[Sitting and waiting to eat ramen with friends Chris, Jack, and Simon and soon-to-be friends Harry and Ko at Afuri Ramen + Dumpling in Williamsburg.]

Harry Smith (drummer): Did you know that I work at Champion now?

Chris Kennedy (lead singer): Really? That’s dope.

HS: Yeah. Isn’t that random?

CK: Wait, is that where you get the basketball shorts from?

Marisa Whitaker: What do you do?

HS: I do mail.

MW: The mailroom?

HS: Mailroom. It's all me.

MW: Do you get free Champion?

HS: Free Reebok, Champion, and Head, the tennis company.

Jack Pacillio (lead guitarist): You get free Head at your job?

HS: I get free Head at my job all the time. I asked my friends, “Do you like Head?” and they said, “I love Head.” And I give them Head.

MW: And it’s the best job ever!

HS: It’s the best job ever!

[Chris forgot to tell Harry that they were sitting down to do an interview. Harry realizes after this exchange.]

——————————————————————————————————————————

MW: This Thursday (12/5 at Broadway Bar) is the second time y’all are performing together with you three, right? Ko, Harry, and Simon?

JP: Harry’s been in the band longer than I have.

HS: I’ve been like a situationship of a band member.

MW: Who are you? How do you know these guys? And why haven't I ever met you?

HS: Me and my girlfriend, Francesca, needed a place to stay two years ago, and moved into Chris' home with Sid Simons. That was the roommate situation — it was Sid and Chris and Zach Saffo, before Jack moved in. Once we moved out, Jack took our room. When I lived there, it was great. Had a fantastic time. Moved out. I have my own bands, but Chris and I stayed in touch. Me and Jack met through Chris, and Ko is dating my girlfriend's sister, so we’re kind of like family. We’re like brother-in-laws. Then Ko came to my house warming party because we got a fucking house next to Chris. We live around the corner now from Jack and Chris, two years later. So we have a nice little home, and we invited Ko, and then Ko and Chris met. And now he’s in the band.

MW: So you played with Whaat originally, and then you didn't, and now you do?

HS: I played with Whaat, yeah. I originally was like, “I’ll play this gig, but I can’t join the band.”

MW: But now you’re in it?

HS: Kinda, I guess. I never had a conversation, but I’m in it. I’m fucking down, are you kidding me?

MW: Y’all just got a new member! Right here.

HS: Yeah! Ever since I met Chris, Jack, Simon, and Ko, it’s been magical. I feel like we should have this on film right now. That’s all I’ll say.

MW: We got it on recording.

JP: I joined the band because I started working with Chris and producing him. I recorded “Hustle My Way” with him. It was the first time I ever recorded with Harry too. It’s how I got to know Harry, recording with him. It was funny because I didn’t join the band for a while. I filled in for bass for like two gigs. This was last year. Early 2023. I’ve been in the band for like one year and two months.

CK: You did a great job. Whaat started, I would say, in 2021. I started performing at a bar in front of a crowd for the first time at the open jams they would have while I was working there. I was really annoyed by that space because it was held by big egos macho dudes who were doing fucked up shit. I remember working there, and I was genuinely surprised because when you come to Brooklyn, you would not expect that to exist when you come from outside of the city. You come from outside the city, and you work at a cool spot, and you think, “Everyone must be so cool here.” Anyway, that motivated me to do a better job than a lot of the people who were hosting the open jams. Around that time as well, I moved in with my buddy Edgar Bayas during the summer of COVID, 2020. Zach Saffo was living with me and being the best roommate ever. He’s fantastic, clean, the guy who gives me coffee in the morning. Crazy. We would be screaming in the basement with Edgar. Edgar worked at a studio, and he got me the job at the bar. I have immense gratitude for Edgar. He’s a spectacular motherfucker. Practicing with him got me comfortable just screaming in a microphone through the monitors over two drum sets, while playing guitar and everything. Having psychedelic jams, taking acid, and having it be crazy. That was an interesting time, because I was getting super wasted, and being kind of wild. Pissed off with the energy, the toxic energy that I found, that was happening at the bar. From there, eventually, the band started. I met our original bassist at Knitting Factory. Working with him was a lot of fun and spectacular. He’s such an incredible musician, but we had a falling out a year later. Personality, conflicts, everything. Different moving members was happening a lot too and that was very stressful. It gets so intense when you have conflict. Conflict freezes up your creative freedom that you wanna express.

