This is my second interview with Kutosis. Their second album ‘Dream It Away’ came out last summer and I reckon it’s my favourite of 2014. It’s that bleddy good.
What led to the 'surf' direction of your second album 'Dream It Away'? Do you all surf? Or are just interested in the culture around it?
The surf direction came about gradually over the song writing period and reflected a lot of what we were listening to. We're not surfers ourselves although Ben has been known to dabble. There was a point early on in the recording process where we decided to go all in with this new sound which meant we ended up ditching quite a few songs that sounded more like the tracks on our first album.
This album seems to have received far more promotion than Fanatical Love. Have you been consciously more focused on promoting this album?
Not consciously although there was quite a long time between finishing the album and releasing it. Because we’d put so much in to it, we wanted to make sure everything was right when it came to putting it out. Also, given the change in sound on our first two albums, the audiences have probably been quite different.
A few songs from Dream it Away have been licensed for tv shows. This isn't the first time your songs have been used on tv if I'm right? Do you know how the songs will feature in the shows?
Yeah that’s right. A few songs off our first album were used on tv and adverts, and now a few have been picked up for shows in the US. We don’t know how exactly they feature – we haven’t seen any of the shows yet! But they’re really important for a band like us to keep on recording and doing what we do.
What has been the response to the vinyl press of Dream it away? Will you continue to put future releases out on vinyl? And what about putting out past releases on vinyl?
It’s been fantastic and I imagine we’ll keep on doing it for future releases since it’s been so well received. We’ve sold copies all around Europe, Japan and the US. It also allows you to do more artwork wise too – we included some limited edition Dream It Away screenprints by our friend Adam Chard (Croatoan Design) in the first batch of records, which we couldn't have really done with any other format. No plans yet to put Fanatical Love out on vinyl – maybe we’ll wait for the 10th anniversary.
What can you tell us about album #3? Will it steer off in a new direction again or will you keep the surf vibe?
The change between the first two albums was quite stark. This one is more of a development of the Dream It Away sound. We’ve written about half the album and demoed the songs and we’re really excited about them - they've definitely kept that surf vibe.
Do you plan to tour more in the future? What about festivals?
We’re really keen to get over to the US and play there, and also some European dates. The Dream It Away songs are great to play live, and hopefully we’ll get the chance to showcase them at a few more festivals too.
What other good music is coming out of Cardiff? Do you think Cardiff is a good base for the band?
It’s a great base for a band. There’s an excellent community of musicians who are really supportive of each other. Then you’ve got the labels – Jealous Lovers Club obviously, and also the likes of Shape and Turnstile who are some of the most interesting labels you’ll find anywhere.
Speaking of Cardiff your buddies Samoans acquired a second guitar player last year. Don't you think it's about time I joined on shoo-redding guitar? On a serious note have you thought about expanding the band or do you think the 3 piece setup is the way to go?
The songwriting works really well between the three of us. We’ve got some ideas for potentially expanding the live line up in the future but nothing concrete for now. (If you can organise a tour of Japan for us, you can be on lead guitar!)
Anything else you'd like to add?
Our next single 'This Avalanche Is' is out soon! The video can be found here: https://youtu.be/8d6o7Dz3LB4A
And you can get Dream It Away here: http://kutosis.bandcamp.com/album/dream-it-away-album
https://www.facebook.com/KUTOSIS
