Little Slicer is a local indie band comprising vocalist and guitarist Wallace Petruziello ’24, bassist Jas Rodriguez ’24, guitarist junior Zach Ryan, keyboardist junior Christopher Tassone, drummer Joey Slait ’23, bassist Brendan Meriney and drummer Dave Meriney.
On Oct. 3, the band made its return to Ithaca with a performance at the Community School of Music and Arts.
Petruziello had written a compilation of songs in winter 2023 that he wanted to start playing live. He reached out to Ryan, Rodriguez and Slait –– a member of Petruziello’s previous band who joined Little Slicer –– around January 2023. The band has not been able to play together much since Dave Meriney transferred from Ithaca College and since Rodriguez and Petruziello’s graduation this past May.
Little Slicer’s EP, “EP 1,” came out in May 2024. It debuts “Heart Like A Road,” a song the band has played since its very first show. “EP 1” can be listened to on streaming platforms like Spotify and Apple Music.
“Understars” is the band’s newest single set to be released Oct. 11, which they performed at the show. The band is in the works of putting out more singles this fall for its next EP, a compilation of six tracks.
Contributing writer Thuweiba J-Elmi spoke with Petruziello after the performance to discuss the band’s return to Ithaca, the release of its new EP and what the future holds for the group.
This article has been edited for length and clarity.
Thuweiba J-Elmi: What has it been like being back in Ithaca post-graduation?
Wallace Petruziello: It’s been fun because I was here to do some other stuff, but it’s different. This is where I was a student, this was my home, and now it’s just a place I don’t spend time in anymore. It’s strange, for sure.
TJ: You hosted many student bands in your apartment last semester. Can you tell me the backstory behind your house show venue, Pimlau’s Place?
WP: We just wanted to do shows in our apartment and around Halloween time we were just like, “What happens if we just bring bands in to play?” It’s a real process getting shows together sometimes and usually college students don’t have a say in the logistics or the order and what bands are playing. So it’s just cool to be able to have our own little space to do what we want the way we want to. I think overall it brought a lot of people together and it was a lot of fun.
TJ: You released a new EP right before this summer. What was your creative process like?
WP: We recorded the whole thing last summer. At that point, I’d just gig a couple of those songs under the Little Slicer name. And so, that summer, my friends Dave Meriney who plays drums, and Jas Rodriguez who plays bass were all together one day in my living room and said “Screw it … let’s record some stuff.” We set up a makeshift studio in my living room and banged out seven songs in about two days. I worked on editing and recording and mixed it throughout the spring.
TJ: What were some of your influences for this EP?
WP: My major influences are Elliott Smith, Radiohead, Pinegrove, Adrianne Lenker, Big Thief and, of course, Wilco.
TJ: How does your approach to performing live compare to in the studio?
WP: There’s always a rotating lineup for our shows because the people that record with us aren’t always available for our gigs. We do that so we can take as many shows as we can. We play to the strengths of whatever musicians we have that night. Like tonight, we have a lot of keyboards on the recordings and up until tonight, we’ve never played keys live.
TJ: Where do you see Little Slicer going in the future?
WP: The objective now is showing people that we are not just a passing college band. We’re going to keep doing our thing. I think there was a misconception that we were going to stop after this past May, but that was never the plan. The plan was always that we were out for bigger and more after college. …Now we’re in a place where we want to play in Ithaca as much as we can, but also expand into new places. Most of us live in New Jersey or Long Island. We’ve been doing some things in Jersey. It’s like we’re playing two games at once; we’re trying to break into different music scenes across NYC and Jersey.
TJ: Looking back at your time as an IC student, what advice would you give to young creatives, both those on campus and those arriving?
WP: The biggest thing is to never let go of what you want to be doing. I had to get a college degree to survive, but I knew I still made time for what I really wanted to be doing and really go in on it while also going all in on this other thing. And I think it’s very important to not let school stop you from really going in on your dreams. I think people have a really either/or mentality where it’s like, “Either I’m a really good student and don’t put time towards myself or I’m all in on myself,” but it really can be both. I think it’s very important to not lose sight of that and really value yourself.
