OTTTO: “We like to have fun, but that doesn’t mean our songs can’t be dark and aggressive”

There’s some kind of presence in the same room as OTTTO. During their Zoom interview with Kerrang!, the Venice, CA trio keep looking beyond or to the side of the camera, as if warning off whatever’s lurking there. Then, at one point, a plastic Mariachi figure reveals itself briefly, peering in at the top of K!’s screen for a moment before withdrawing again.

Judging from the way the trio – frontman/guitarist Bryan Noah Ferretti, bassist Tye Trujillo and relatively new drummer Patrick ‘Triko’ Chavez – are trying to suppress laughs and smiles, it’s safe deduce it isn’t an evil entity. It’s also likely not Tye’s dad – the bassist in some band called Metallica – though the image of Rob trying to put off his son during an interview is rather amusing. Whoever it is, it captures the light-hearted, youthful spirit of the band. After all, OTTTO’s roots can be traced back to 2017, when Bryan and Tye were barely in their mid-teens and decided to bin their previous project The Helmets to start this one. Because even from that young age, there was always ambition in OTTTO’s blood.

“When we first started, we knew we wanted to do it professionally one day,” says Tye, who at 18, has already established himself in the scene through playing bass for both Korn and Suicidal Tendencies (as well as helping to track extra guitar parts on Master Of Puppets when it was used in Stranger Things 4, to phenomenal effect). “We didn't have to be as responsible, because we were all kids running around. Now, since we're young adults, we have to be a little more responsible, but there's still that same level of fun, because playing live music and being on stage, that energy is always there.”

Just because they’re young, fun and full of mischievous energy, however, doesn’t mean their music is throwaway. Sure, there’s a similar energy to their thrash/grunge/alt.rock hybrid, but with its heavy riffs also come some heavy subjects.

Take Skyscraper, for instance, from the band’s recently released debut album, Life Is A Game. A song inspired by a near-fatal car crash that Tye was in, its lyrics bring to life the terror of that specific moment as well as larger philosophical musings on life as a whole. ‘Riding crossing my lanes / Knowing life is a game / Something twisted, shifted, coming my way,’ sings Bryan. ‘A perfect moment in vain / Thinking life was a game / All at once my life struck dead in my lane.’ That lyrical change, from knowing to wrongly thinking, is subtle but significant, and adds a profound, existential perspective to the song.

“We collaborated on those lyrics,” says Bryan. “It was one of our first jams. It was great to capture Tye’s story, but also tie it to how I think about life sometimes, and how during the pandemic my perception kind of shifted. I feel like everyone was in a state of uncertainty, facing a lot of shit they’ve never faced before.”


"We're very playful,” adds Triko, “and we like to have fun. But that doesn’t mean our songs can’t be dark and aggressive.”

Like the album’s nine other songs, it’s both wise beyond the band’s years but also overflowing with their youthful attitude and zest for living in the moment. It’s also a kind of music not many (if any) bands their age play. Much of that no doubt comes from their bassist being descended from metal royalty, but it’s also testament to OTTTO’s desire to not live in that shadow.


“There definitely is pressure,” says Tye. “People expect you to be good. To cope with that, I just try to be the best I can be, but I also try not to think about it as much, and not let it affect me or the band and what direction we want to go in.”


“I don't think there should ever be a limit on our sound,” says Bryan. "I think, too, because we're a lot younger, there's more inspiration, you know, as we grow up, and that changes over time. So I think it's important to kind capture everything we take in and digest. And whatever we do, we'll make it our own, whether it's a shoegaze kind of thing, a Grateful Dead kind of thing, or EDM…”

While EDM is doubtful, perhaps the only person who really knows what the future for OTTTO holds is Mariachi. Maybe he’s the mastermind behind the whole band. Sadly, he wasn’t giving anything away. Right now, though, he doesn’t need to. Mixing their impressive heritage with a youthful abandon, OTTTO’s music is essential and exciting, vital and unusual, and much more profound than their years or demeanour lets on.

OTTTO's new album Life Is A Game is out now

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