Kurt Travis has done amazing work with his past band Dance Gavin Dance, his current band A Lot Like Birds, and he has even done some solo work. Stay with us after the jump to learn some more about this great musician.
NC: So this album coming out this May, what can you tell us about it?
KT: It’s titled “Everything Is Beautiful,” and it’s a collaboration between me, Zachary Garren from Strawberry Girls (guitar), and Joseph Arrington from my band, A Lot Like Birds (drums). It was recorded by Josh Benton who played guitar on the last DGD album. I wrote the majority of the songs, but with some of Zach’s help. As far as the drums go, Joe is always down to throw down drums on my records, and I’m incredibly lucky to have a drummer as good as he is. This is a full length album with an impressive amount of diversity such as indie rock/new wave/electronic/folk/r&b. Some of this material dates back to 2-3 years ago, but most of it is brand new. Zachary and I had recorded two songs a couple years ago and never released them. We wanted to, because we loved the songs, but we didn’t just want to drop them out of nowhere, we wanted it to be a part of a project. For the last 6 months or so, Zachary has been coming up a couple times a month and we’ve been demoing songs out over few day periods. Some stuff we did over the internet, just sending files back and forth. My band ended up touring with Sianvar, which features Will from DGD/Blue Swan Records, and he said he really wanted to put out my first full length.
NC: So you and Dance Gavin Dance, are you guys on good terms?
KT: Well since Will Swan of DGD is releasing it on his label, I would hope so, haha. But yeah we’re totally cool. Lately all of our bands have been collaborating with one another and helping each other out. Hail the Sun is also another band we have all been collaborating with one way or another. It’s an awesome network of friendship.
NC: You have tour this month, do you have a favorite venue you are gonna be visiting?
KT: I think the White Rabbit in San Antonio should be really fun, we’ve played there a bunch of times over the years and the kids in San Antonio have always been extra supportive of our bands. Also, our first show is in my home town of Sacramento at Luigi’s Pizza. It’s changing ownership and we are one of the last shows booked, so we’re looking forward to a really awesome time since it’s one of the last shows there.
NC: Since we are on the topic of touring, craziest touring experience?
KT: When I was on tour with my band, A Lot Like Birds, we got our trailer hit by some drunk dude. He clipped our trailer at a stop light, sorta. I jumped out and grabbed the dudes hand and said, “You gotta pull over right now, dude.” He gets out and he’s obviously drunk. We tell him that he needs to give us money or we’re gonna get the police involved. He reaches for his wallet and say’s he must’ve lost it because he doesn’t have it on him and so he had to have left it back at the club he was at previously. We tell him that he’s gonna have to call a friend or family to help him out with money and a ride home, because we needed money to fix our trailer and he was obviously going to jail if we called the cops because he was too drunk to be driving. After some back and forth talk, we finally convinced him to call his wife and she’s absolutely furious on the phone. The dude isn’t even able to handle her, so he ends up giving the phone to one of us to calm her down and tell her what happens. She finally agrees to come out to pick him up. We tell her that we need money to fix our trailer. After some more back and forth and arguing, she tells us to wait a minute and then walks back to her car. She comes back with a cardboard box in her hands and says, “Just take this.” She starts to walk away with her husband and I tell her to hold on while I opened it up, because we had no idea what she had just handed us. It ended up being $500 in rolled up quarters…
NC: The single you released, “Brain Lord” is that the sound you are going to keep throughout the album or is it a bit of everything?
KT: It is most definitely a bit of everything. There are some upbeat songs and some slower tracks. Lots of different genres. We have a little bit of indie rock, electronic, acoustic, and R&B songs. We like diversity, but all the songs form a pretty cohesive album. Even though there are lots of different sounds, it all makes sense in the context of the album.
NC: When did you decide you wanted to be a singer?
KT: I never wanted to be a singer, it just kind of ended up happening. I started playing guitar, and I really wanted to write songs. In order to write songs, you have to sing on them, or at least that’s what I thought. Then people told me I had a good voice, so I kept on going with it.
NC: Was there anyone you looked up to that helped inspire the choice?
KT: Cedric from At The Drive-In and Geoff from Thursday. They were the singers I looked up to when I started singing. I liked their passion on stage, that’s what really inspired me most. They weren’t the best vocalists in a traditional sense, but their passion for what they did really struck me and inspired me to put a lot into what I do on stage as a singer.
NC: Who do you think is the most talented singer in today’s music?
KT: I would have to say that Amber Coffman from Dirty Projectors, as well as the rest of the band, have some of the best vocal work I’ve seen in the last few years. Their harmonies and creativity are really innovative and showcase a really incredible talent.
NC: Last question, if you had to pick one band off of Blue Swan Records for anyone to listen to, who would that be?
KT: Hail The Sun, who just recently announced their signing, and Stolas, who was the first band to be signed to Blue Swan. We’ve toured with both and they’re really great bands and people.
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