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Kasavett.
 Rising from the ashes of Everest, Kasavett are all set to launch their debut CD-EP entitled 'Mexican Jesus' at the Jade Monkey. I caught up with drummer Silvano Tittoto recently for a yarn about the journey so far.
We begin our discussion with a short history lesson, Tittoto explaining their previous incarnation. "It started off with Phil [Portella, bass and vocals], myself and Jono. Dan [Adey, vox and guitar] joined and we released an EP called 'Panic Attack' which got played on Triple J. We received an email from this Everest group in Germany claiming, 'You've got our name!' so we went through the task of trying to find a new name. In that time, Jono decided he wanted to take a break so at the moment it's just the three of us. We decided on the name Kasavett and went forth from there."
It must be an interesting venture to take a new band into the studio for the first time, yet the experience would not be unfamiliar to everyone involved. I ask what their expectations were in approaching the recording stage in their career. "It feels really good as we've recorded and demoed a few times but it didn't really work out the way we wanted it, so we've finally got something we're happy to go forward with and release," Tittoto explains.
Kasavett brought Dave Lokan from Big Sound Studios on board to record six tracks for posterity. "We've recorded with Matt Hills and a bunch of other guys before, so when we went in to Big Sound we found that Dave's a pretty quiet, laid-back kind of guy. It was pretty relaxed when we recorded it and he let us know what he thought and we let him know what we thought - it was a really enjoyable experience," Tittoto responds gracefully.
I ask who made the decision as to the CD-EP's religious title and artwork; in this politically correct age it might have been an issue to some. Tittoto carefully explains, "We all agreed to it. At first we were concerned that people might take offence to it but we've travelled through Latin America and it's not an uncommon thing for people to call their first-born male child Jesus, so that's the theme which stuck out for us."
Kasavett recently played a Fuse On Stage gig at the Austral. I ask Tittoto how the band viewed this opportunity and what they hoped could be gleaned. "We did that with the Beat Records people.Greasy Pop Records [their label] didn't get narky at us for working with Beat - it's good to see Adelaide bands and labels work together. It was an opportunity to play in front of our peers and people in the music industry. That was our main goal - to get a booking agent, for labels to see and talk to us and to get interstate exposure - it's always good to get new connections," he enthuses.
The gig diary had pencilled in an appearance this April for the Handpicked festival in Mildura but circumstances have delayed this show: "It's been postponed because of Port Pirie winning Triple J's One Night Stand competition. In 2005, the week before the festival, we had supported the Spazzys in Loxton. On the night, the guy who runs Handpicked happened to be there and approached us about appearing on the line-up and this year they've invited us back. They asked us: 'Can Everest play?' and we said, 'No, but Kasavett can!'"
We finish speaking about what plans are in incubation for 2006, one support slot won which Tittoto divulges, "Things are going quite well because on the 15th of April we're supporting the Drones along with Mirrorline at Jive. In May we'll be spending some time in Victoria and we're also hoping to get some radio play with the EP to raise our profile."
Lauren Boxhall
 | Kasavett launch 'Mexican Jesus' at the Jade Monkey on Fri 31 March with Bloom and Syd's Gate. |
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