MW: What was the intention in the beginning? Or that’s what you were trying to figure out?

CK: Yeah, I think initially, it was just trying to figure that out.

HS: I feel like the intention was Chris, dude. The intention was Chris.

MW: I feel like it’s been yours the whole time.

[Edamame appetizer is served.]

CK: The band name came from me literally just trying to figure out what should be the name of the band. “Wha(a)t should be the name of the band?”

[All laugh.]

MW: What’s the intention right now? I feel like it’s pretty no frills, in a good way. Y’all are hanging out.

CK: Write this album.

Ko Mason (bassist): Exactly, yeah. It’s kind of just came up naturally. Hopefully it shows in the music too.

Simon Stone (rhythm guitarist): For me, right now, it’s having fun. Just being goofy and having fun. Chris brings a goofy energy, and it’s helping me relax a lot.

CK: Oh my god, I just ate the edamame that someone ate.

[All laugh.]

JP: I think if you overthink it conceptually sometimes, I feel like it can damage it. I think if you over intellectualize it …

CK: … Absolutely. Then you get convoluted, and then you lose the original thought …

JP: … Exactly. You don’t have that spontaneity. Once it’s too thought out, it really loses that spark. I’ve been in stuff like that, where people are like, “Oh, we have to sound like this” or “We have to represent this.” It’s too heavy. You gotta figure out how it comes.

CK: We’re passionate, pissed off individuals in the sound, but outside of that, we’re loving and kind. The energy that we’re thinking about and putting in the sound, that’s of the society and living in this world that is about to be 2025. For me, the energy that we’re trying to portray outside the shows is just keeping it really positive and cool and nice. The music is attempting to be very vicious and intense, but lyrical and soft at the same time. Nothing really good comes from negativity.

JP: Any good band is like any good song. It’s gotta be two truths and a lie. If the music sounds kinda crazy, and you play really crazy, but then we’re these sweet, affable guys. It just works.

MW: Do y’all write together?

SS: We’re starting to now.

[Ramen is served.]

SS: Bone apple teeth, guys.

All: Bone apple teeth!

HS: I feel like Chris wrote everything.

CK: I think it’s a beautiful thing that you can work with people you trust. You bring this idea, and then you allow them to paint. It's like a massive masterpiece or something. You're trying to paint this massive painting, and then you all bring the parts and ideas. Having the trust in working with people, and having the freedom to express ourselves in the sound, and not be victorious, and just be very cool and chill. We're just lucky to be a band in Brooklyn in the first place, and to be here and survive. Understanding that, counting your blessings, and realizing what's in front of you allows the freedom and fluidity amongst the energy that you’re trying to build. Life’s too short. No one’s perfect. For me, I’ll get caught up in the past and mistakes, and it's honestly detrimental. What’s interesting is that the other day, Jack and I had a disagreement about a song for the album. It made me realize how the music takes control of how you're feeling. It has a mind of its own that will take control because you'll react in ways, and you get so sensitive or frustrated without realizing, and think, “Wow, I guess this is what I'm passionate about.”

JP: It all originated from Chris. We write together sometimes. I helped Chris write “Daisy” and “Hustle My Way.”

CK: Jack’s been an absolute wonderful creature of sound. Something I’m very grateful for. When I say creature, I mean the best compliment I can give.

MW: Now with five of y’all, how’s that been? Are y’all working together well?

CK: Absolutely. Simon just joined the band, but he has this song called “Quiet” that he and Jack worked on together, and that has to be on the album. It’s so fucking good! I have other songs that I want to bring to the table, but I just want to allow for the creative satisfaction amongst everyone in the band. We’re finding and figuring out agreements, disagreements, trusting one another, and taking what the criticisms might be. Those might be hard to hear sometimes. Your ego gets in the way. But if that's how they feel, that's how they're feeling. It’s coming from a truth, and we’re learning to trust that, even though you might disagree.

