After establishing themselves with a wealth of rich and illuminating releases these last few years, Madrid-based project The Kiss That Took A Trip return once again to deliver their vibrant new single 'Skull and crossbones'.
Lifted from their forthcoming new album 'Victims Of The Avantgarde', which is available to stream now, 'Skull and crossbones' makes for a wonderfully enjoyable listen. Brimming with rich and alluring textures from start to finish, they continue to shine as one of the more passionate names doing the rounds right now.
So with the new single available to stream now, we sat down with them to find out more about their origins and what has been inspiring them most recently.
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What was the first instrument you fell in love with?
I remember playing air guitar soon after learning how to stand up, so I guess that’s pretty much a definitive answer. However, what should’ve been a start of a story of extended learning and devotion to the instrument… didn’t go very far. Life took me down very different roads. Circumstances (and a bit of slacking too, of course) had me stuck at just soloing fantasies. Currently, I’m barely a church player.
What kind of music did you love when you were younger?
If I really have to choose one among so many… the grunge era defined who I am today more than any other, because it’s a fusion of very important elements for me: the sound, the freedom, the authenticity (in the beginning), that unassuming conquest of the mainstream… And even if today we have a tendency to oversimplify the sound (by just mocking Eddie Vedder’s vocals) or the aesthetics (summing them up with a Kurt Cobain’s in a stripped pullover pic), there were a lot of worthwile bands: Live could have been an alt-U2, Stone Temple Pilots are not the copycats some people make them out to be, Screaming Trees were deep and came from the underground, and what to say about the mighty Smashing Pumpkins, who were dumped in that scene when they were, more than anything, a mix of Black Sabbath and Queen...
What was the first album you remember owning?
Back in the days of tape trading, it was “The final countdown” by Europe, and I can say this without an ounce of shame or embarrassment. I worn out that tape and now I can see why, even if I stopped listening decades ago. If we’re talking about my first actual purchase, it was a double one: “When the world knows your name” (Deacon Blue) and “Somewhere in time” (Iron Maiden). I guess that contrast speaks for itself when trying to outline my heterogeneous musical tastes.
What is the one song you wished you could have written yourself?
There are so so many of them… So I’ll name a few: “In particular” (Blonde Redhead), because it sounds a lot like what early 2010s The Kiss wanted to sound like, any song on “Pretty hate machine” (Nine Inch Nails), the main theme from Twin Peaks (Badalamenti), and last but not least, “Cry little sister”, the song that appeared on “The lost boys”. I could come up with lots more, though.
Do you have any habits or rituals you go through when trying to write new music?
No, not at all. In fact I would avoid something like that. Writing music is a process that is incredibly prone to the acquiring of bad habits and customs, and that’s a cancer for songwriting. It’s something one has to actively fight against, and even doing your best in that battle, it’s almost unavoidable to find similar tricks in the songs you’ve written, stuff that has ended up there because you’re using unconscious tools. So I’d rather not make things worse by establishing routines myself.
Who are your favourite artists you have found yourself listening to at the moment?
Unfortunately, the work on “Victims of the avantgarde” has been so draining during these last few months that I’ve stopped listening to music, and that’s something extremely unusual in me. So I’m still in debt with two albums I bought like the very first day they were out, but I haven’t given them enough listens yet. “The beggar” by Swans, and “Sit down for dinner” by Blonde Redhead. Also, just a few days ago I stumbled upon this metal band called Sulphur Aeon. I listened to their last album and it struck me as something great and original from the very first listen. A mix of many metal subgenres and it works… damn well.
If you could open a show for anyone in the world, who would it be?
I dare not ruin the night of a band I admire, so any criteria related to my appreciation for a band should be discarded. The exception would be bands that I feel are spiritual brothers to what I create. I think the ideal choice would be Bark Psychosis. On the other hand, I’d love to sabotage gigs of bands I hate. I won’t give you names, though.
What do you find is the most rewarding part about being a musician?
Honestly, truth is that it’s less and less rewarding as time passes by, because the most satisfactory stuff happens at the start of your career: the exploratory feeling, the impossibility of repeating yourself, the adrenaline of public exposition… Those elements fade out and you’re left with the purity of it, which is the pride of creation, nothing else. So, in essence, being able to add one work to your catalogue would be the actually rewarding part. Luckily, that moment is right now.
And what is the most frustrating part?
This is an easy one: arranging, mixing and producing. I have a relatively good ability to write new stuff and come up with demos. In fact, that happens a lot too easily for my liking because it defeats all practical purposes. It puts a weigh on my back that it’s quite hard to carry, because I can have a hard time translating the sounds in my head to an actual arrangement. I go back and forth a lot, and I toy with the song until it gets to a version of itself that feels non negotiable. And after that painful process, mixing and mastering starts, and those two words are enough to make my skin crawl.
And what is the best piece of advice you have received as a musician?
Although it’s not a personal advice I’ve received, I recently reposted a very humbling video about music production on my social media. It’s from a YouTube channel called Venus Theory that is run by a musician, and he deals with a lot of interesting topics. The title of the video is “Why making music when nobody cares?” and it’s about the unavoidability of keeping your creative spirit alive regardless of circumstances, as long as it’s joyful for you. Even if that message triggered no epiphany in me, because I’ve agreed on it since I can remember, it came across beautifully in that video, and I can pretty much consider it advice.
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The Kiss That Took A Trip's new single 'Skull and crossbones' is available to stream now. Watch the new video for it in the player below.