Herra Terra
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Herra Terra

Boston, Massachusetts, United States | INDIE

Boston, Massachusetts, United States | INDIE
Band Rock EDM

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This band has not uploaded any videos
This band has not uploaded any videos

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Press


"Playground Boston Herra Terra Show Review"

Herra Terra kicked off the night’s proceedings with some laptop loop-fueled chaos. Their spread looked like the practice space of some mad scientist musician, with amps, synths, endless effects pedals and wires running this way and that as the band thrashed about playing their respective instruments (keys, guitar and drums) with equal parts reckless abandon and surgical precision. Electro, dance, prog, Nintendo bleep-bloop rock, whatever you want to call it, Herra Terra have a truly unique sound. After all, any band that can layer a club rager chorus on top of some swells of bizarre B-horror film noise deserves respect in my book. - Playground Boston


"PastePunk News: Mylene Sheath Signs Herra Terra"

When we [label owners Lindsey and Joel] flew to Boston last December to be with JUNIUS at the record release show for The Martyrdom of a Catastrophist, we knew that TOMBS and the always amazing IREPRESS were going to be opening. But we had no idea that the other opening act would sound like a HEAD AUTOMATICA / DEPECHE MODE hybrid and incite a feel-good, dance-party riot… and blow our minds. Less than a month later, we got in touch with the band and begged them to let us work with them. And so it came to be. Catchy, dancey, bumping, thumping, grooving, and infectious as fuck – HERRA TERRA bring the party and don’t wait for the party to find them. A confident swagger and a humble attitude make up the cocktail of beautiful people, and Herra Terra have these ingredients in spades.

The new album, Quiet Geist, drops in September with artwork being handled by Radar Visual mastermind Michael Repasch-Nieves (Junius) and if you’ve seen his work on the Junius albums, you know it’s going to be top shelf stuff for sure. Recording, mixing, and mastering credits are forthcoming, along with the tracklisting and cover art – stay tuned… the party is about to get started!!!

- Mylene Shealth is truly one of the most compelling newish labels out there right now. I’ve only been listening to their releases for about a year or so, but their commitment to incredible artwork, recording quality, and so forth is amazing. A recent promo package from them include a 20+ page label zine, which I loved. These things basically went extinct with everything going digital, but Mylene definitely gets the idea of building a label into a brand without doing in a hokey way (c.f, Victory Records’ wacky “Your Label Your Music” ads from a few years ago). - PastePunk


"The Pulse News: Up & Comers"

Think of the sexiness and delicious sin of Depeche Mode grooves. Toss around the sensuality and prowess of Madonna as her tongue licks out intense lyrics. Now add two 22-year-old hotties as singers, guitarists, keyboardists and drummers and you have Herra Terra sliding their rhythmic fingers up and down your back. And you know you like it.Herra Terra, a Worcester-based band, is made up of John Tonelli and Gregg Kusumah-Atmadja and if the duo must be classified, they fall under many categories.“Our music is a fusion between rock music, electronica, electro,” said Tonelli. Pulse reached him as he was driving in his Toyota Yaris from Providence back to his home city. He was being your typical bad boy by talking on the phone as he drove. But he was on speaker phone, so we’ll forgive him.

“Our music is very 80s-esque, but that’s a hard question to answer. Our music is basically intangible.”

These days, Herra Terra gigs out at the Spiritual Haze Hookah Bar, Providence’s Club Hell and Boston’s Middle East, performing crazy passionate songs such as “Ejection Seats” and “Make a Scar.” And they live the ultimate artistic life. The two high school pals live together with Master Michael Grady, a hypnotist (who was, incidentally, featured in the January issue of Pulse).“It’s great,” Tonelli said of his living situation. “If we want to make some music, we can go into the next room and cook something up on the keyboard.”And according to Tonelli, living with a hypnotist has a few perks too.“He helped me quit smoking. And man, I was smoking forever. For like ten years,” he revealed.

Herra Terra has quite a bit on its plate for 2009. The boys have decided to write at least 20 songs by this summer, which is a feat for any artist. They will continue performing and try to expand their network. Playing Herra Terra’s sound is somewhat challenging in Worcester, Tonelli noted, simply because the city is known for its amazing hard metal bands. But that in no way discourages him or his partner. In fact, the two have so much faith in what they have going that they’re looking to make it a threesome. Sure the boys can make wonders with drum machines, but they crave more.

