Shoegazing always manages to divide opinion. For some people it’s all about the song, and they just can’t find the tune beneath all the fuzzy guitar noise. And other people would rather listen to all the dreamy atmospheric riffs than watch a monkey like Robbie Williams bomb about a stage on a motorised toilet.

Calla, though, have it all. Like a rockier, New York, all-male Joy Zipper, Calla’s songs throb with enough melody and drowsy fuzz to keep everyone happy. Their latest album Collisions sees the band take a minor step towards meatier rock, and it’s all the better for it – all whispered violence and bruised lyrics. You’ll like it.

We caught up with Wayne B Magruder of Calla for a wee chat…

Who are you, and where are you?
Calla is: Aurelio Valle (vocals, guitar) Wayne B Magruder (drums, samples) and Peter Gannon (bass, guitar)

Tell us about your new album.
The new album Collisions is our
fourth album, and probably our most accessible. It’s more rock than the
last three and translates better at live shows I’d say.

Why should people buy your stuff?
I’m not much of a salesman, but if you’re into bands like My Bloody Valentine, Ride, Massive Attack, etc… you might enjoy us.

What can people expect from seeing Calla live?
We try to
translate the songs a little different live, add or take away samples,
and we try to add a cover song or two – sometimes combining them in our
own songs.

Calla, as well as being the name of a spiffy beat combo, is also
apparently an acronym for ‘Cognitive Academic Language Learning
Approach’, a method of teaching second languages. We personally prefer
the ‘Total Physical Response’ method, especially when it comes to
teaching youngsters. Thoughts?
Yeah that’s interesting. It’s also a
flower and a soul music record label from the 60s. But to us it’s
really just a name that sounded good.

People keep mentioning notoriously unhappy bands when they talk about you. Tell us a joke.
The
fact that I’m over 30 years old and don’t have health insurance is one
hilarious prank, wouldn’t you say? I guess I’m more "sarcastic" funny
and not so much "joke" funny, ya know.

Do you find yourselves getting labelled as a New York band? What does that mean?
Not
too much, we’ve been around a while, before NY bands were hot and all.
If it means more people will give our album a listen, then I guess it’s
alright by me – those scene things are just trends though, it’s not
gonna last too long, anyway.

If an animal consumes both meat and vegetable matter, what is the scientific term by which it is called?
Omnivore (I just looked online for it)

Fallen Vlods. Explain.
I think we just randomly picked words out of dictionary blindfolded for that one.

What’s on the Calla iPod?
On mine: Smiths, Morton Feldman, Missy Elliott, Sun Ra, Guido Mobius, Mike Jones, Steve Reich…

Favourite movie soundtrack?
Wings Of Desire.

Motorhead have Cheese And Chive Ruffles on their rider. What’s on yours?
Nothing out of the ordinary (sorry!), just some basic booze and water and snacks (veggies, pita-hummus, fruit)

What are you going to do right now?
I’m trying to get all those things done on my "to do" list…

Visit the Calla official website or Visit the official Wayne B Magruder website

Listen to Calla tracks at the Calla Myspace page

Search for the cheapest way to buy Calla music at Kelkoo.co.uk

[story by Stuart Heritage]