A lot of bands these days are putting out music similar to what we heard in the 80’s. Whether you want to call it yacht rock or electropop, we sort of heard it 30 years ago. Though that doesn’t change the fact this sort of revival is bringing with it tons of awesome music. Memorry stands out with a sound featuring futurstic synth, afro-pop, and a touch of disco funk. I had a chance to talk with Memorry founder Shaun Hettinger about the group’s origins, their influences, and his obsession with Wham!.
CS: How did Memoryy start out?
S: Memoryy rose from the ashes of my previous band, Kitten Berry Crunch. As the name suggests, Kitten Berry Crunch was a tongue-in-cheek jokey pop project. I think I was using humor to test the waters of electro-pop. After a year of KBC, the direction had veered away from that into a more serious art-rock style of electro-pop, and the name change reflected that to us. As an aside, if you wanna see some really cool music videos featuring cats, you should youtube Kitten Berry Crunch.
S: Well I’m very open about Wham! being my guilty pleasure. They’re not my favorite band of all time or anything, but they definitely sit in this really interesting realm of 1980’s synth-pop I love. They’ve got a dynamic vocalist in George Michael, got some really sick synths (like the SH-101), and know how to write a killer hook. I recently got bassist Sean Silva into their song “Everything She Wants” – my favorite – and now he’s starting to dj it in his sets. Much to the appreciation of my drunk feet.
CS: To people who have never heard of you, how would you describe your music?
S: Artsy Electro-Pop.
S: I moved to Brooklyn 4 years ago to chase my dream of being a bandwhore. After missing being a frontman, I sought out and found all these guys here. I think playing in a band in Brooklyn at this moment in time is a special thing. It’s highly competitive, which is great cause it keeps you on your toes. There’s a million venues packed with amazing bands every night of the week, so you see all these bands trying to find a way to stand out in their own way. It’s definitely inspiring, and at times soul crushing. It’s definitely a “small fish in a big pond” kinda thing.
S: It’s the only name we could agree on! THAT was an annoying fight to have for 3 months.
CS: What’s a little known fact about the group?
S: Everybody else in the band has their side projects, save me. (This is my side project.) Drummer Dan has Disney Girls (1957). Sean and Adam have Teddy Midnight. Guitarist Charlie Rauh has too many projects for me to even begin naming…
S: Practice performing. Netflix. Snot rockets. Get in debates about Animal Collective. Go to shows. Take turns carrying each other home.
S: Well there’s some remixes we’re working on at the moment.We also have the material for a new album, so after this tour that’s a conversation we need to have.
To learn more about Memoryy from the website here.