“We’re looking for a drummer,” Tonelli said. “We typically start creating music by concentrating on a beat and then adding other instruments in. It all starts with a pulse and we go from there.” - The Pulse


"Scenepointblank News: Mylene Sheath Signs Herra Terra"

“When we [label owners Lindsey and Joel] flew to Boston last December to be with JUNIUS at the record release show for The Martyrdom of a Catastrophist, we knew that TOMBS and the always amazing IREPRESS were going to be opening. But we had no idea that the other opening act would sound like a HEAD AUTOMATICA / DEPECHE MODE hybrid and incite a feel-good, dance-party riot… and blow our minds. Less than a month later, we got in touch with the band and begged them to let us work with them. And so it came to be. Catchy, dancey, bumping, thumping, grooving, and infectious as fuck – HERRA TERRA bring the party and don’t wait for the party to find them. A confident swagger and a humble attitude make up the cocktail of beautiful people, and Herra Terra have these ingredients in spades.

The new album, Quiet Geist, drops in September with artwork being handled by Radar Visual mastermind Michael Repasch-Nieves (Junius) and if you’ve seen his work on the Junius albums, you know it’s going to be top shelf stuff for sure. Recording, mixing, and mastering credits are forthcoming, along with the tracklisting and cover art – stay tuned… the party is about to get started!!! - Scenepointblank


"AltSounds News: Herra Terra Sign to Mylene Sheath"

Herra Terra was conceived by vocalist John Paul Tonelli and guitarist Gregg Kusumah-Atmadja. The duo released a 3-song demo in 2008, entitled “Organs For The Afterlife,” with help from Boston-based musicians Bad Rabbits and Irepress, and sound engineer Mike ”Mo” Lapierre (Death Cab for Cutie, Brand New, Drop Kick Murphy's). Not being able to find a permanent fixture on drums, the band played as a two piece electronic act in the New England area until 2009. After rigorously searching for a third member, the band finally recruited Brad Caetano (Arms & Sleepers, Seneca, AM/PM) on drums. From there, the group melded together their electronic and live elements, thus becoming the complete electro/rock outfit they had hoped for.

Herra Terra returned to the studio in December of '09 to work on several new tracks for the new LP, "Quiet Geist," marked for a Fall release in 2010. New and standout tracks from the album include "Lost In Labyrinth” and “No Tricks.” Herra Terra has shared the stage with some outstanding artists such as: Shiny Toy Guns, Piebald, Damone, Freeze Pop, Green Jelly, Appleseed Cast, Hot Rod Circuit, Chk Chk Chk (!!!), Bad Rabbits, Irepress, Semi Precious Weapons and many others. - AltSounds


"Blog.WBRU News: Rock Hunt Saturday: Herra Terra"

Herra Terra is an electro-rock trio from Providence and Boston. Influences include new wave pop/rock, hip-hop, jazz, and video games. Their music possesses a sort of fantastical, dream-like quality while still sounding very soulful (check out “Ejection Seats”), and is avant-garde enough that their sound is different but not in a way that seems like they’re just doing it for show. Anyone who wishes that Ratatat and Muse had had a love child, Herra Terra is for you. - WBRU


Discography

Organs for the Afterlife EP (self-released, 2008)
Quite Geist CD/LP/Digital (The Mylene Sheath, 2010)

Photos

Bio

HERRA TERRA was conceived by Vocalist, John Paul Tonelli and Guitarist, Gregg Kusumah-Atmadja. The duo released a 3 song EP in 2008 entitled “Organs For The Afterlife” with help from Boston based musicians (Bad Rabbits, Irepress) and Sound Engineer, Mike ”Mo” Lapierre (Death Cab for Cutie, Brand New, Drop Kick Murphy's). Not being able to find a permanent fixture on drums, the band played as a two piece electronic act in the New England area until 2009. After rigorously searching for a Drummer, the band recruited Brad Caetano (Arms & Sleepers, Seneca, AM/PM). Ever since, the group has melded together and enhanced their electronic and live elements, adding Adrian Bettencourt Andrade on Bass, HERRA TERRA has become the complete electro/rock outfit they had hoped for. .. HERRA TERRA is currently booking a US tour in support of the new LP, "Quiet Geist", set to release September 2010. New tracks include "Lost In Labyrinth” and “No Tricks”. HERRA TERRA has shared the stage with some outstanding artists such as: Shiny Toy Guns, Piebald, Damone, Freeze Pop, Green Jelly, Appleseed Cast, Hot Rod Circuit, Chk Chk Chk (!!!), Bad Rabbits, Irepress, Semi Precious Weapons and many others. .. .. "With enough electronica influence to overthrow Skynet, Herra Terra's form of synth rock is infectiously melodic, even avant-garde at times, but never quirky or different for the sake of being different. Underneath all the gadgets, an educated appreciation for the fundamentals of rock acts as the driving force behind all of Herra Terra's composition." -Jason Perry