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CVLT Nation Interviews KYLESA

Your songs have an anthem quality to them, and I have found myself with Ultraviolet on repeat. Where does that anthem quality stem from?

LP – Thanks. I’m not sure where that exactly stems from — but probably just the love of a good rock song. And punk rock.

PC- For me it is the influence of punk and older hardcore, when I am writing lyrics I like to throw something out there that can stick and hopefully people will be able to relate too. Those kinds of songs were very important to me as kid growing up in the south. If you stood out, you would have to take a lot of shit and it was great to hear music that made me feel that other people felt the same as I did. So i think even as we have grown older and maybe our lyrical matter has matured, that influence is still there and I agree with Laura that I also love a great rock song.

What visual artist – be them painter, illustrator or filmmaker – has had the biggest impact on the band?

LP – I’m not sure that there is “the one” artist that wins over all others. And, I think that would also depend on who in the band you ask. It’s probably safe to say that David Argento, John Carpenter, David Lynch, and Ralph Bakshi have all impacted our band.

PC: Yeah I agree with Laura on all of those, also recently I have been a big fan of a lot of the newer independent film makers there have been some great movies coming out over the last handful of years and in particular I am a big fan of Gaspar Noe’ s work.

Photos: Wicked Ways Photography

Growing up, did your home life nurture your creativity?

LP – My mother nurtured my creative side for sure. She was the one that gave me a guitar and let me take art lessons. She was always my biggest supporter, no doubt.

PC- For the most part yes, My mother would always support my interests no matter how weird they seemed to her, which I am very grateful for. My dad was until my adolescence. He and I started to disagree on a lot of things. He unfortunately passed away when I was 19. He was more on the conservative side and would push me to do things I really wasn’t interested in, he would definitely question a lot of my interests and choices, but I was lucky in that I did know he cared about me and was just trying to look out for me.

Are there certain life lessons you learned as a young punk that still hold importance to you today?

LP – Absolutely. I think the DIY ethic has stuck with me the most and the fact that there are other like-minded people out there in this world. I learned that being myself and having my own voice is totally ok and that I don’t need the status quo to live a fulfilling life.

PC- The lessons learned from the DIY ethic have enabled Kylesa to last as long as we have being able to make the music we want. Even though our music doesn’t really fall into what a lot of people would consider punk ,what we have learned taught us to do as much as we can ourselves. That being said we have also undoubtedly had a lot of help from others over the years that has been a huge importance to us and a lot of those people have come from the punk scene or a similar diy ethic. Plus the fact that Laura and I have always been very hands on with most aspects of Kylesa, it has helped us to truly and honestly create the music we want. I think that definitely stems from us learning the punk rock way from our youth.

How important are visuals to Kylesa (ie for your merch or videos)?

LP – The visual aspect to Kylesa has always been important. If we are going to represent our band with something other than sound, then the visual aspect is next.

PC- The art on a record and the the other visuals are sometimes seen before your music is even heard, so I think it is very important to have something that represents the correct vibe of your music.

What places, known or unknown, do you want to take your fans when they blast Ultraviolet?

LP – I hope that they will be able to tread the cloudy waters between the conscious and unconscious states of mind. I want them to go to the intangible abyss of the unknown and known energy that exists between all of us. That, and empathy. I think people will be able to relate to a lot of the lyrics.

PC- I hope that there are some people that will invest some time with it especially on headphones. We specifically made it a bit shorter because we know everyone is very busy these days and many people don’t have the time and the attention span to really spend quality time listeing to an album. Even though it is a darker record it isn’t meant to be depressing. We all go through hard times and usually if you can make it through them, you become stronger and hopefully this album reflects that and I hope thats what others get from it. Music for me has always been a great tool to find the strength to get through bad times hopefully this album represents that in some way and if anyone can find use in Kylesa’s music for that then I would be stoked.

As a band, you seem very confident to take chances with the direction of your sound, and this is evident on Ultraviolet. Where do you think this creative strength comes from?

LP – Thanks. I think a lot of it comes from our original mission statement when we formed the band over ten years ago; that we were not going to pigeon-hole our sound by not taking creative chances or flirt with various styles of music. I think that years of experimenting and refining our craft has allowed us to take chances with better results, perhaps, than let’s say, when we first started.

PC- I think mainly just trusting our guts. I think it’s good to write what comes honest and not to force it.

What was the writing process like for Ultraviolet? What comes first, the lyrics or the music?

LP – I have had a journal of thoughts, dreams and lyrics for a while and I generally take from that when putting words to songs. But I have to say that for me, the music is composed first. When I started writing for this record, I just dove in. I had a few melodies and parts that I had written while living in NC and I took those ideas and turned them into songs. I jammed a lot and learned to love garageband.

PC- For me it just depends sometimes the lyrics come first and other times it’s the riff.

Has growing up in the south had a major influence on the way you hear music? Was southern rock played in your home growing up?

LP – Southern Rock was not played in my home growing up. Motown was though. And, it’s hard to answer that question because I’ve lived in the south my whole life, you know? I do think that your surroundings play into your over all outlook. Those surroundings can be physical, emotional, cultural, intellectual, etc. That said, I don’t think my outlook would change that much if I had grown up somewhere else. I’d still be me, but slightly different.

PC- It’s hard to say, I guess in some way it’s had to have had an influence but when I was younger I always envisioned my self moving away. Now that I have had the chance to live out of it and I have gotten to travel all over, I have grown to appreciate many things about the south.

Southern rock was never played in my home, I actually hated it for a long period of time. I always associated it as redneck music and when I was in my teenage years rednecks were definitely the enemy. I can still clearly remember being younger and having my skate ramps destroyed by Jocks blasting it from their trucks. It took someone from California to actually get me to appreciate it. I can remember the first time listening to Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Second Helping” and it sinking in. I was on tour with Damad and we picked it up at a gas station and listened to it over and over. From there I was able to get into other southern rock bands.

Why is rhythm such a big part of what Kylesa creates? Where did the concept of two drummers come from?

LP- Because we love it! I know that I’ve always been more interested in the overall groove or feel of the rhythm in a song than the vocals or lead instruments.

PC- Yeah it’s all about the head nod. The two drummers idea originally just came from wanting to be heavier but over time we have tried to expand on that some.

What has been the greatest gift so far that being a part of Kylesa has given you?

LP – Ultimate creative freedom perhaps. But traveling the world is way up there. And playing a real guitar and not air guitar all the time.

PC- Getting to do something fulfilling with my life.

Is anyone in the band a fan of dub? And if yes, who are some of your favorite dub producers and why?

LP – I’ve heard the best stuff initially through Phillip and then later a roommate of mine. Love that delay…

PC- I am a huge fan of Late 70’s and early 80’s dub. Scientist is hands down my favorite dub producer. I was actually just reading an interview with him not too long ago where he was saying that a lot of what he was doing was considered too weird with some of the other people in the reggae scene at the time. That is probably why I like his stuff the most because it stands out from the rest.

Why do you think our 22-month-old can’t stop dancing the minute we put your music on?

LP – A good beat will make your ass shake. 😉

PC- Yep