Tiny Wars lead guitarist/WXDX host, Abby Krizner, on the band’s upcoming gig, writing new material, and what her teenage self would think of her today
Welcome to the first edition of my new column, “Band of the Month!” Each month I’ll be featuring a new Pittsburgh-based band.
My first local band is Tiny Wars, a 5-piece rock band with a 70’s and 80’s influence. In a recent phone interview, I talked with lead guitarist Abby Krizner. Aside from the band, she’s a legendary on-air host for WXDX 105.9 and WDVE 102.5. We talked about the band’s upcoming show, songwriting, and what her teenage self would think of her today.
Tiny Wars plays The Cellar at Pittsburgh Winery on Saturday, October 26th, with special guest, Liz Berlin. Band members include Sue Pedrazzi (lead vocals, synth/keytar), Abby Krizner (guitar, vocal harmonies), Rocko Maharg (guitar), Aaron Hutzel (bass), and Joe Zelek (drums).
Josh: I’ve been listening to “Hopeless Place.” The lyrics are dark but it’s musically bright. What was the inspiration behind the song?
Abby: Yeah, I love the juxtaposition of that song, and I think that there’s a little bit of a haunting nature to a lot of the lyrics mostly because they’re coming from Sue’s heart. She is an extremely expressive and articulate person, but she feels things very passionately. She translates that into her lyrics in every song. So whether it’s a rocker, or more on the, you know, sweet pop side, she has a way of grounding everything.
“Hopeless Place” is at least my understanding of it to try and put her kind of version into words. I was always under the impression that “Hopeless Place” was actually just kind of a song about how hard it is to make it not necessarily in music, but just on a day to day living, sometimes it can be paycheck to paycheck for people sometimes, you know, just grinding out through difficult times to get yourself to the next place.
J: I love “Neubad.”
A: “Neubad” is great, and it was really inspired by Sue’s hometown of Basel Switzerland. It’s a place where she grew up and, I’m sure, had her heart broken many times. And so again, that’s I think another theme that Tiny Wars draws from. It’s the anxiety, the frustration, and the excitement you feel when you’re falling in love.
And now that we’re older, I think we can look back collectively on those experiences and be able to still find the things that made falling in love, exciting and painful at the same time. And again, it really speaks to Sue’s ability to translate those things and put them in a way that feels so palpable and accessible.
J: Was “Neubad” something you guys worked on in band rehearsals or did it come together in the studio?
A: There are certain songs that feel like you have to grind to get them where you want them. A common phrase our drummer Joe uses, “sometimes it’s war” and it’s just because no matter how much you love something you still have to fight for it. And when it comes together, like being in a band, it doesn’t fall from the sky. Some songs, and I would say “Hopeless Place” was one. We had to work for a little bit more.
“Neubad” fell out of the sky in a way where we just played it. Sue articulated something to me. I played it back to her. Next thing you know, we’re communicating what we want the drums to sound like and it just comes together. A very special thing that I think we have together where we understand sonically what we’re going for.
J: I can relate to that with my songwriting. Some songs you keep working on and other songs just come together and everything just clicks.
A: I think what’s been great with Tiny Wars too is that there are multiple writers in the band and it’s really cool that nobody gives up on anything. So even if I write something, we flesh it out. And ultimately, I can just shrug my shoulders and say, I don’t like it anymore. Sue won’t let it go or Rocco won’t let it go. Or Aaron or Joe will find something in it that’s special to them and they will take that mission of finishing that song or just making sure that the song doesn’t die.
And I love that because you need encouragement. I think songwriting is vulnerable. And so you gotta be in an environment with people who believe in the mission and can see you be vulnerable but then also comfort you in that and don’t let the songs fall apart. They wanna champion the cause.
J: Is there a favorite song you like to perform live?
A: It’s hard to choose. We do have a lot of songs that are coming out within the next few months or so. And those have been really exciting and scary to play in our most recent sets because they’re new. And again, it goes back to being vulnerable in front of a lot of people. So, when you’re sharing something like that, I think that is equal parts scary and exciting.
