It’s not the first time we have a talk with Kylesa, but this prolific metal-sludgy-psychedelic, better, kaleidoscopic 5-piece from Savannah, GA, has always some news to tell. We had the chance to have a beer with vocalist/guitarist Laura Pleasant in the venue’s warehouse just before their show at Arci Lo Fi in Milan, last 25th of January and we talked about Kylesa’s new album “Ultraviolet”, their record label “Retrofuturist Records” -and what lies behind these evocative names- the “new entry” in Kylesa backline and lots more. Maybe going a little bit off-topic sometimes? Well, just read and judge by yourself!
gan: So you’ve almost reached the half of the tour dates! How is it going?
Good, I’m fairly pleased with the way things have gone. Yeah, I’m happy!
gan: Any interesting places, events, funny stories happening during the tour?
Well, not so much! Because of the cold weather and the long drives it hasn’t been full of activities other than playing. We’ve had a lot of long drives and sometime it has been raining or too cold to go out (we’ve been to northern Europe so far) and do much in the cities so...it’s been a fairly tame tour!
gan: I know it’s not your first time here in Italy…
No, with Kylesa...5 times? And we’ve only played in Milan, actually. We’ve a good relationship with Hardstaff, so we keep coming back as we like each other and we like Italy too. Personally, I have been to Florence, Venice and Bologna as a student as I did a study program with my University and came for like...6 weeks...I was studying art history and photography. It was fun and it was...longtime ago! But playing in a band...well we’ve been only in Milan so far.
gan: And what about the bands you’re touring with this time Sierra and Jagged Vision?
Well, Kylesa started a record label, “Retrofuturist Records” and Sierra and Jagged Vision are our first two releases. We took Sierra on tour in the United States already but since Jagged Vision is from Norway, we waited to come over here to take them on tour.
gan: And what about “Retrofuturist Records”? Part of the name is an oxymoron...
Well the whole idea is a vinyl label. The vinyl format is a very old one but we’re also doing digital, which is a newer format. The idea of “retrofuturism”, well, it was a movement, a kind of art movement in late '60s. You look back at it now and at science fiction horror that came out in '60s and these illustrators were projecting images of the future, of what they saw as futuristic and now here we are in 2014 and we look back at these drawings and illustrations...and they’re very retro!!!
gan: And almost anything turned out to be true actually!
Yeah! So...this is a kind of “retro-futurist vision”...well it’s got several meanings, and our logo is this eye, it’s a figure looking forward into the future, while appreciating looking back in the past!
gan: Interesting! Let’s talk about “Ultraviolet” now! You mentioned science-fiction before...has it anything to do with that? Who came up with the title and what does it refer to?
No, just like...well, I’m a science-fiction fan! But...“Ultraviolet”...is kind of...it was used as a connotation or an illusion to something very real, well, I mean ‘cause when we think of ultraviolet light, it’s there, it’s in the spectrum of light but we can’t see it...but it’s there! It’s this kind of spirit that can’t be seen, it’s intangible...but it’s there! And I wanted something for the title which was like that...something that we know is there, as humans, but we can’t see it, touch it or grasp it...Well it’s like in life, when you’re thinking about life or about some sort of “grand” meaning for everything and you can’t put your finger on it, but you know that the energy is there...So it’s kind of...
gan: Presence?
Yes, a presence, kind of a...well a poetic license I took to use that term, perhaps like...meaning a color but it’s not a color...
gan: Well actually the term “ultraviolet” contains a color too...And so...going to the content of the album, does it have to do with this idea too? Intangible presence?
Yeah...a little bit...it does.
gan: It is your third time with “Season of Mist”, while your previous albums were out on US labels...I don’t want to ask you any comparisons now, but I was wondering whether you find any differences in the approach between US labels and European ones...
Well, that’s hard for me to answer because I’ve only dealt with a few intimately...I think with every label is a little different, no matter where they’re based, you know. They’re set up probably in a similar way but...they’re all different.
gan: I see..what about “Ultraviolet” artwork? What does it represent? Do the scarabs have any particular meaning to you?
