I recently reviewed the track The Crown by Kyote Radio, also featuring Kyle Shutt. I loved the song and wanted to find out more about the band – read on below to see how we got on!
By Jane Howkins
You released a song recently that we reviewed, titled The Crown. What can you tell us about the track?
The Crown is one of the most recent songs that we have written, and it came at a time when we as a band were working through a lot of changes. I think the song itself is kind of reflective of some of the turmoil that was taking place around the time of its writing. You go through so much stuff with people that you have known over these long periods and it can feel like the world is sort of ending when it all blows up, so writing from the perspective of someone who is a basically a tourist in the midst of all this chaos and destruction was definitely a cathartic way to channel that energy.
Where can The Crown be purchased and how has the reception been?
The reception so far has been great, we were extremely proud to have this as our first KUTX Song of the Day and have been pleased with reviews and other features as well. We just want to make sure we get this music out there to as many people as possible. Like all of our music, The Crown is available for streaming and purchase on all of the major platforms where music is available – Spotify, Bandcamp, Apple Music, Amazon, etc…
The track also features Kyle Shutt. How did the collaboration come about?
We first met Kyle in 2019 opening for his solo project here in Austin. He was a great hang and we had a blast playing that show together and have remained friendly since. Kind of coincidentally, I was moving towards listening to a lot heavier rock than I had been previously, and around the same time I became a huge fan of Kyle’s main project, The Sword. They are kind of right in the sweet spot of heavy riffs and killer lyrics that I’ve felt like my own music was chasing after, and so reaching out to Kyle for a collaboration on our heaviest track was a no brainer. I was thrilled that he was down to join us, and having him come out to The Bubble Studios in Austin to cut The Crown with us was a dream come true. Kyle is the shredder king. All glory be unto him!
Do you have any more singles planned for release?
We recorded 3 songs with our main producer Frenchie Smith, at The Bubble here in Austin back in May. The Crown was the first of those songs, and the next two are coming later this year as singles as well. Keep an ear out – we are really excited for them.
Are there any plans to release an album or EP anytime soon?
We are in process on the next album, but we aren’t quite ready to announce anything on that front.
Did the pandemic hinder your work much?
As I kind of alluded to before, there were some personal changes that occurred during the first years of the pandemic that definitely kind of knocked things off track. Our debut LP Real Crime features Jeff Arata on guitar and Dana Johnson on the drums, neither of whom are part of the current line-up. Our split with both was amicable, but definitely devastating at the time, and finding our way forward in their absence was a bit daunting. Beyond that, and just like everyone else, we lost some great plans to 2020 and 2021, but I think we’ve come out where we needed to be.
Your music belongs firmly within the hard rock category. What/who are you influenced by and what have you been listening to recently?
I don’t think I’ve felt firmly in any category, but I can definitely concede that this single and some of our recent work is fairly heavy, and being called hard rock is not unreasonable. I think we’ve been through a heavy couple of years and that is reflected in our current output. However, I always shy away from leaning too much into any particular sub-genre of rock for too long. We are a rock and roll band from Texas and that’s as much as I like to define it.
As far as influences, it’s easy to kind of list a few bands that are essential to what we do, and I understand that by listing some of our well known influences we are helping new listeners find us – so on that front, there’s a lot of Black Sabbath, Modest Mouse, Beatles, Portugal. the Man, that kind of stuff getting played in the van, but if I’m talking about what we are listening to I’d much rather give shout outs to some of the locals we know that are flying a bit under radar like Dayeater, Slomo Drags, Automatic Weekend and Cheeky Orange. Bands like that are the real core of what makes rock and roll matter.
You’re based in Austin. What is the local music scene like there at the moment?
It’s an honor to be one of the top 10,000 bands in the city. Wouldn’t trade it for anything.
Do you have any UK tour dates planned?
I’m working with my anaesthetist to figure out the right dosage needed to get me there ASAP. I watched 13 Lives last night and I’ve got some great new ideas.