I had the opportunity to sit down with the vocalists and guitarists of the band Kylesa, Phillip Cope and Laura Pleasants, before their show at The Bluebird on Monday with High on Fire and Torche. Kylesa is a heavy metal band from Savannah, Georgia that integrates elements of hardcore, psychedelic rock, sludgy guitar riffs, and a dual drummer set up for a uniquely powerful sound. The band will release their newest album Spiral Shadow on October 26th.
Before beginning the interview I watched guitarist and vocalist Laura Pleasants open a beer bottle with the top of a plastic water bottle. If this does not unequivocally prove to the reader that Kylesa is awesome, I am certain that nothing will.
Live Buzz: So how's the tour been so far?
Phillip Cope: Good.
Laura Pleasants: Yeah, pretty good, man.
Live Buzz: How did you get involved with this tour? It's sort of an all-star lineup what with you guys, Torche, and High on Fire.
Phillip: We really just got asked to do it.
Laura: We were like, yeah, that is a pretty good lineup. It's rare to kind of get to go on tour with bands that you like to see every night. It's really nice, definitely a treat. We've been lucky this last year to be able to tour with bands that we really dig.
Live Buzz: That's great, and I feel like as a group you work well sonically. Similar enough that it melds, but different enough that it doesn't get boring.
Phillip: Yeah, and this is actually our third tour with Torche, second with High on Fire.
Live Buzz: Another question I wanted to ask you, and I'm sure you're asked this all the time, but what is it like in Georgia. Has it always had all this cool stuff going on and it's only just now getting attention, or has it developed over time?
Phillip: I mean, I'm one of the oldest people from that scene. It wasn't always like that with stuff going on. We helped start the stuff that is going on. There has been some great stuff going on for years now, though.
Live Buzz: And I mean, you guys have been going for almost ten years now, right?
Laura: Close to it, yeah.
Live Buzz: What is that like as far as what has changed and what has stayed the same for you guys with respect to how you approach the band?
Laura: For the most part we've progressed in every way a band can progress. I mean it was a lot harder in the beginning because there weren't many bands doing what we do. It was very much just doing it ourselves, playing to whoever would come out. The scene has changed tremendously over ten years. Fads have changed, it seems like the industry has changed, everything has definitely changed. But for us, it's definitely changed for the better.
Live Buzz: So tell me about the new record [Sprial Shadow]it's out the end of October, right?
Phillip: Yeah, the 26th
Live Buzz: It kind of comes quickly after Static Tensions [their previous album], how did that work as far as writing and recording went?
Laura: I guess with the release date it does come close to about a year and a half.
Live Buzz: And that is actually what I was going to ask, as far as recording it, what sort of time frame did that work within?
Phillip: It was almost two years for us, not quite, but almost. It wasn't really as quick as everybody seems to think.
Laura: We sat on the Static Tensions recording for about four months before it was released. In a writing sense, it kind of made sense for us to have another album at this point.
Live Buzz: As far as writing and constructing the new record were there any drastically different approaches here as compared to any of your previous work?
Phillip: I mean, there were a few different influences, but in a lot of interviews we've sort of talked about them. Now that I've been reading back on some of those it feels like the focus has been so heavy on these new influences, when they weren't really that heavy for us.
Laura: Yeah.
Phillip: We did bring a lot back, of course. On every album we try to stay on course. There are a few new influences to be sure but that might just be on one song. I think it's a natural progression. I mean there is no huge game plan other than just to write what we write.
Laura: Yeah, I was reading that too in some other interviews. Of course I was listening to certain things, but it's not like one band had some huge enlightening thing happen for me. We've always listened to different kinds of music and we're influenced by different things at different times. The way the stars align with what we're listening and then what we're feeling, it's more organic than anything.
Live Buzz: That actually sort of leads me to another question I wanted to ask. I'm asking this from the angle that the publication I'm writing for doesn't often get to do a lot with metal music. So, a lot of times I feel that people think that members of metal bands only listen to metal...
Phillip: That's not true at all.
Live Buzz: What sorts of things would you say you are interested in outside of heavy music?
Laura: So many things.
Live Buzz: I read something in an interview once, and this may well be wrong, but they said something about you guys with the Allman Brothers.
Phillip: I don't know where that comes from, really.
Laura: I mean, I like the Allman Brothers a lot. It might pick up from the two-drummer thing. That would be the obvious reference I guess.
Phillip: I don't hate the Allman brothers or anything. Personally speaking I've never really listened to them that much. You know they're from our town, or at least one of them lives there, and you know I have respect for them for sure, they've been going for a long time, they're great musicians...
Laura: It's just easy to say, "Oh, Allman Brothers, they're from the south they've got two drummers." I mean, I like them a lot but I wouldn't really say that they are a big influence on our band.
Live Buzz: Totally, I mean I don't sit down and listen to you and say to myself "that sounds like the Allman Brothers."
Phillip: I think someone might have thought that and said that and it just got reprinted as true.
Live Buzz: As far as songwriting goes, do you write songs as a group, does someone bring a fully formed song in, or is it just a more organic thing?
Phillip: There's no one way that it works, there's lots of different ways. It could start with just one idea that somebody brought in, or it could start with a bigger, like almost a full song that someone will bring. We have lots of different ways that we write.
Live Buzz: Another thing I wanted to ask, if you were to sort of take a step back and look at your music, how do you see yourselves as fitting into a modern heavy music scene? Or do you even care to think about things in that way?
Phillip: Honestly, speaking for myself, I don't care.
Laura: It's hard to step outside your shoes and look at your band in the broader scheme of things. A lot of me is with Phillip, I mean, I just want to play music. I don't really care about fads or scenes or all the bullshit that goes along with it. But, that said, I think we are playing a pivotal role. I mean we've been trying to push boundaries within the heavy music scene for a long time and for ourselves as well. It's important to us, what we're doing, you know. In the grand scheme of things, hopefully we reach people.
Phillip: And it is nice to get credit sometimes. Because it can be a little weird to be a band where maybe the outside world doesn't realize that you were an influence on somebody and ends up being portrayed as the opposite. Someone will come in and think that band was actually an influence for you and it's awkward when it's really not the case. You just kind of read that stuff over and over and are like, "well these people don't really seem to understand." In the end though it doesn't really matter.
Live Buzz: Absolutely. I've just got one more question if you don't mind. Is there any sort of music that you are excited about right now, either within heavy music or in pop music in general?
Laura: I really like Black Mountain's new record. I think what they are doing is really interesting.
Phillip: Yeah, I like them a lot. Actually I don't even know if I want to admit some of my stuff.
Laura: Yeah (laughs).
Phillip: I will say this, I'm still excited by all kinds of music. I think there are bands within every genre that are putting out good and interesting records. There is no lack of good music out there right now.
Live Buzz: For sure. Well, thanks again for your time, and good luck on your show this evening.
-Taylor Peters
