INTERVIEW: Kylypso — Music Musings & Such

INTERVIEW:

Kylypso

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THERE are a few three-pieces running around…

in music but none, so far as I can tell, who have the same ideals and sound as Kylypso. I speak to the London trio about their new single, Deep Blue, and how it differs to their previous effort, Blame Love. They talk about their formation and future plans; what music they were influenced by growing up – and how their sounds come together.

I was eager to learn whether there were dates in the diary; whether they had some advice for new artists of the moment; if they each have a favourite memory from their time in music – and whether there was a bit of a trouble-maker in the ranks…

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Hi, guys. How are you? How has your week been?

Hiya! Very good, thanks. We have been rehearsing all week learning our own songs and also playing live with a drummer for the first time - so it has been fun.

For those new to your music; can you introduce yourselves, please?

We are three-piece, Kylypso, from London; we play Psychedelic Indie...we are comprised of Rudi (Guitar/Vocals), Tom (Bass, Vocals) and Hugh (Keys).

Hi.

It has been pretty cold and snowy recently! Have you been affected by it? Does it provide you more time to stay in and make music?

It has been freezing! My (Rudi’s) room is where we do a lot of our writing. We have a small set-up in there. It gets particularly cold; so we have been working wearing coats and hats.

Lots of coffee keeps us warm...

Deep Blue is your new song. What is the inspiration behind that?

We loved the idea of the colour deep-blue to represent the ‘ideal’ you hold someone to at the beginning of a relationship. The song sits in a moment where reality is eroding this image, but it is a beautiful thing to fight for. We also wanted to bring in some ideas of living in the moment and diving into things fully - even with a risk of being hurt. Musically, we took this idea to try to write parts of the instrumental to a ‘blue sky’ or ‘deep-sea’ theme - almost approaching the song visually. We love the idea of approaching a song at these kinds of angles.

How do you think Deep Blue follows from tracks like Blame Love? Have you grown in confidence as songwriters?

For sure.

Blame Love was written when we were still settling on the sound - that has become more defined as KYLYPSO. As we were able to set up the boundaries of what we could call the ’KYLYPSO Sound’; we then knew what boundaries to push and explore. Having complete freedom is quite destructive when writing music: the more you can define a direction, the more so you can focus in on pushing the envelope – it’s kind of a weird paradox you would guess wouldn’t happen until it is experienced.

Is there an E.P. on its way? What are you guys working on?

For now, we like the idea of just releasing singles this year. We are packing each song with a printed zine and digital edition via a website; so we are making more of each release and delving deeper into each song - rather than going for the E.P.

Our plan may well change by the summer though!

How did Kylypso get together? Was there an instant spark between you?

Tom needed a keyboard player for his old band: Rudi jumped in and, soon, started writing some songs. Hugh had mixed some songs for Rudi’s old band - so was brought in for some production work on KYLYPSO songs...

But, we were finding that the three-way collaboration was working; we were on the same wavelength…so Hugh jumped in.

Which musicians did you all grow up around? Were you all raised in musical households?

Rudi: My dad loves The Beatles; so I grew up with loads of their albums. They are very multifaceted; so you can grab lots of different bits of musicality from their different albums. As a teenager, I moved towards guitar sounds I liked: Nirvana, Rage Against the Machine and The Mars Volta.

Tom: Exactly the same with my dad and The Beatles. I grew up in a house with a piano and a Beatles book. I actually ended up learning loads of Beatles songs before I heard them on the record.

Hugh: I grew up on a diet of great songwriters like Paul Simon, Cat Stevens and Pink Floyd etc. - all thanks to my parents. My dad played guitar so, naturally, I started to learn too; albeit upside-down, being left-handed. I was heavily inspired by Blues/Folk guitarists - and didn’t move onto keys until much later in life.

Can we see you tour soon? What gigs do you have coming up?

We have one London show coming up. We are looking to get together a tour soon - most likely, in the U.K. We love the idea of collaborating on some live performance; in terms of people we are working with (to produce zines and videos). We are putting together a skateboarding video - so are looking into playing in a skate-park or something like that.

Is touring something you all love? How important is it to get up on stage and perform?

For sure. Since KYLYPSO is a relatively new planet in our musical universe, we haven't had the chance to tour yet. We have all been playing live shows as sessions for other people and in previous bands - it really brings the songs to life and gives them a new dimension.

We can’t wait to play them to real-life people.

What do you all hope to achieve in 2018?

Align KYLYPSO to record an album...we have lots of songs for our singles plan...

We would love to create one concise body of work. We need the space, time and space-time to combine it into one thing.

Have you each got a favourite memory from your time in music – the one that sticks in the mind?

Rudi: I have a memory from my old band...

We had recorded a song in our drummer’s house, creating a vocal booth with his mattress and bed-sheets; recording drums in a practice room. It was eventually played on Zane Lowe’s Radio 1 show and we were all listening in the room shouting at the radio and laughing about how our weird song about a mountain - recorded between bedrooms and cupboards - was being played on national radio.

Hugh: There are so many great moments in creating music. For me, it is that great feeling when you are working on a song and everything just clicks and falls into place. I haven’t found anything that comes close to that feeling yet. But, one specific moment that stands out was the first recording I did at Abbey Road. I remember stopping and thinking ‘how the fu*k have I ended up here!?’ - knowing all the great albums that have been recorded there…

What advice would you give to new artists coming through?

Don’t tell anyone your band name or put any music online…

Ok; really, I would say that it is important to synchronise your efforts. Think about your live shows syncing up with your song releases - which can sync up with promoting towards a goal. This will help build momentum in one direction; rather than playing random shows dotted around and throwing songs out into the digital wind.

Do you guys get much time to chill away from music? How do you unwind?

We don’t get much time: it is all-engulfing but we do love tennis and find it is an amazing way to unwind. Hopefully, we will be making a tennis video for one of our songs in the summer!

Which band member, would you say, is the biggest trouble-maker or ‘character’? Is there one member you need to keep your eye on?!

Definitely, Hugh…

He pretends he is from the North of England and has an accent all the time: no one really knows where he is from, but it’s not there. Also, we suspect he is a part-time archaeologist - but won’t admit it.

Finally, and for being good sports; you can choose a song and I’ll play it here (not any of your music - I will do that).

YESSSSS. Could you please play The Sun by Myd.

THANKS!