Today's
guests have released one of the finest Psych/Stoner Metal albums of
the year with Rocket Science. About to be released on famed Hard
Rock/Stoner Rock/Classic Rock label – Ripple Music. Big things are
tipped for this band. So what makes Rocket Science such a brilliant
album.
It's
perhaps the epic stoner riffs, the hard rocking vocals or just the
sheer fun of the album itself as Rocket Science is a gift from the
Stoner Rock GODS themselves. Rocket Science is going to end up on a
few people's best of 2015 album lists including mine.
So
who am I talking about. KIND. A band who are comprised of members
from ELDER, Black Pyramid, Rozamov and Roadsaw. This is a band who
sound so different from their other bands whilst offering something
fresh and familiar at the same time.
KIND's
members are:
Matthew
Couto - drums
Tom
Corino - bass
Craig
Riggs - vocals
Darryl
Shepard – guitar
You
intrigued now. You should be. Hopefully this interview will convince
you of that. As the guys have agreed to talk to me. So lets get
started.
Hi
guys. How are things with you today.
TOM:
Doing great.
DARRYL:
Hungover.
KIND - photo by Nicole Tammaro
So
why did you choose the name KIND for your band. Any specific meaning.
TOM:
I’ll let Darryl handle this one.
DARRYL:
It can have a few different meanings. I prefer the one referencing
marijuana. Also, it’s the slang version of the word, which is
actually “kine”, but we’re not proper in this band. Plus I like
that it’s a four letter word, like Tool or Loop or Free. I dig band
names like those. Straight to the point.
How
did the band get together. Did you all know each other before forming
the band.
TOM:
Matt and I had been hanging out and jamming on and off for a while
before the band started, just the usual friends getting together and
making noise while polishing off a six pack or five. After a Rozamov
show, actually our last as a four piece, Matt and Darryl said they
wanted me to come jam with them the next day. They said they had been
working on stuff but I honestly had no idea how serious it was. The
next day we all went down to Matt’s grimy-ass freezing cold
basement and they showed me what they had been up to. They said they
had the name KIND in mind, and it was all down hill from there.
DARRYL:
Matt and I had been talking about jamming for a while then finally
got around to it near the end of 2013. Tom came down with his bass
one day and then Craig said he wanted to sing so he came down after
we had a few song ideas. We recorded some jams and gave them to
Craig. I knew Matt and Tom and I played with Craig for years in
Roadsaw. And yeah, Matt’s basement, where we first started playing,
was absolutely freezing. There was no heat in the house at the time
and it was winter.
How
would you describe your music. Apart from it being pure fucking
heavy.
TOM:
I think our music is something that comes from all of us allowing our
personalities to come through in our playing. Very early on we
instituted an “anything goes” policy and that is how the basic
ideas for most of the songs came to be. Just a bunch of killer
musicians hanging out and coming up with ideas in the moment,
allowing us all to do our own thing and create something unique.
CRAIG:
It’s a fine combination of heavy as balls and pure pop sensibility.
Your
new album – Rocket Science – is incredible. Really is. What can
people expect from the record.
TOM:
Long, heavy psyched out songs!
CRAIG:
We can only hope that people feel the slice of the razor’s edge we
were traversing while writing this record. If they feel it we have
succeeded.
How
hard was it record the album as you're all part of other successful
bands. Did it take time to record the album due to other band
commitments.
TOM:
It’s definitely a little bit of a challenge to get us all in the
same room but I think that makes the time we do have so special. It’s
always a blast to jam with these guys, and the fact that our
practices might be few and far between makes me look forward to them
even more. It’s definitely a good change of pace for me because
Rozamov practices so often it makes KIND a breath of fresh air.
DARRYL:
Finding the time to record was actually very difficult. We narrowed
it down to one weekend that we all had free. We had to get in there
and nail it, and we did. Matt did a great job nailing takes on the
drums. Once the basics were recorded over the course of one weekend
we added some overdubs on a couple of different random days. But we
literally had one weekend to record this album. We didn’t mess
around, and Alec Rodriguez (the engineer) did a great job getting
sounds and keeping everything running smoothly. Dude’s a pro.
What
I love about the album that it sounds so different to your other
bands but it still has familiar sounds for fans of your other bands
to admire and enjoy. Was that the intention when you were recording
the new album. Do something different but offer something that your
other bands fans could enjoy.
TOM:
For me personally it was an opportunity to do something different.
It’s been a long time since I’ve been in a band with this much
room to improvise, and since I’m not singing it allows me to focus
on just being a bassist. As you pointed out all of our musical
identities are present in the music but hopefully they come together
in an original way. It’s also helpful that we all come from
different experience and influences. Matt and I are young dudes while
Darryl and Craig are of the older generation and I think that gives
the band a really unique dynamic.
CRAIG:
100% democracy is the key to this band. Everyone can bring an idea
without the feeling of ridicule.
DARRYL:
I personally wanted to do something heavy that mixed improvised
freak-out jams with structured, catchy parts. Mission accomplished,
as far as I’m concerned.