MW: I feel like today, it’s so overwhelming. You gotta have social media, put out music, all

these things. It has kind of always applied. You’ve always had to put yourself out there and

promote yourself, but social media is a full-time job these days. What are y’all prioritizing these

days alongside the album?

CK: The album. And learning how to present it in a way that makes sense to the public.

HS: A cohesive artistic statement.

JP: Totally. And finding a way to promote it that’s not just blatantly inauthentic. Hell, I’d almost

love to do some satire shit. Where we're walking on the streets like, “How many times have you

listened to Whaat in New York today?” I fucking hate the current climate of social media. You

see how we’re all just getting dumber, and I feel like we should take advantage of that to

promote it. I feel like a lot of people, too, are burnt out of that.

HS: At the end of the day, your music is amazing, Chris. The style in which you compose that music is really beautiful. It’s the type of person you are, and the type of person you keep around you. It’s the family of the band, and what you put out into the world as a fully conceived project, visually, sonically, everything. What you put out there is what it is. If people fuck with it, that’s great. If people don’t, it’s another thing. But people are gonna fuck with this because it’s genuine. It’s who we are. It’s meaningful.

JP: Chris is one of the only guys I know in the music world that really radiates integrity. In the way he writes songs, he can’t write a song like someone else. Chris is almost cursed to sound like himself no matter what, which is a real gift. It’s not like he’s sitting down, “I’m gonna write a Nirvana song” or “I’m gonna write a Third Eye Blind song.” Chris sits down and fucking writes like himself, and I really respect that. I do that sometimes, I sit down, and I’m like, “Fuck, I just wrote a song that exists,” you know?

CK: Thank you, guys. That’s really sweet.

HS: It’s true, dude.

MW: That’s so sweet.

CK: I heard our friend Paul Banegura whistling to my song “Daisy” one night, and I was like, “You’re talented. You have a great tone, and I like your tone.” I just want to be around good vibrations and sound.

SS: You also help foster creativity in others, I feel like, which is nice. That’s the thing about your integrity. When you say that to people, like what you said to Paul, people know you’re telling the truth, because they can feel it radiating off you.

JP: I think one of the goods with this group is that we’re grounded and very collaborative. I remember the first show we ever played together, right before we went on, we were all just trying to crack each other up in the green room, and I love that. We’re just trying to keep it light. We’re just gonna go out there and have fun and play the songs that we like.

Simon Stone, Chris Kennedy, Jack Pacilio by Marc Giuffre

MW: What would y’all say everyone, individually, brings to the table?

JP: What did Will Ferrell say about George Bush? Strategery.

SS: That’s a tough one. I don’t know. Tall. Blonde. Massive rack. Nice shoulders.

CK: I think Ko, for me, brings a peaceful, insightful, intelligent energy that I’m so grateful to be around. It’s so sick. He has some songs that I think will be brilliant for the album. Ko is a fucking fashion designer and is writing a children’s book. He's bringing a vision and energy that's extraordinary.

MW: Do you enjoy childlike energy? I guess, because you hang out with these guys.

[No one really laughs.]

MW: Haha. I’m kidding, I’m kidding.

JP: I wish we were up to more childlike energy.

KM: I always say the bassist is like the dad of the band because while everyone’s just fucking around, I need to make sure I’m locked in, or else everything else just falls apart.

MW: Had you played in other bands before?

KM: Yeah. This is the first band I’ve joined in New York. I lived in Hawaii before. I’ve played in a dub band, played in a psych rock band, so it’s really comfortable being here. The first month I moved here, that’s when I met Chris.

CK: Yes, that was a special moment. When I met Ko, I was obviously looking for a bassist, and the last thing I wanted to do was give off that energy of like, “I need a bassist.”

MW: I know y’all took some time off last year. Does it feel like a new band?

