Interview
Kelly Pettit
Fri, 18 Apr 2008 15:36:01
The winner of UBL’s Ultimate Band Contest walks us through his musical journey
Canadian native Kelly Pettit knew from a young age that music was his passion. After playing in numerous bands and releasing CDs independently, his journey in pursuit of his dream eventually took him clear across the globe to Japan where his star continued to rise. As a member of the UBL.com musical community he entered the site’s Ultimate Band Contest in 2007 competing with over 2000 other artists for the chance to be chosen as the #1 artist on the network. After thousands of votes were cast, Kelly emerged as the victor, giving him exposure to many more potential fans through a promotional partnership with ARTISTdirect. We tracked the singer down in Japan to discuss his musical career to date, his work with UBL and his plans for the future.
Tell me a little bit about growing up. When did you know that music was your passion?
Music was always around the house—my dad played guitar. There was always music around. I had a lot of friends that were musicians at the time. At, probably, 13 or 14-years-old I started rocking out the guitar. I started writing songs and they were really bad at the time. We formed a lot of really bad garage bands. It’s a typical story, like most musicians at the time. When I was 16-years-old, my friend got a hold of a 4-track. I don’t think anyone knows what that is anymore. It was from 1984-1985. We were like 15 and 16, just writing a bunch of songs. I started recording in a bigger studio, when I was 18 or 19-years-old, and recorded a couple of songs. I moved to Australia, my father’s an Australian, and I moved around a bunch of studios over there. I was recording, and singing backup, for a bunch of studios as well.
And as all musicians know, it’s never overnight.
Yeah, it’s never overnight. You do it because you love it, that’s the bottom line. It’s been 21 years of experience. I wish I could pack it into a couple of years—the knowledge has taken a long time to accumulate. It’s a long process, and hard work at the same time, but it’s been fun.
So what bands were you listening to when you first picked up that guitar?
There are so many. I’m from Vancouver, Canada, so Bryan Adams was big back at the time. I was a big Beatles fan, because of my father; and early Rod Stewart. The weird thing, for me, is that I always had a taste that went all over the place. The Cure, Billy Joel, Elton John’s Goodbye Yellow Brick Road album—all that stuff really got under my skin.
All great bands. Did you find when you moved to Australia that making music was different there? How was the transition?
Well, for me, I don’t know if there was a transition, being so young. It was just sort of one big event. I was just learning all the time. The music was big—bands like INXS. In Australia there were bands like Cold Chisel—all these bands I’d never heard of. I was introduced to a whole bunch of Australian music like Split Ends and Crowded House. In particular Crowded house and Neil Finn’s songwriting styles were something I fell in love with.
You obviously play guitar. I read you also play bass and fiddle as well.
Guitar is my first instrument. The others, I’ve learned not that very well, to be honest, except the mandolin. I was in a really cool band when I was in Canada going to University. We had an upright bass player, another guitar player, and fiddle player and we traded back and forth. He actually plays in Kelly Clarkson’s band now, and was in Shania Twain’s band for a while. He’s an extremely talented musician. So we were always trading different instruments. I would get lessons from him all the time, the poor guy. He taught me the cool tricks. I never considered myself a fantastic guitarist or instrumentalist. I always thought my strength was in my songwriting. That’s always been where my heart has been.
I saw you made your first album back in ‘97. What was that experience like when you first got into the studio to record a proper album?
I was really lucky, as I mentioned earlier. I was in a three-piece band. We used to be street performers. Long story short, you had to audition for a city to get a permit to play there. We used to go down there on the weekends and play this really cool spot. People from all walks of life would pass by and take this bus from one part of Vancouver to another. Another group down there had a young guy that was studying to become a recording engineer. He found us and asked us if he could do his master’s degree with the three of us performing. I came in with a handful of songs, and we recorded eight songs for free. About six months later, I recorded another five or six songs with my own money. Then I sat back, scratched my head, and said, “I’ve got 14 songs here, I can put a CD together.” That’s how my first CD came about. It wasn’t a plan from A to B.
