• Thursday 18 November 2010
• posted by Sophie Hines
• Comments

Vote for Kinnie the Explorer before 29th November!

How would you sum up your sound in 5 words?

That's a difficult one, probably grand, ambient, psychedelic, catchy and disengaging.

How did the band first get together?

We've been friends for a few years now, and Olly on guitar and Will on bass are brothers. Kit and myself used to spend a lot of time there and when we started playing music on a regular basis and had a few song ideas, we thought we'd form the band. We booked in for recording three months later and put out our first free EP Blood, Its On Every Wall in April of that year.

What's the Best/Worst live performance you've done so far?

I don't know how it looked from the crowd's perspective, but it definitely felt really good playing the Bournemouth O2 Academy in June with Noah & The Whale. The sound team were just incredible and the place was pretty busy, ended up being a really great night. Worst performance, we've had a few. Our third gig at a venue near us ended up being empty aside from who we'd brought along, plagued by feedback, and we even got a drunken stage invader.. We've definitely had better nights.

Who are your main musical influences?

We all love different types of music, everything from 60s folk to surf, post-rock and dream pop music. We're really into bands like Black Moth Super Rainbow, The National, Incredible String Band, The Antlers, Girls and Four Tet and much more, its constantly changing.

What's your favourite thing about your University?

Hard for me to speak for the others, since we're divided between Sussex University, Brighton and Bournemouth. But what I can say about Sussex is that its got great teaching and a wonderful setting for its campus in the middle of the South Downs. Its also really easy access to central Brighton, what more could you want?

What is the story behind the name of your band?

I'm warning you now this is quite a strange one - Kinnie is a Maltese fizzy drink, which my girlfriend's cat is named after. When they first got the cat, they refused to let it out of the house for some reason which we don't understand, and as a result whenever they left the door open it would try to dart out through the gap. On the few occasions he'd manage to break through he wouldn't come back for hours, whilst he explored the lovely surrounding area, so we figured we'd name the band Kinnie the Explorer in tribute to Kinnie's true devotion to his cause.

Where do your song ideas come from?

We all tend to bring some unusual sounds we've been working on to practise and try to combine them into something which vaguely resembles music. We always try to ground our stylings in a pop beat which people can relate to, and build it into something intense which will lodge itself in people's memories. We like our music to sound nice, but also to strike a chord with everyone on some level or another. Our lyrics are usually fairly non-sensical and are usually about some combination of nature, psychedelia and any recent strange dreams we've had. 

Have you got any any forthcoming live dates?

We're playing a date in Bournemouth this Friday with The Metropolise and Zac Harris at iBar, two really good bands we often find ourselves playing with, definitely worth checking out. We're also in the process of booking some shows in London and Brighton for early next year, but you'll have to check that out with us nearer the time. We may well be doing some acoustic shows in Brighton very soon.

What's the best thing about being in a band?

Probably just being able to perform the music you've put so many hours of thought into, with interested people watching.

Why should readers vote for your track in the competition?

Readers should vote for our track because if we get enough votes, Kinnie the Explorer and their fifty fans will travel to London on a luxury party bus. It will truly be an entrance to remember.

If you are one of the final three bands to be in the London final, what can the audience expect from you?

If enough people vote for us, we'd be grateful for the opportunity of a show in London. They can expect a a really diverse set - with elements of all different kinds of genres coming through. We'll switch a lot of timings and there's a lot of songs we're waiting to record which we'll be premiering at the show. We just think the chance we've got here is too much to waste, and will put our best efforts into making sure we play a great set...

Listen to Kinnie the Explorer - Fairy Lit Hung Flowers