Whanganui band Kessel kick off big 2019 gigs as record looms

Whanganui rock band Kessel (ex WHS students) hope to turn two and half years of graft into a successful 2019.

The four-piece kick of the new year with two hometown gigs and frontman Jason Lane hopes to end it with a record and good line-up of summer shows.

Lane, Tim Archer, Simon Grant and Alex Marsh came together over Easter in 2016 to form Kessel after stints in various Whanganui covers bands.

"Tim and I were a bit over doing the covers thing and decided to form a band," Lane says.

Since then Kessel have played various Whanganui shows and hit the road to Hamilton, Auckland and New Plymouth.

"It really came out of nowhere. It was all original, all new and we've been going great guns ever since trying to play more in town and get a bit of a support base," Lane says.

"After getting a bit more comfortable the songs are getting more complex in places and there's more ideas being thrown into the ring to make sure there's more diversity.

"The cool thing is now we've got enough songs that we can select what kind of gig we're playing."

Kessel play at the Caboodle as part of Vintage Weekend from 3pm to 4pm on January 19 and are also planning a fundraising gig for Chronicle Records at Lucky Bar + Kitchen on February 1.

They were in the process of recording four new tracks at Chronicle Records when it was broken into late last year with equipment stolen and damaged, including a hard drive with the band's recordings.

"We're confident that our stuff's still on it but we need to pay to get it fixed," Lane said.

He hoped to invite other bands which had recorded at Chronicle Records to join the gig with money raised going to cover the costs of what they've lost or to get gear repaired.

"I guess what people don't realise is the knock-on effect of something like that," he says.

"People might break in somewhere, take a couple of microphones, a guitar, mess stuff up, but it's not just that.

"How many people were booked in there to record? How many Whanganui musicians have been affected? How many other people's work was on that computer?

"Years and years of hard work goes into the point where you can get into the studio to be ready to have something recorded professionally and for now that is gone."

Kessel plan to finish the recording of four songs they have almost completed to go with two others already available to stream online - and then work towards having enough for an album.

Lane says it's been "refreshing" to be writing and recording original music.

"Because you don't know what's going to happen.

"Every single song has been all four of us contributing to make the song completely different to what it was at the start.

"You can hear how and song started and how it finished up and we want to keep doing that."

"It's a pretty cool thing to be doing and that just comes with same guys in the same room doing the same thing all the time and listening to everyone's ideas.

"We try every idea."