YOU SHOULD KNOW... GLOOMY SYNTHWAVE MEETS SHOEGAZE POP DUO THE KVB. I SIT DOWN WITH MEMBERS KAT DAY AND NICHOLAS WOOD TO TALK MUSIC, INFLUENCES, AND MORE AT THE CRUEL WORLD FESTIVAL
One of the unique opportunities I had at the Cruel World Festival was to speak with the artists. While the festival mainly promoted legendary artists like Blondie, Bauhaus, or Morrissey, or niche acts with stalwart fanbases like Devo or Berlin. Yet, the artists playing early that day carried the torch of this ever-changing (or some say disappearing) genre. Acts like Cold Cave, Blaqk Audio, Automatic, and the duo I interviewed, The KVB, are a part of this new wave of the genre, gaining new fans and listeners with their unique influence and sound. Yet, the now Manchester-based duo's, buzzy sound off their latest UNITY perked up my ears immediately. Each song packs quite the punch for them only being a duo, a kaleidoscope of atmospheric and moody dance music anchored by weighted fuzzed-out guitars, dreamy synths, and pop melodies weaving throughout.
Sitting down to chat with The KVB they had just come from performing their short day one set both were nice, chatty, and eager to discuss their music. Like everyone that day, the London-formed duo had been dealing with the 95-degree heat draining us all, along with some tech issues. Neither appeared to hamper their festive festival outlook as they were keen to see other bands play. The audio-visual Manchester-based pair and couple Kat Day and Nicholas Wood were looking forward to the festival and playing some tunes off their latest release, UNITY. Day and Wood describe their music as vast sweeping sonics, elements of darkwave, psychedelic, post-punk, and shoegaze that create their signature progressive sound. Musically UNITY is their most dance-centered sound, with the duo exploring darker, heavier dystopian themes within the lyrics that seemingly mirror current events and real life. Well, life beyond their world, as the duo celebrated a major milestone during the album-making process/pandemic... they got married. It just might be this dichotomy that makes them an intriguing pair to watch. Fortunately, if you missed The KVB at the festival, the band has tour plans for the rest of the year.
Concluding our chat, I asked, "What is next for you guys"? The KVB answered optimistically about how pumped they were about everything ahead, the upcoming August West Coast shows and touring the rest of this year. Day added, “We are gonna be back, we need to make use of the visa that we’ve spent a lot of money on’. To learn more about The KVB, click here and check out a few quick festival portraits I took of them below.
