Band of the Week: Blaka Watra

MEET THE BAND: Jessica Julian (vocals,
synth and keyboards, guitar), Lauren
Voss (vocals, guitar), and John Panza
(drums).

DYNAMIC DUO: Originally, Voss and
Julian met in the local indie rock act
Bella Sylva, initially a three-piece
that then added Voss. The band split
up, and Julian reached out to Voss
to jam. They formed Blaka Watra in
2008. “Neither of us was the primary
songwriter in Bella Sylva, but I sang
on some songs and she sang on some
songs and it became apparent that we
had a similar coloring of our sound,”
says Julian. “We worked together for a
year in Bella Sylva,” says Voss. “We get
along really well, and I like [Julian’s]
songwriting style a lot. There’s
contrast between our styles. I wanted
to do something different where I was
a second guitarist. Bella Sylva was
psych guitar rock and this is weirder.
I think both Jessica and I are both into
heavier stoner rock and metal like
Jucifer. I also like poppier stuff. We
love Brian Eno’s Here Come the Warm
Jets. It’s one of our favorite albums.”
When their original drummer left the
band, they recruited Panza in 2010.

A CAUSE FOR CELEBRATION: After Panza
was diagnosed with cancer a few
years back, the band’s future became
uncertain. His recovery, however,
enabled the band to fi nish Church
of Insomnia, which it released three
years ago on Panza’s 40th birthday.
“It was great to have a birthday party
and a release party since he had been
diagnosed with cancer, and we weren’t
sure he was going to recover,” says
Voss. “We saw that he potentially had
years ahead of him and were hopeful.”

TAKING REFUGE: Recorded and mixed
by John Delzoppo at Negative Space
studio, the band’s new album, City of
Refuge, features songs with dense
layers of sound (think a heavier
Cocteau Twins). “It has a bit of a
different feel,” says Voss. “It was
more minimal even though there’s
lots of sounds and things going on. I
tried to scale back what I was doing
with the guitars. I wanted to be more
precise and calculated. Before, I would
just shred. I wanted to do something
more sophisticated. For me, it was
more about simplicity.” The spacey
guitar riffs in the atmospheric “You
Are Never Alone,” a song about the
fragility of life, have a Tortoise-like
quality. “I lost my partner [local
musician Ted Flynn] who was my best
friend, and John went from having a
normal life to thinking he could die
in six months,” says Julian. “That
changes you forever. You can’t undo
those things. What I do creatively now
will have some element of being aware
of that. Life’s experiences are pretty
heavy for us as a group.”

WHY YOU SHOULD HEAR THEM: The
album’s sparse opening track, “You
Are Never Alone” features whispered
vocals and a haunting melody.
“[Julian] came up with the melody
and I just played one riff and locked
into that tone to see what we could
build using a limited palette,” says
Voss. “She has this oscillator box built
by Ted Flynn, her fiance who passed
away. She wanted to bring in some of
the instruments he left her. It adds this
interesting texture. We worked with
a limited structure but with lots of
layering.” The upcoming show at the
Happy Dog serves as a dual CD release
party. In addition to releasing City of
Refuge, the group will also release
Olde Songs, an EP of songs from the
band’s back catalog that it re-recorded.