CK: That’s a great question. It was probably half a year out of necessity. We went through a couple bassists, and our drummer at the time had to split. But when it all occurred, I didn’t let it tear me down. I just accepted the circumstances and powered through. I think there was endurance that got built through that. With it being a different band, I’m still the leader, and I still feel that role, so that really hasn’t changed. Sound-wise, it feels different because we have our new members, who are magnificent. Through the time and struggle of orchestrating the band accurately and making sure it's consistent, the sounds have been different that way, but with everyone now, it feels more locked in. Once we cook up the new songs and play those, I think we’ll feel like, “Oh, this is a new band.”

[Getting distracted by the car race on the TV.]

MW: Are you taking your time with the album?

CK: I’m trying to get it done as soon as possible, but not be impulsive about it. We’re luckily working with some very great, talented people to bring the vision and energy, which always takes time. We’ll just jump into the studio with the excitement of the songs being new. The recording engineer we’re working with works very quickly, so I think the album will be done definitely before the end of the summer, and hopefully out by next fall.

MW: I feel like y’all end every night out jamming together. Is this how the album or part of it is being made?

SS: Organic times happen when we’re all just hanging out, and we pick up a song, it’s usually much better that way.

CK: It’s interesting. There’s a song called “Scaling On the Wall,” about my twin brother scaling the wall in my building, that I really want to put on the album. Jack and I were playing it together probably at like 7 a.m. There’s moments like that a lot of times when things will blossom. This song “Jungle” occurred that way a while ago. That might end up being on the album as well. There’s other times where I’m just really sad and playing guitar and have these ideas that I bring to the band. What’s so great though is that those ideas will happen in those hours, and then you bring it to the band in a logical hour, and then it becomes something so much more original.

SS: A logical hour.

[Some order a second round of Sapporo.]

MW: What does it take to make a Whaat song? You were saying it’s hard to get everyone together.

HS: It’s hard to get everyone together, but it’s also easy to get your friends to hang out. In terms of getting bandmates to get together to learn a song, it’s hard, but we’re all friends, so it’s easier to get a hangout together. Then we’re all playing our instruments, and it’s like, “Oh, we all love to play music.” We really love to make something final with Chris’ ideas. He’ll come to us.

CK: For me, right now, I’m trying to practice every week. We all have jobs, so if someone can’t make it or if they’re late or whatever, it’s cool. It is what it is. We all have reality, we have to live it. Understanding and accepting that is really important for the fluidity of the circumstances. The trust within the band makes the motion occur when it does. We could be better live, and that’s something we’re always trying to get better at. But we do our best, and that’s all we can do.

[Cheers.]

KM: It’s interesting too. A lot of the time, it’s only like two or three people in the room at a time. Chris will hit me up, “Hey, can you come over and work on some stuff?” We go out to a bar, we come back, I make a bass line, and the next day, it’s like Jack, Chris, and Simon doing their own thing. It just comes together somehow.

CK: Being the leader of the band and the lyricist, there’s a very big responsibility on my part to make sure that lyrically it’s something that I’ll hopefully be incredibly proud of in my mid-to-late 30s or older. That’s something I’ve been thinking about. There’s been a lot of pressure with these new songs.

MW: Tell me about that pressure to do something now that’ll you’ll be proud of later.

CK: Yeah, it’s something I think about. I’ll write a lyric or melody that’s coming from an emotion that’s real, but then time passes, and I’m like, “Well, that was a really cool melody,” but now I can maybe put a lyric that’s more present in that moment, of self-reflecting on that past moment. The original melody came from a feeling that was definitely true, but could very well have been immature in that moment, and that’s why I enjoy taking my time with lyrics. Sometimes even a week passes, and I feel like a different lyricist from that moment. Giving time and space with lyrics and not being so immediate with it is important for some songs. Then there’s songs like “Hustle My Way,” where I wrote with Jack, and it was so immediate.

JP: We got it done there. Hustle my way motherfucka! Or “Daisy.” We got that in like one hour. I’m a vicious editor though.

CK: And a wonderful producer. I never realized what a producer was until working with Jack, and I was like, “This motherfucker puts you on your toes.”

JP: Growing up with a brother who's a musician too, I've always had that other voice, you know, trying to be like, “The fuck do you mean by that?” It's always funny, because I kind of get to sit into that role with Chris.