But I think the songs on the set now are always really fun to play live. “Neubad” is one of them. And then there’s another song that we have called “Up All Night” that has cowbell and rock guitars and we just get so animated on stage. You can tell we’re so pumped to play it.
J: I saw Tiny Wars perform at the Women Who Rock Concert back in 2022. It was awesome. It looked like you guys were having genuine fun on stage.
A: It feels that way. And I think again the relationships that we’ve established with each other, we care about each other a lot. And so when you already have a really good footing of friendship and companionship, you can completely let loose and have fun with each other in a way that doesn’t feel choreographed. You just see what happens. You can make eye contact and know what the other person is thinking in a way.
It’s that shared experience of being in a band that always makes me feel like it’s us against the world no matter what the setting is and I absolutely live for it.
J: So I’m sure you have voice memos on your phone with guitar riffs and song ideas.
A: Yes, I have notes upon notes in my phone. I have more voice memos than should be allowed. And I know Sue, Rocco, Aaron, Joe are the same.
J: What can you tell us about the upcoming gig at The Cellar? What can fans expect?
A: Well, we’ve been really excited to debut some of the new songs. We do have a goal to get the new stuff recorded and hopefully put together for a full record. But we have a very full set now and I love how much it’s stretched out.
I don’t know how to always describe us to people, but I know that it’s fair to say we have a foot in 80s music or 80s-inspired. What I love about the new songs is I feel like we’re stretching out in that era more and we’re proving to ourselves that we can go anywhere. And that’s been really fun and it’s just nice to not feel limited in any way.
J: I’m a fan of CDs. Will there be a Tiny Wars CD, cassette, vinyl?
A: So our first release was a cassette. We did it for that very reason where we were a newer band. We didn’t have a ton of money, but we didn’t wanna do a CD. We didn’t feel like that was the format that captured what we were doing at the time. So we did a cassette. And fortunately, we sold out of those. So they’re gone and I have one, and I’m not giving it up.
And the goal is to press vinyl at some point. But what we did this past summer, we were preparing to open a show for the Clarks in June ahead of that, we wanted to have something physically. So we actually took all of our songs and pressed them into a deluxe edition of our EP and put it all together on CDs. So we do technically have CDs now.
J: You’ve been a great radio host for so many years now. What’s the difference between going live on-air versus live on-stage?
A: The lack of nervousness is probably similar. It’s just not a thing that bothers me. I know that public speaking for a lot of folks is terrifying, and I understand it but it’s just never been something that lights up my fear center.
And I would say that playing in the band and performing live with the band is a much more vulnerable space for me because I feel so attached to it. It’s an expression that we’ve created as a group. There’s something that I always feel like protecting about it. When it comes to the things I say on air, I just let it fly. I can always apologize for something stupid, but I’m largely just being myself. So there’s nothing to lose when it comes to the band.
I think I cherish the connection that I have with the people. I’m making music with that. There’s something a little bit more tight rope walking about the whole thing. It’s really exciting. It’s scary and I can’t stop doing it.
J: So, the Ferris Wheel on the Roberto Clemente Bridge. Have you seen that?
A: You will not catch my dead corpse on that thing. I’m not doing it.
J: (laughing) I was going to ask which member of Tiny Wars is most likely to ride it.
A: I bet Sue would do it. Sue or Erin would do it for sure. Because they both know how to live fearlessly.
J: Your teenage self has to be excited about everything you’re doing right now.
A: I think she’d be really happy. I think she would. She used to sit in front of the mirror and practice Ace Frehley solos from Kiss Alive.
J: Kiss Alive. Oh wow.
A: The record taught me how to play guitar. I wasn’t a disciplined player by any stretch. I never learned to read music. I really just used the record to fast-track things I liked to hear. So, even to this day, whenever I’m writing a solo or putting a song together, I’m guessing.
But that being said, to you earlier about your point, I used to truly imagine in my head a version of me that got to play guitar and live music in front of people. So, I think that version of me would be very proud right now.
Tickets are still available for the Tiny Wars at The Cellar on October 26th! Keep up with Tiny Wars on Instagram and Facebook to hear about upcoming shows.
This content was provided by a local, independent contributor to Made in PGH, a lifestyle blog.
