OTTTO - 'Locked, Loaded & Riding High at Lollapalooza'
If your finger isn't on the pulse with the next generation of metal bands kick starting their careers, then what's the point! OTTTO are fast becoming a household name with their blend of thrash/punk rock and we first hand got to witness what these lads have to offer during their Lollapalooza set over the weekend. Consisting of Bryan Ferretti (vocals, guitar), Tye Trujillo (bass) and Ryan Duswalt (drums), these guys wasted no time in setting a precedence for what to expect at future shows - and the future looks good. Our US Correspondent (ex-Aussie) Alison Northway not only caught their highly anticipated set, but sat down with the boys backstage to get an idea of their future plans, their mantra and what's yet to come...
I met with the boys from Venice Beach trio, OTTTO, just before they hit the BMI Stage on Day 4 of Lollapalooza, Chicago. These guys gave me the pep I needed to make it through my final day of the festival.
It was so fun to feed off their infectious energy, excitement and anticipation, something that hits different when a band is at this stage of their career and are on the precipice of something truly great. If I could sum them up with one word from the interview, it would be stoked. Stoked at life, stoked to be here, stoked for what lays ahead.
I was given the heads up to get to the stage early for their set, as word was quickly spreading and it was set to be a big one. Indeed I got there early. Front and center. With an introduction to the crowd from Metallica bassist, Rob Trujillo, then began 40 minutes of non stop metal! I have not moshed like that for some time, but made it out unscathed (of particular note was the positive energy and general niceness of the moshees).
The music was heavy, the music was thrashy, the energy was unrelenting.
I was standing next to two festival goers who had arrived early, thinking they were seeing a pop band. They stayed the entire set, moshed, headbanged and sweated. My favorite thing about music festivals – discovering that artist you didn’t know about, especially in a different genre, and it changing your life!
Let's met the trio who are certainly going places (and fast)...
Welcome to Lollapolooza and Wall Of Sound! We’re so glad to have met you while we’re here!
Have you spent much time at the Festival already?
All: Yes!
Ryan: Wish we could be here longer!
How did you guys form? Talk me through how you know each other?
Bryan: We formed back in 2017, when Tye and I formed our childhood band, The Helmets and we wanted to do our own things and formed OTTTO with a previous drummer. I knew Ryan from a project we did called Thredge a couple of years ago. I called him and said I was wondering if you could fill in for a couple of shows.
Ryan: Yes so I recently joined the band 2 months ago. They called and said there was a couple of dates and could I fill in. I was like, for sure! Then a week later, I found out it was Lollapalooza! Then I learned a bunch of songs they’ve got, and here we are.
So you’ve got new music coming out. 'Ride Low' came out a couple of days ago. I had a listen to it and love it and that super heavy sound! Tell me about 'Ride Low' first of all, and tell me about the album and what we can expect.
Bryan: As far as lyric wise, I know that is going to bring up some questions. I know I mention ketamine quite a bit in the song. I’ve never done ketamine or would do ketamine, it’s more of like a representation of what ketamine is, it kind of numbs everything, so that’s what the song’s about. I was able to express that rage and energy I’ve been through. Influence wise, I really dig Tame Impala. His originality, the space he explores, and just vibing out in the space.
Tye: We hope we can get this new album done quick. Hopefully we can get it out as soon as possible, so that’s the biggest hope we have right now. Get everything finished up. We have to retrack some stuff and continue tracking vocals, so we’ve got some stuff to wrap up. With influences, I really like Suicide Boys. They really bring the energy live. We saw them play the House of Blues at an aftershow, and it was amazing.
Ryan: I joined the writing process pretty late in the game, where a lot of the drum demos are with the previous drummer so I’m going back in there doing some new stuff. My drumming influences are like Slipknot, Slayer, the heavier bands, so you can expect some harder songs!
Let’s talk about Australia. Have you been to Australia before, and what would you most like to explore when you get to go?
Tye: No! I wanna go so bad though! I hear there’s great waves to surf. I’ve heard of Bells Beach, I wanna go there. Hopefully OTTTO can play over there so we can spend some quality time there
Ryan: I know they have the Sydney Opera House there, I know that from Finding Nemo, so I’ve always wanted to see that whole area.
Bryan: I heard the weather is nice and the people are very nice
Do you have any plans and hopes for OTTTO to tour Australia?
Tye: I hope we can hop on some shows after a couple of shows we have coming up at Bottlerock Festival, and potentially a show in October. We hope to get on some more shows that go on after that.
Bryan: Definitely focusing on finishing the record. We have a lot of trips to LA coming up. We just love writing music, that’s what drives us and channeling the energy into that. Playing shows is like our reward. We love performing, going out there and just having fun
I can tell you guys are just itching to get up on that stage today!
All: yes!!!
Ryan: There’s something about it. Like last night, playing our songs, there’s a mosh pit going on, there’s something about that, they’re moshing to our stuff!
Tye: We’ve got the energy, and we bring it!
Well it sounds like Australia are going to love you guys and I just can’t wait to see you live today! Thank you so very much for spending time with me today and we’ll spread the word Down Under and beyond!
All: Thank you!
Bryan: Our new record is full of fun lyrics
Tye: Full of fun songs, a lot of moshing songs, a lot of thrash.
Bryan: We can’t wait to go to Australia, I really want to go to Australia!
Interview and Photo Gallery courtesy of Alison Northway. Instagram: @alisonnorthway
Please Credit & Tag Wall of Sound and Alison Northway if you repost photos on social media.
OTTTO