MW: Y'all are very similar.

SS: I feel like you guys tap into each other's brotherly energy.

CK: I think you’re doing a great job, Marisa

MW: Thank you. I have a few more questions. What do y’all think of everyone else in town making music? Are you inspired by others around you? Chris, you know a lot of people.

CK: I kind of deflect on what’s happening and what’s seemingly cool, so I just focus on my own thing.

HS: That’s the point dude, that’s the fucking point. Chris is fucking awesome and amazing. Chris is an artist. Chris writes really good music.

JP: He’s got an unimpeachable reputation. He’s a fearless leader.

MW: Do you think that people pick that up about him?

HS: Honesty and personality. Yeah, it’s really honesty.

[Cheers.]

JP: Fearlessness, truth, and integrity.

CK: My mom painted this sign in my room that says “Fearlessness Truth Integrity.” I’ve learned a lot from my mother with that context that I’m very grateful for.

MW: How was playing y’all’s Heaven Can Wait show (10/15/24)?

CK: I loved it. My mom and sister were there. First time my sister saw it. She hugged and kissed me during “Daisy.” She was so proud. I picked up music because of her. She would blow everyone away. She did this thing when she was performing. She would sing and not play guitar for a second, and belt out her voice and blow away the whole room. During our song “Happyland,” when we played it at Heaven, there were moments of that.

SS: I think, for me, it was a particularly nerve-wracking experience. I hadn’t performed live in a little less than a decade, really. I did a lot of performances in high school, and before that, I grew up playing piano and did competitions. So when I got onstage, I was like, this is the little kid in me being nervous playing piano in front of a room full of judges.

MW: I don’t say this in a bad way, but it’s really cool of y’all to bring Simon in the band and teach

him along the way. He’s still learning and figuring it out, but y’all were like, “Let’s fucking have him.”

CK: I remember. It was when I didn’t really want to play guitar with the band anymore, and I was looking for another guitarist. Simon was playing my song “Paralyze,” and he picked it up pretty quickly, and it all clicked, like, “Oh, Simon has to be in the band.” Everyone in the band, we have our own sensibilities that I think we share in the band. I only want to be around people who I share similar sensibilities with and an understanding of the heart. I don’t want to waste my time with bad energy. Simon picked up the song really quickly, and I thought, “The band really needs someone like Simon.” His intelligence, sexiness, his coolness, and he’s talented.

MW: Awww. Were you flattered?

JP: Speech! [Bangs beer bottle against table.]

SS: I was very flattered. I was very excited. I was like, “Woah. This is an opportunity I should not pass up.” Also, I feel comfortable with Jack and Chris. Then I met Harry and Ko, and I was like, “Oh, I’m comfortable with these guys.” It felt like a good combination. It just made a lot of sense. I was like, “Alright, I’m gonna do this.” Very cool.

[Laughs and random talking. Simon pays for the bill, all Venmo him back. Deciding if we’re going to a bar or Uber home.]

MW: I have two more questions. Everyone go around and say your favorite thing about being in Whaat.

HS: My favorite part of being in Whaat is the integrity of the musical project. It's literally somebody who's passionate about music and writes from the heart, and I get to play that music from the heart. I get to play that. That's so amazing. It's amazing.

KM: My favorite thing about Whaat, it makes me feel things.

[All laugh.]

KM: I mean, I like to feel things, so. Whaat makes me feel good.

JP: Tank tops.

[All laugh.]

HS: Never played a gig with sleeves. Sleeves, dude!

CK: Just to play with people I love and care about. ‘Cause this love turns me upside down.

SS: My favorite thing about Whaat is it’s very cathartic and joyous. Yeah. Catharsis and joy.

MW: I love it. Any final words?

CK: Thank you, Marisa.

JP: Thank you, Marisa.

SS: Thank you, uh, Marisa. I guess.

MW: Way to be basic.

KM: Thank you to me.

HS: Is this gonna be on the website? Is this recording?

A CONVERSATION WITH WHAAT

DISASTER MAGAZINE

A CONVERSATION WITH WHAAT

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