We caught up with Ed Taylor from Bristol alternative rock four piece, KAMINO who have shared their debut track “Antidote” (great title by the way!) last year to talk about their musical influences, gigs experiences and their plans for the near future! Find out below...
Hi there, how are you and what are you up to today?
I’m doing great following a run, and am currently looking out upon a rain-tinged country suburb of our hometown Bristol, listening to the wonderful Biffy Clyro.
To those not familiar with KAMINO, how would you describe your sound?
Alternative rock is the general umbrella under which Kamino falls, but there’s a few extra twists here and there. There’s a lot of different sounds and influences that go into the mix, from which the end product is a vocal-led, riff-driven, synth and orchestral-infused wall of sound. It’s “raw yet polished” - we ensure that our recordings and live performances are at the highest possible standard, but with a dark, punk-esque “raw” edge to them.
What are the 5 albums that have influenced you the most?
It’s quite difficult to pin down specific albums as we all share a love for many artists & genres, but have a lot of individual tastes too. For me personally, Muse’s ‘Black Holes and Revelations’ was one of the first rock albums I bought and is still one of my favourites - it encouraged me to aim high as a writer, creatively and sonically. Most of their early back catalogue shaped my early music tastes, to be honest. For the synth-led element, Pendulum and Enter Shikari - that fusion of rock and electronic sounds. Queens of the Stone Age - again pretty much their entire back catalogue, they’re a huge influence to us in terms of sound, creativity, live performance. But there’s so much outside of the modern rock scene too. I remember hearing ‘Dark Side Of The Moon’ for the first time, with the lights turned out and headphones at full volume. I grew up on a mix of Thin Lizzy, AC/DC, Roxette, a lot of 80s music. I’ll listen to mostly anything and enjoy a great amount of it too.
Which other artists are you into at the moment and why?
As mentioned earlier I’m enjoying the new Biffy Clyro tracks - they’re a favourite of several of us in Kamino and I’m really looking forward to the album. Foals are another, having had an album out last year which we loved. It’s not a surprise to see them starting to headline festivals, it’s been building to that for a while - they’re fantastic live. In a slight twist of genre Sia is a big influence - for me she’s one of the best vocalists around, and her live set at Coachella was simply stunning. Her writing is superb and there are so many layers to her music - it’s really creative and it’s something we aspire to do with our music: mixing great melodic ideas with lots of interesting things going on underneath.
Are there any key pieces of equipment that you are using to define your sound?
We’re very much utilising technology for the synth and orchestral elements of our tracks in particular, both in the studio and live, as well as with the vocal parts - we use a lot of gang vocals, layered harmonies. This makes it possible for the songs to sound as big on stage as they do on record, despite there only being four of us. We also love to get creative with guitar/bass tones, the use of different pedals etc.
Where do you gather songwriting inspiration?
Lyrically a lot of it is very personal and based on my own emotions - what I feel, think and see. I like to pour these feelings and experiences into songs using a theme, or metaphor, as the central figure, but in such a way that the true meaning is disguised a little, and more open to interpretation. Alongside the very personal I also like to muse on bigger concepts - politics, the ways and means of the world, the unknown, conspiracy, history and myth. There are some quite mind-blowing stories and facts out there and they make really good cores for songs.
Take us through your songwriting process. Are there any particular steps you take when put music together?
They can stem from a title, a drum beat, a lyric, a riff, a vocal melody - absolutely anywhere. Sometimes songs just arrive from the ether, sometimes you have to work at them for a while. I get the structure down and get it demoed in full - I write all the parts, incorporate all the layers. Lyrically I tend to finish things a little later, once the instrumental aspects are down, although I already have a theme and usually a few lines or sections in place. Once the demo is down in full this gets taken to the rehearsal studio - we work on it as a group and eventually the song ventures out live and on record a little further down the line. It's a process that's always worked for me as a writer and for us as a band - going through those stages to take the best possible track into the studio to lay down a final version.
What’s the best gig you have ever done and why?
Our launch show at The Exchange in Bristol was a great success, it's a favourite venue of ours in our home city. We pulled a busy and lively crowd and it was really great to put our music out there for the first time. We spent a good few months fresh from the studio putting Kamino together and getting a video released for our first track ’Antidote’, so it was amazing to see it all culminate with a really successful show, and feel that buzz around the place from people hyped to see what Kamino was about.
And the worst?
In all honesty we’ve not really had a worst, so to speak. You get the odd technical issue here and there but I think if you dwell on those moments, which are often pretty insignificant to a show as a whole, you’d never enjoy it. Generally people always approach us after our set to pay compliments - there's not really much of a better feeling than that. They're under no obligation to come over and do that, so it always means a lot to hear it.
If you weren't a musician what would you be?
When growing up I always wanted to be a professional footballer. I’ve still got a pretty good eye for a pass but I don’t think I was ever quite good enough. I’d love to be a manager though. If I’m watching a game I tend to spot tactical things, I notice where a substitution should take place and who should be involved and five minutes later it happens. So I think I’d be quite good at that. I heard Man Utd were looking but they went for Jose instead. Shame...
Do you have any information regarding upcoming releases, projects or gigs in the pipeline that you would like to tell us about?
We’re currently hard at work on putting everything together to release our debut EP. You can definitely expect some very cool things to be announced pretty soon on that front, and we're definitely intending to put together a run of shows to promote the EP. Our next gig is on Friday 10th June at The Mother’s Ruin in Bristol, with our friends in IDestroy.
Follow:
No comments
Post a Comment