Well, the scarabs go back with us to our first album, ‘cause we had a song called “the scarab” and it’s all about this idea of a life cycle. The scarab can live on nothing and then...it can get squashed. Sean, the artist who did the art, he had a bunch of drawings and he was drawing these scarabs and we just decided like “Yeah, we like this”, ‘cause we told him about what we were looking for and going for and the whole idea of life in loss and cycles has been a reappearing thing with us all over the years so...
gan: Is there a song of the album you feel particularly attached to or you like playing most?
I’m particularly attached to the songs “Unspoken”, “Steady breakdown” and “Drifting”, for personal reasons...
gan: What are your lyrics about, in general, and who write them usually?
Generally they’re about loss and the different kinds of loss that happen during one’s own life. Me and Philip, we write the lyrics.
gan: Lyrics or music? What comes first?
Music, yeah.
gan: Kylesa had tons of lineup changes, I know you were born in 2001 in Savannah: what were you doing at that time? I mean, how old were you, which were your projects and expectations? Did you start playing together just for fun or taking it seriously from the early beginnings?
I was in college, studying, I was friend of Philip already and he had another band, then they basically broke up. I was looking for someone serious to play with ‘cause I couldn’t find anyone serious to play with: it was a small town...
gan: Yeah, it may be hard to find people with the same “level” of passion and commitment...especially in a small town.
Sure...So when Philip’ s band broke up he asked me to start a band with him and I said “yes”!!!
gan: What about Savannah? How is it living there (if you still do) and how was it in 2001 when you start playing? I mean, how was the music scene or context, in particular?
Oh it was very different then. The city was a lot different then...
gan: Which kind of difference do you see?
There was more going on I think then, less kind of rules and regulations from the city, it was easy to have underground shows in the city, in buildings where the cops wouldn’t go to. Now it’s very restrictive regulated and it’s very hard to get things done. Well I was a lot younger too, I was in school and my eyes were still very open to the world and I’ve never played in a serious band before Kylesa...before Kylesa it was just for fun and playing locally...I’ve never been on tour before Kylesa.
gan: Did you have great support from your home town in the very beginning?
Yeah, from the town sure, ‘cause Kylesa started from the ashes of Phil’s old band, Damad, who had a pretty good underground following and it helped us to get started.
gan: And what about the current music scene there? I mean heavy music in particular...
Pretty bad! Ahahah!
gan: Well, you talked about restrictive rules and regulations in the city...so what about politics there in Georgia? By the way, do you still live there?
Yeah, I still live there and...Well, actually Atlanta is a bit different from Savannah, where we come from. Being bigger, in Atlanta there’s more going on, more people...well, Savannah is very small..it is run by old school southerners, it’s very behind the times politically, economically, culturally...a pain in the ass. I mean, I love it because it’s beautiful, I have friends there and the weather is nice but culturally and politically it’s very behind the times. Georgia in general on a political side is very conservative, very uneducated overall, very rural in most parts. It’s a beautiful state in the South but not progressive at all…
gan: I read that in 2004 same-sex marriages have been banned in Georgia, what do you think about that? Were there any protests against this decision?
So many Americans are apathetic, especially in uneducated areas. Personally I think that people of the same sex have every right to get married because I think it is a civil right. Religion and traditions shouldn’t have anything to do with civil rights and our conscience. I think it’s a civil rights issue, definitely. As concerns protests, well, actually it the last presidential elections it was a big thing. Actually, some States legalized same-sex marriage, but most states don’t...it’s still illegal and in the South it is, yeah, it’s illegal. There are lots of fundamentalist Christians, very very right wing and they won’t let that go, nor things like abortion go. It’s so annoying and...frustrating.
gan: I totally agree with you...As Kylesa, is there any particular social cause you support or you feel close to your heart?
