What are your names?
We are Josh Keillor (vox, gtr), Eric Tarquinio (bass), Peter Keillor (gtr, keys), Brian McMahon (drums)
and James Puntillo (gtr)
What is the band’s name?
Together we are Tripper and the Wild Things.
How did you come up with the band’s name?
1 part children’s book (Where the Wild Things Are)
1 part Bill Murray movie (Meatballs)
What is your genre of music?
I think we are in the realm of guitar rock, indie rock.
Give us a little bio about you.
Start a band with your friends.
These words are a thesis statement for us in Tripper and the Wild Things. From the group’s inception
as a long-dormant side project between Josh and Eric back in high school, to present day, our group,
now 5 strong, brings a passion and energy to the stage that can only come from good friends sharing
their love of music with each other and their audience.
What made you go into music?
Our ears. I think we’ve all kind of been in and around music for most of our lives so it’s kind of been a
natural fit for us.
Who are your influences?
Nirvana, Pixies, Smashing Pumpkins, Englebert Humperdink
Are you signed?
Nope, we’re fully independent!
You released your EP ‘Fever Dreams’, tell us more about the EP.
Fever Dreams is the culmination of a long year of writing, pondering, guitar pedal surfing and mood
swings that we endured as a five piece for the first time. I think this is the first release as a full band
that we were really able to dial into each one of our strong points and each individually bring
something to the table that meant something to us. Thematically it deals with growing into
adulthood and the trial and error pains that go along with that whole process.
Describe each track in two words.
Fever Dreams: Big mood
What’s the Deal? (with Kim Deal): Pixies who?
Get Burnt: Let’s go!
Sweetest Curse: Power ballad
What was the writing and recording process like?
The writing process was pretty typical. We’d start with one idea or riff and gradually build off it until
we had something that resembled a song. We got together with Simon Austin in early spring to start
chiselling away at the ideas until we had carved them into something we could bring into the studio.
Simon was very hands on and was super easy and great to work with. We felt he really knew our
vision and what we wanted and honestly he nailed it. He was great to work with.
Who did you work with on the EP?
We had the pleasure of working with Simon Austin from the band Incase We Crash as a producer
and engineer. He brought a lot of great songwriting tips and tricks to help refine the tunes into what
we feel are the tightest batch of tracks we’ve done so far.
Will we see a music video for any of the songs and if so what was the creative process like?
We created a music video for the title track ‘Fever Dreams’, with the help of the folks at Black Lake
Media! You can check it out at the link below.
What else can we expect in 2022?
Hopefully we can buckle down and get back into the writing process and keep churning out some
tunes. Maybe some free-form tuba experimentation. Who knows?
Where do you see yourself now in 5 Years?
Hopefully still making music in some capacity!
What quote or saying do you always stick by?
Have a good time, all the time – Viv Savage
When you are at a gig, what are 5 things you cannot forget?
- Earplugs
- Change of clothes
- That spare cable you think you won’t need but which ends up saving your set
- Homer Simpson donut bucket hat
- Earplugs
Do you have social media accounts so your fans can follow you?
We can be found on Instagram @tripperandthewildthings, or through our website at
https://linktr.ee/tripperandthewildthings. Thanks for having us on to talk about our little project!
