Eddie Kiesanowski is the face that fronts, and the man behind, Pretty Stooked – a tidy 5-member indie act out of Ōtautahi.
With a growing collection of singles characterised by the hazy, sneakily polished guitar music Te Waipounamu so comfortably plays muse to, the band are taking their place as staples both on student radio and the live circuit.
Pretty Stooked had its start while Kiesanowski was living in Melbourne, where he'd relocated at age 21 with another act, Skelter. That group had worked with and been mentored by Tom Larkin (Shihad/Pacifier), but eventually disbanded due to creative differences – leaving Kiesanowski free to venture in new musical directions.
Where Skelter was heavier, rockier, Pretty Stooked is light and open; sugar-free alternative pop music that's not afraid to catch feelings.
"I used to listen to heaps of classic rock as a teenager," says Kiesanowski, explaining the transition. "I started Skelter when I was 17, I'd written a bunch of songs and we just did our thing. Back then – this was 2012, 2013, so Spotify hadn't really popped off that much – I was getting all my music from The Rock, and Hauraki.
"When I moved to Australia, I discovered so much music. It opened up a whole different world to me, and I was like oh wow, I'm not really enjoying this thing that I'm doing. So it just kinda changed. I don't know what Pretty Stooked is – a big mash-up of what I listen to, I guess, or just what I write. I struggled a bit at the start to figure it out."
What had inadvertently begun as a solo project was able to develop into a full band after Kiesanowski returned to Christchurch, care of Covid.
"I started writing some of these songs, but I didn't have other people to play with in Australia because everyone was so busy with other projects," he recalls. "Then Covid happened, so I came home. I started talking to Cullen, my brother – we were living together – and we were like, let's just play. So I play in his project [the Knews], and he plays [bass] in my project."
The Kiesanowski brothers – who between them might have the best hair in New Zealand music – enlisted another pair of brothers, Jayden Bowley and Mitch Bowley-Black to join them on guitar and drums, and found a compatible keys player in Tyler Robbins. Jayden's since returned to a gig playing music on cruise ships, making room for Aasha Mallard. Eddie credits his bandmates for helping him hone the Pretty Stooked sound:
"When I first started writing the songs it was just me. I would make demos in my studio, and I'd never done that before, so they were terrible. I was figuring it out, and I'd have songs that sounded real different, real poppy, and then I'd have other songs that were real rocky. Once the band got in a room and started doing it, it was like oh there it is, that's the sound."
Pretty Stooked are currently working on an EP with the team at LOHO studios, which they're releasing track by track – each a couple of months apart. The first three tunes (My Line, Stay, and Wanted) have already received more than 35,000 streams on Spotify, as well as airplay on RNZ and across the SRN network.
The fourth single, In My Head, is out today. Kiesanowski explains that it's "about being in a relationship that you know isn't working. A long-term relationship that you're like, I'm not feeling like this is working anymore, but also it's so hard to get out. And you're just pretty much getting in your head."
The other song performed here is My Line, which – as well as a rumination on the fact his dad is always right – is about "when you wake up in the middle of the night and your brain goes mental. You can't stop it and can't get back to sleep, you're just running over everything in your life. Everything you possibly can, and you're just like 'oh my god. Shut up and let me go to sleep.'"
While he's loving being in Ōtautahi, Kiesanowski still feels the pull to broader horizons. The costs involved in touring a full band around the motu, and limited scope for growth, inevitably give rise to the feeling it might make more sense to sub a long haul flight for some of those lengthy van rides. But for now, he's happy to be home.
"The music scene has felt so much more involved since Covid, in Christchurch anyway. Covid happened then all of a sudden people were like, 'let's go to gigs, and do cool things.' It's been really awesome being back."
Listen to the Locals Only podcast below. Made with funding from NZ On Air.