When you were making those records, did you plan to produce and distribute independently, or did you plan to shop majors?
I never shopped majors. I don’t really know why. Maybe it was a lack of knowledge, or a lack of exposure. The first CD came out just before I came to Japan. When I came to Japan, I had the CD with me, and I was performing all these gigs in Japan. The CD was selling like hot cakes and that’s when I said, “This isn’t a bad little business I started here.” I was going to write a CD and see if I could do things on a bigger scale. As you know, this business is changing every day, and it seems as if the majors aren’t the way to go anyway. I’ve kind of been doing these last three CDs in a revolutionary age, where your music evolves to be independent now. You can actually make a living now being an independent artist, whereas 10 years ago you couldn’t. It was a lot harder.
It just speaks to the way that you promote. You work hard to promote your music in order to get it out there, especially with this UBL contest you wound up winning.
Yeah, that was tough work. I had a lot of great staff, and a lot of great supporters on board to really help me out with that. Mind you, one of the hardest things about being a musician is that once you have a product, you have to turn around and be a businessman. You’ve got to buckle up and see if you can make a business out of it. That’s what I try to do with the CD, promote it and push it. It’s a tough thing to do. Living in Japan, I’ve got a little bit of a bonus over here because I speak the language, but I have a hard time dealing with a lot of North American stuff at this stage.
When did you first decide to pack up and go to Japan? How did you get into the scene there?
Our band was playing a nightclub, and a Japanese agency approached us and said, “Do you guys want to come over to Japan?” To make a long story short, we packed up and flew over here. We did a six week gig at a couple of different venues. One was a theme park, and one was a five star hotel. It was really cool at the time. A couple members of the band at the time were married, so when the six weeks expired, they went back to Canada. I said to the agency, “I just graduated from university. Do you want me to stick around? Is there anything I can do?” I signed a different contract with them, and that lasted about two or three years. Then I went out on my own. Now that I can speak the language, I’ve just been marketing myself over here. Between you and me, I’m looking to get back to North America in the near future. I mean Japan’s been a fantastic ride. I just feel that, emotionally, I’m at the end of it. I am from Canada, and ten years is a long time to be away from friends and family. I’d like to find a way to get back. I made a lot of connections in Japan being here the past 10 years, and it’ll be a tough thing to throw them away, but I need a good kick in the butt anyhow, and a good challenge again.
The adventure is half the fun of being a musician.
Yeah, it is. I mean, it’s kind of scary. You wouldn’t recommend it to your friends unless they absolutely love it.
Talk to me about the movie scores you worked on.
That was just me trying to network, putting my music out there as much as I could. Some filmmakers put a pretty good movie together—it put a smile on my face. I emailed them and said, “If you guys have anyplace where you need some backup music, give me a call.” It was another two or three months before I got an email back from them. They just gave me the feel of the movie. I had to write music without seeing it. I recorded a bunch of stuff, and gave it to them. They threw it in, and it was a good experience. It wasn’t a Hollywood movie, but you’ve got to start there and work your way up.
You’ve got to find your way in. There’s a first step for every journey.
I did a lot of little things like that. I went back to Canada in the summer to promote the CD, and do a thank you tour for the UBL contest that I won. I was in the local news, and in the papers. I did a free show at an outdoor theater. A ton of people came down for that. UBL was great to me, and the contest was tough. I was in a tight race for first place. I had a crew and a team help me out. From Canada to America and Australia to Japan, I had people all over the world cheering for me. When I won, it was such a thrill that so many people put all this energy in it for me.
It’s all about the fans. Anything you want to say to your fans now?
Anytime you’re in Japan hit me up, KellyPettit.com or myspace.com/KellyPettit. You can also go to CDBaby.com/kellypettit to purchase the CD. iTunes and any other digital serving company out there have my CD as well. If you want me to play in L.A., someone contact me.
—Chas Reynolds
04.18.08
SIDE NOTE: There must have been a misunderstanding somewhere during the phone conversation between us. For the record, I do not play fiddle. I may have been talking about my friend Cory Churko at the time.
Cheers.
