Interview With Kyte

Sound City will be commandeering every gritty venue and Scouser-packed bar in Liverpool this weekend in the name of good music.  We filtered through the long list of performers on board this years event and shortlisted a few hot picks, one of which is the mighty Kyte. 

Four young chaps from Leicester make up Kyte and they quite literally haven't stopped churning out quality material for the past two years.  Science For The Living is their latest album which has already been released in Japan and will hit Britain soon.

Strange Glue managed to grab a chat with vocalist Nick Moon recently, and we started by asking them why Japan is so good....

SG: So why did you release your new album Science For The Living in Japan first and how has it been received over there? 

Nick: I think on the first release we sold quite a lot more in Japan than anywhere else, so the label over there was keen to release the new album. Also we thought it would be good to have it out before we play Summer Sonic festival in August. Its gone down very well I think, we’ve been sent some of the press and reviews and they look amazing. It got into the international charts at number 5! We’re very pleased and proud with how its going over there so far, our label Rallye has done such a wonderful job. 

SG: Will the British release be identical to the Japanese one? 

Nick: No I think it might be quite different, although it’s hard to say at this point. In Japan the album has all the tracks from an EP we brought out in the UK, so I’m not sure if they will be on the UK album or not. 

SG: Kyte have featured in a few awesome remixes before, are there any planned for the album or near future?

Nick: In terms of people remixing us I’m not sure, Tom is always working on something though. He has a separate MySpace page for the remixes he’s up to, www.myspace.com/kyteremixes .

SG: Ideally, where would you like to tour your new material from Science Of Living? 

Nick: Everywhere I reckon! We’re going back to Japan at the start of October, and hopefully sorting out some more shows in Europe. We’re quite keen to get over to the US and Canada at some point also. Anywhere that introduces us to exciting things we can’t get here in Leicester.

SG: Kyte have come an extremely long way in the past year. How do you think your sound and approach to making music has changed?

Nick: I don’t think I’ve noticed any dramatic changes in how we do things, Tom still records all our songs at his house and it still feels like a very normal way of going about things. We just tend to get on with what we enjoy doing, and anything good that comes out of it is a bonus.

SG: Are there any other bands you want to see over the Sound City festival or are you strapped for time? 

Nick: I’m looking forward to seeing Maps, who are playing after us. James is a very cool guy, and has a new album soon and a new way of doing his live shows. I think that might be the only band we are able to see which is a shame.

SG: Could you see yourself attending Sound City if you weren't performing? 

Nick It’s a fair way from Leicester so I don’t think we’d be there if we weren’t playing, but if the event was going on nearer to home I’d probably be there. Leicester doesn’t really have anything like that, it has Summer Sundae and the cool fringe events over the summer, which are a bit more reachable from where I live.

SG: Are there any festivals that you like in particular? 

Nick: I really love Latitude, I went two years ago and played it last year. I’ll be doing my best to go again, Mew, Regina Spektor and Passion Pit are the bands I really want to see. But its got such a nice atmosphere to it, I’d go regardless of the line up.

SG: You released an album and E.P last year and you're releasing another new album this year... where does all this new material come from?! How do you stay motivated to keep writing and recording?

Nick: I think we enjoy what we do, so it never really feels like a hassle or a struggle. Also I think we drink too much coffee and don’t sleep enough, so we’re awake more hours than normal people. Having the studio at Tom's is also amazing, as whenever an idea strikes he can be put into a song in such a short space of time.

SG: What's been the highlight of Kyte's life so far? 

Nick: We had a really good year last year, we can’t complain about any of it. We got to support iliketrains in the UK, do headline tours of Japan and Europe and play some amazing festivals like Latitude. Also we managed to play De Montfort Hall at Summer Sundae which was something we always used to joke about at school. In August at Summer Sonic it’ll be the biggest venue we’ve ever played, so I’m hoping that will become a highlight.

SG: What do you hope to achieve as a band by the end of 2009? 

Nick: Hopefully we’ll have the new album out in the rest of the world, and be able to start thinking about touring those places. I’ve stopped thinking too far ahead! 

Kyte - Eyes Lose Their Fire