Well the band Kylesa is just about music and freedom of expression. Me personally, I do have personal political views. I absolutely think that our country needs a healthcare system that everyone can use, I believe in same sex marriage, I believe marihuana should be legalized and I believe in protest. I do have my political beliefs but I do not bring those into the band, ‘cause the band is really just about music.
gan: Ok..Thanks for sharing your views with us! Let’s get back to music now! When did you start playing the guitar and singing? And what were you listening at that time?
I started playing the guitar when I was 16...a little late and I didn’t start singing until Kylesa so...a few years later. Hmm...at the time I was listening to Black Sabbath, Fugazi, The Melvins, Soundgarden, Jane’s Addiction, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Misfits, Black Flag, Danzig, Nine inch nails...and all the stuff that was pretty big in the ‘90s...
gan: I now Kylesa have never been stuck to any specific, single kind of music, but what do and did you usually listen to today? I know it could be very different from what you play but...just to have an idea of your listen...
Well, we all have a different kind of listen. Now, I listen to all kinds of music, really old soul and and country...I love ‘70s rock...old blues stuff..a lot of psychedelic music.
gan: I know that in Ultraviolet there’s a “new entry”, the theremin. How did you come up to this?
I think it was New Year’s Day, 2011, we were at the MOOG Factory in Nashville, North Carolina –they’ve been making synthesizers for many years and we did a recording session with them cause we were doing some shows and they gave us a theremin as a thanks for coming by, as a presents. So Philip immediately took a like into it and started to play it. He started to play it on tour as we were finishing the tour with “Spiral Shadow” and we just started to incorporate it into the live set so he got comfortable with it and he wanted to use it on “Ultraviolet” sessions, in the recording and so now it’s...
gan: Part of it!
Yeah, it’s part of it. Exactly.
gan: And...do you think that it influenced the whole album sound?
Yeah I mean it definitely makes the sound more psychedelic, less predictable and more open. Theremin is an animal, it has its own life!
gan: What do you do apart from playing with Kylesa? Any side project? Or any other passion apart from music?
I got some side projects but they haven’t done anything yet, they’re on a “baby” level, now. But there are some things I wanna do. I’m passionate about photography, I still take tons of photos but, I‘ve moved recently and it was such an epic ordeal sometimes, it took a lot of time and efforts!
But now that the record is done and the moving has finished and I’m settled, I think I’ll finally have time to work on my projects...
gan: So good luck with your projects! And what about Kylesa future plans after the tour?
Well we will start writing again once home and producing, but we’ll come back to Europe in summer to do some festivals, I know we’ll play in Hell Fest and few other festivals, we’ll be here for 3 weeks or so in summer so hopefully we’ll be back to Italy. First things to do would be start writing and working on the record label, as the record label keeps me pretty busy, just getting out of the ground.
gan: Is there any stop between touring for one album and then the writing for a new one or is it a kind of continuous process?
No, we’ll start writing for the new album pretty soon and slowdown on the touring...
gan: Is there any place or country in the world where you feel particularly at ease while playing?
I feel that Eastern Europe is the best place to play! It’s something about the energy in crowd...Well if the crowd is receptive, I love playing anywhere, whether they’re standing there and loving it or physically going crazy...you can feel the energy in the room. The more energy the crowds exhale, the more energy we get.
gan: Is there any place where you’ve never played where you would like to go with Kylesa?
I wanna play in Indonesia,I get mails all the time form Indonesian fans…
gan: Well there’s a big scene there for heavy music...
Definitely! For years I’ve got mails from there...I’d really like to play in Indonesia, but also in Brazil and Mexico...and in Russia as well...and also other Italian cities, ‘cause we’ve only played in Milan and I don’t know how it is elsewhere!
gan: Yeah why not? Maybe Bologna, Turin, Rome, or the South...
gan: Really??? Amazing! They should come from Napoli...
Cool!
gan: So Laura, that’s all for us! Thank you for your time...
Thanks to Gotanerve zine!
gan: and we’ll be waiting for you again here in Italy then!
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