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Kestrels: Where They Are & Where They're Going
By Jillianne Hamilton
(08/11/09)

Three-piece indie rock outfit Kestrels are at it again. Their first full-length album dropped today, only months after releasing their well-received 3-song EP Seaside last December. Lead singer/guitarist Chad Peck answered some questions about the new album, Primary Colours.

So, how are things?
I'm OK. I blew a tire on the drive home from Halifax last night and waited for a tow truck for 3 hours in Fall River. I have excellent friends who really bailed me out and saved the day. Thanks Allison and Greg!

How are you feeling about the album?
I'm really happy with it. Some of the songs are really old and I've been writing a lot lately- sort of going in all directions. I think our album is a good representation of where we were and where we are going. If you listen to the first song written for the album ("Plastic Dresses") and the last song written ("Ridicule"), you can see that we run the gamut of dynamic balladry and up-tempo barre chord rock and roll. I don't think we'll ever write a song like "Take The Picture" again, though. A lot of people like it, but it drives me crazy for some reason. I really like the vinyl. The cover looks so good on that big format and it sounds warm. It is a solid record. I'm proud of it and I'm excited for other people to hear it. I have a small fantasy of releasing 4 7 inches next year with 4 different directions but I doubt it will happen. I might do that as a solo thing, though. I have mildly schizophrenic ideas about what kind of music I want to write.

Chad Peck's Top 6 East Coast Acts
* Doug Mason * Eric's Trip * L/P	* Lucky Me * The Memories Attack * Windom Earle

How do you think it’ll fit in with the rest of the great east coast indie rock that’s out right now?
It's melodic and loud. Sometimes there are guitar solos, other times there are washes of feedback. I really like that we're a three piece. It was kind of a joke at the start that we branded ourselves as 'Alternative' to harken back to the mid-90s flannel and distortion pedal thing- but I kind of like that it's stripped down when we play live. I over-dubbed a lot on the record with keyboard and extra guitars (my girlfriend also played uncredited Kaoss Pad on the last track), but I'm really happy that we do it live with 1 guitar, 1 bass, and 1 drum kit. It's a pretty honest representation of us. No theatrics.

The Got To Get Got, Tomcat Combat, The Medium Mood & Kestrels: who would win in a fight? (Y’know, if it were possible.)
Trick question. Jim from VKNGS would laugh at our paltry attempts to intimidate each other and proceed to throw us around like Polyphemus did to Odysseus' men (before he got his eye gouged out).

Have any tour dates that fans might be interested in hearing about?
We're gearing up for a 5 date Maritime tour with Bike Rodeo once the kids are back in school and then a lengthy tour in March. The dates will be on our webpage and our MySpace. They might even be on our Twitter!

(Photo courtesy of the Kestrels website.)

Related links:
+ Kestrels (website)
+ Kestrels (MySpace)

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Jillianne Hamilton is a writer, blogger and a lover of indie music, funny movies, artsy things and the color red. She is studying Journalism at Holland College, had an internship at the Truro Daily News and blogs for various college and pop culture websites. To contact Jill, visit her website.