can we find you guys!
B: You can listen to our music on Spotify! We just released an EP back in December! Give it a listen! Also, you can find us on Facebook (Terrestrea) and follow us on Instagram (@terrestrea) for the latest updates! We have an upcoming gig on the 24th of March (Saturday). It is an event organised by Anaki Records called Anaki Rocks the City 2018 featuring other local bands as well. Come and hang out with us!