A new alt-rock band has emerged from Boston, and much has already been said and written about them. Burn Kit have every right to dream big — they possess both talent and vision, and many see them as one of the brightest hopes for the genre. Myth of Rock had the chance to speak with Valentino Valpa (vocals), who gave thoughtful and precise answers. You can read all the interesting things we discussed right below!
by Dimitris Zacharopoulos
Burn Kit formed in 2024. How did the band come together?
We knew each other from playing in other projects together and being friends for a very long time. It didn’t feel like getting together with strangers. It felt like getting together with family members you haven’t seen in a long time to play some Phase 10.
You have just released a split 7″ vinyl with Turquoise. How did that collaboration come about?
I played a basement show with them when my solo project was touring a few years back. When Burn Kit formed, I remembered liking the Turquoise sound a lot and figured we’d fit well together.
Give us all the info about the recording, the mixing and mastering of the “Looking Through The Window At You” single.
Recorded and by Ryan Stack with engineering by Marc McElroy. Tracked at Marc’s studio the Electric Cave in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Mastered by Dan Coutant at Sun Room Audio in Cornwall, New York.
Which artists or genres have shaped your music the most?
Post-punk, hardcore/all types of punk rock, new wave, shoegaze, rock. We love the Wipers, T.S.O.L., Ramones, Smiths, Integrity, Negative Approach…. the list goes on.
Who is responsible for music and lyrics in Burn Kit? What does a typical Burn Kit songwriting session look like?
I’ll write songs and will demo them out at home with all the instruments. I make tabs for the songs & record playthroughs. I send it to the band and we learn the songs at home then we get together. Then each member will absorb the track and any little idea for improvement they have we begin experimenting with at practice. Every single one of those guys always has a brilliant plus. Andrew continues to get me stoked on the cool details he’s bringing to the drum kit. Whether it’s something intricate or just nicely in the pocket. Time has improved him so much since we first met. So lucky to have him. Frank comes from a corner of indie rock that none of the rest of us do and he’s adding such cool ingredients to the songs with different chord formations and bringing this beautiful, dark feel to many parts of the tracks that I just wouldn’t even fathom when writing the song. That and his expertise in effects. His touch is a crucial part of our sonic foundation. Christopher has the perfect taste in modifying the bass parts. One thing we all make sure of is that we don’t change something in the song just to change it. It has to be an improvement and benefit the song. And Chris is a great example of that. He’ll write some brief additions that improve the parts drastically. He has a keen ear for production and always does our songs justice. Joshua is just someone that the rest of the band has this understood mutual respect of who is in the room with us. His talents, skillset, taste and execution are just something I will never achieve in 5 lifetimes. So when he hears these songs I’m demoing out, he’ll come back with some seriously great tweaks. Again, sometimes things aren’t modified much because we’re happy with it as is. Other times there’ll be a totally different phrasing he’s doing instead. Whatever sounds the best is always the best choice. “Looking Through The Window At You” Josh wrote the music for. For that song we did basically the opposite of what we normally do. He came at me with the verse & chorus. I came back with a bridge, lyrics & the song structure. He then took that bridge and elevated it to the next level. This song is a good example of how well we work together. I actually really enjoy that process. Josh & Frank come from different corners of rock and punk rock and the way they sound together is signature for our sound. The songwriting really comes alive at our rehearsals as all these details are coming together. We seem to really enjoy our rehearsals. Building these songs is therapeutic.
What do you want listeners to feel after hearing “Looking Through The Window At You”?
A warning to think about the genuine level of trust you have with the people you spend your time with. If you feel like you can mostly see through them and the feeling is right, then good. If there’s doubt, mistrust or you feel like they wouldn’t have your back – it’s time to place yourself in new circles where you can be around folks that value you as a friend, family member etc. You never really know someone 100%. Be mindful.
Do you see Burn Kit as a band that focuses more on mood and atmosphere or raw energy—or both?
Both are an absolute must during a Burn Kit set. Things will go off constantly. But also, Terranean Memoir.
Do you prefer analog, digital or a hybrid approach in production to achieve that raw-yet-atmospheric tone?
We are still largely experimenting. We’ve done mostly digital so far. The drums on the demo tape were recorded to 1” tape. We’re about to record a release in November of this year that will be recorded with the full band live all analog directly to tape. We’re excited to try that.
How do you make decisions in the band? How do you handle creative differences within the band, if any?
I’m the manager and agent who deals with most of the decision making in a business sense. Creatively we have a good flow going with the method I previously described. One thing I love about this band is that we really don’t have hot heads. We’re working together to make songs better and there’s really not much in the way of ego or competition. It’s the best group of people I’ve ever been involved with for many reasons but this being one of them.
How do you think Burn Kit fits into today’s alternative rock scene?
We knock on enough doors to fit with a lot of different sounds on different bills. Sometimes it helps, sometimes it hurts. We are still dialing in our sound and solidifying ourselves a bit more with where we want to be sonically. Which will begin to unfold in releases we’re working on for later this year and next year.
What do you think about the use of AI in music?
If it can speed up the process of cleaning up something that would sound exactly the same if a human did it but it just saved an engineer time… then fine I guess? In terms of making fake songs, bands, lyrics etc. No. It’s just…. how lazy and disconnected with ourselves can we possibly get? If you don’t want to make art then don’t. But don’t ask a hard drive to do it.
Are there plans for a full album or an EP after this single and the split?
Our second EP will be coming out sometime in the later part of this year. It’s being mixed currently. And yes, we have just started working on our first album which will be coming in 2026. We just started learning some of the songs a couple weeks ago. Looking very forward to that.
Do you play live shows? Are there any plans for a tour?
Yeah, if you look at our pages, we did 5 tours spanning across 38 countries in under a year. We left for our first tour after being a band for 2 months. We just got back from tour a few weeks ago and we’re heading out on a west coast run in a matter of days.
If someone is discovering Burn Kit for the first time, which three words should define the experience?
See us live.
If you could describe Burn Kit’s mission in one sentence, what would it be?
Energy and human connection cannot be stopped.
Send your message to our readers please.
Connect with us on socials. Get to know us. Check the tour dates. Come to a live show. That’s where the real Burn Kit experience is.
