Kieran Waters: Mist Out.

Kieran Waters & The Young Casuals launch Demister at the Alley on Friday.

“Tony, the guy who recorded it, we did some mixing at his place. His daughter, who I think was about nine at the time, doesn’t pull any punches,” Kieran Water’s laughingly muses. “I wasn’t there, but she said to Tony one day ‘Kieran’s not that miserable’. He just fell on the floor laughing. But to me an emotional song just seems a bit more direct, more honest.”

The tracks on his Demister EP debut, backed with band The Young Casuals, resonate with their sense of longing and romance lost. Musically the tender, minimal compositions tug at the heartstrings, the end result of a project now a couple of years in the makings. The genesis of these recordings came shortly after he left behind the role of bassist with local pop rockers Shutterspeed.

“For me the priority was writing songs and doing my own stuff,” he recalls. “With Shutterspeed I joined because they were mates of mine, and they needed somebody and I was doing nothing at the time. But that’s Andrew’s vehicle, and I just wanted to move on and do my own stuff again.”

The pieces serendipitously fell into place for both the recording of the disc, and the creation of band to breathe life into the material.

“I had songs I wanted to do and got a bunch of friends around to help out, and it became a band. Full Fathom Five have a recording studio in the valley. Around the time I wanted to do this, they had just finished their album, so the studio was pretty clear.”

Having access to Full Fathom Five’s bank of technology has not seen a wave of electronica creeping into Demister’s mix, although there are some loops running at the beginning of the title track.

“Obviously they’re a very different band to us. I wanted to make quite a big natural sounding recording, being very piano based. So I wanted real piano, real strings, keep it fairly earthy. There’s a drum loop, but that’s about the only electronic thing.”

While the use of strings can bring about a sense of the melodramatic, their tasteful use on Demister can be noted for it’s subtlety and nuance rather.

“A girl I used to work with is an ex Conservatorium person, and she has a string quartet. They do a lot of weddings, but she’s done stuff for other bands as well. Really professional, quick.”

With the disc in shops, thoughts are now being cast towards the next recording.

“The band are shaping the songs I want to record in the future. Maybe do something a little less miserable,” he chuckles.