I
think the album cover makes the album stand out. Who designed the
cover. Did you have much input into the final version.
DARRYL:
Alexander von Wieding, who is a fantastic artist in Germany, did the
cover. He did an absolutely amazing job. This idea just popped into
my head of an astronaut but with an animal head who crashed his ship
and there was a disappointed female with him, so I told the guys one
night at practice. Then I described the idea to Alex, who sent us
some rough sketches. Once we saw the final piece our jaws dropped.
There’s so much detail in there and the colors are great. Plus it’s
a lot different than the usual skull on a record cover. Nothing
against skulls at all, I love ‘em! But we wanted to go in a totally
different direction with this, and Alex nailed it.
The
album is being released via Ripple Music. How did you hook up with
Todd and Pope. Perhaps one of the best Stoner/Classic/Hard Rock
labels out there. Did you have any other label offers to release the
album.
DARRYL:
Craig plays drums in White Dynomite, who are also on Ripple, so he
got in touch with Todd and Pope. We sent them a demo we had recorded
at Mad Oak Studios of four songs, they dug it and said they wanted to
put the record out. We didn’t really contact too many labels. I had
asked another label and they said it was actually too heavy for them,
they’re more of a psych-rock label, but other than that Ripple
pretty much said they wanted to put it out after they gave the demo a
listen. They have a great roster so we’re psyched to be working
with them! We think it’s a good fit.
How
hard is it being a band in today's world. What are the most difficult
aspects in being in a band.
TOM:
It’s definitely not easy. It’s such a huge time commitment that
unless you love it it’s honestly not worth it. The toughest part is
probably just trying to get your music to be heard. These days
there’s so many bands and music is so easy to access and people’s
attention span is so short that it can make it difficult to gain any
traction, but we’ve been lucky so far and people are interested so
I’m very thankful for that! Darryl and Craig probably have a little
more knowledge on this, cause ya know, they’re really old haha.
CRAIG:
It’s not hard. It’s the same as it has always been. Make rock for
the love of rock!
DARRYL:
It can be a challenge but you basically just have to love what you’re
doing, otherwise forget it. Trying to balance “regular life”
stuff with the band can be difficult but it’s all about time
management and not getting burnt out on playing, at least for me. And
trying to figure out where to keep all the money that’s constantly
rolling in. That’s a pain in the ass.
What
is the song-writing dynamic in the band. Is it a group collective or
down to one individual.
TOM:
It’s a little of both, everyone comes in with ideas but a lot of
things kinda spring out of jams, especially on the material on the
record.
DARRYL:
A lot of stuff comes out of jamming. I might bring in a couple of
riffs to initially have something to work with but then it turns into
something else once we all start playing. Nobody brings in finished
songs and shows the other guys what to play. Even during the
recording of the album we literally came up with some parts right
then while recording. There’s a lot of improvisation. Craig wrote
all of the lyrics, which are really cool. When he sent me the words
for the inside of the cover I was blown away.
What
is your favourite song off the album. Mine is The Angry Undertaker.
TOM:
It’s a tough call for me, I like certain songs for different
reasons. Angry Undertaker has lots of room for the bass to jam,
explore the fretboard a little and even do a couple leads. German For
Lucy is a blast to play live, the first riff being a slightly off
kilter but still melodically simple riff makes it a fun one to play.
But my favorite is probably Hordeolum. The main riff is really heavy
and I even did some double tracked bass on it in the studio.
CRAIG:
The Angry Undertaker captures the vibe of this band. Each time I hear
it I find myself spacing out and forget where I am and what I am
doing. That was just what we were going for.
DARRYL:
I honestly love every song on this album, there’s nothing on it
that makes me cringe or anything that I want to skip. But I think
“Siberia” is my favorite song. It’s just a mellow song,
basically one riff, and it came out great. It kind of reminds me of
“Fell On Black Days” by Soundgarden a little. We wanted to do
something laid back that didn’t get heavy.
Will
you be touring this record heavily. I know it maybe too early to ask.
Any plans to tour overseas. (I was asked by a couple of people to ask
this. Said I would ask).
TOM:
I’ll play Mars if someone wants to book us there!
DARRYL:
We’ll be doing some touring. We’re working on some plans for the
west coast and Europe. Probably not months of touring but enough that
we’ll get out there. I’m looking forward to playing these songs
in front of people, for sure.
Before
you go, do you have anything to say to your fans.
TOM:
Thanks to anyone who’s supported us so far!
CRAIG:
Make us come and play in your town please!
DARRYL:
I hope people dig the album. Just grab a beer or whatever you like,
put it on, kick back and enjoy it!
Well
guys, thanks for doing this. All the best with the new album as its'
a brilliant debut album.
Words
by Steve Howe and KIND
Thanks
to Richard at Sheltered Life PR for arranging this interview. Thanks
to KIND for doing this interview. KIND will be available to buy on CD/DD/Vinyl from Ripple Music on December 11th 2015.
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