"'Not
Pretty Today' is one of our newer songs," says Stacy Kerber of The
Moto-Litas. "We learned it
just before we went into the studio, and
arrangement-wise, it's perfect. I like the opening, which I played on
the ride
cymbal. It's sweet and pretty. And then we go
balls-to-the-wall when I go to the floor tom."
Kerber describes
The Moto-Litas' sound as "a little edgy and a little
poppy," adding that the band started out playing instrumental
surf.
Though Kerber and her bandmates originally came together on a bit of a
fluke and not with any serious musical
aspirations, their endeavor got
more focused after Amy Ray of The Indigo Girls heard a few of their
tunes. Ray immediately
signed them to her hip and well-regarded Daemon
Records. Then Kerber and her bandmates headed to the studio and
began
recording the songs that would become For The Greater Good.
The studio experience, specifically
time spent with producer Jeff
Bakos, provided a series of valuable lessons for Kerber. "The song
'Your Love (Ain't
The Same)' - well, I had all these fills and it was
very complex. I prided myself on that," Kerber says. "But then Jeff
said,
'Leave Neil Peart at home. I don't want him in my studio.'"
While many drummers give lip service to
"serving the song," Kerber
approaches her playing open to feedback and clear that her parts should
complement the other
elements of the song. "I like 'Cheated' a lot,"
she says of the album's opening song. "I'm playing mostly on
the floor
tom, which is very different from how I used to play it. That was
Jeff's idea, and I love the sound. It gives it more
of a steady beat,
and there's more separation between that and the guitar. I love the
floor tom. It's so
full."