Radio: Did you guys want to describe your music for people that aren’t familiar? 

Klept: Let’s see, well you know I thought about this a lot. I guess the best way I could describe the music of Klept would be like noisy art rock.

Radio: How long have you been playing together? 

Klept: With this current lineup, close to a year. Pretty much when quarantine started. It was around this the spring break actually.

Radio: And how has it been being kind of a newly formed band in such a strange time? 

Klept: I feel like it’s kind of helped us. The quarantine really gave us a lot of time to kind of form our sound, you know.

Radio: Yeah, understandable.

Where did the name come from? 

Klept: So, Klept is a root word which means thief and I don’t know I just thought that was kind of cool. And I think it’s kind of cool because–I don’t know if this was your intention at all, but it’s kind of like how every musician kind of steals everything, so the whole Klept thing is basically us just saying, we’re thieves of music. He actually got it from the word biblioklept, like book thief and he said it’s something like since I write most of the lyrics he says, I steal a lot from books. So that also works out. It all comes full circle, that’s all. It’s just a name really. 

Yeah, and it’s concise, not the grand band Funk jam metallic psycho water buffalo or whatever. There’s a band, the Presidents of the United States of America. That’s way too long. They said Cleft at the [Diner on Abercorn] show–it’s Klept with a “p”. 

Radio: Speaking of a lot of different sources and kind of taking things and making them your own,  you guys have a pretty eclectic sound there’s like a lot going on, so who would you cite as some of your bigger influences? 

Klept: Nirvana is one. The only band, Nirvana, that’s it. Sweet trip has definitely been an influence, Mr. Bungle. Slowdive. Smashing Pumpkins. Jimmy Chamberlin is my favorite drummer so I’m very inspired by his playing style. Good gosh, Death Grips. I’d say Radiohead, David Bowie, The Garden. Yeah, their new record. Elliott Smith, I mean just so much. 100 Gecs!

Radio: What would you guys say the writing process is like for your songs? 

Klept: Well, so somebody will have a musical idea or something and I don’t write all the lyrics he actually wrote one too. But yeah some people just have like a bit of something and we’ll just kind of jam on it. It’s kind of cool because we don’t have to talk much. We don’t get our notepads out, we don’t do that stuff. 

[From off-camera] Younger sister: What’re you guys doing? 

Klept: An interview. We have a guest, that’s my little sister.

Radio: Oh okay! Hello!

Sister: I despise all of them! Also I got new dolls. 

Klept: Cool! 

Sister: I’d like to show you–

Klept: Later, later. What were we talking about? Oh, the writing process, right. There’s not a ton of talking, we don’t think about it. We just play what we want to play to kind of feel it out, you know make noises and sh*t. We keep doing it until it all comes together. Yeah, it takes a while–we work months on each of our songs. It’s like each one’s kind of its own project.

Radio: What is the connection to Savannah? Are you guys from here?

Klept: Three of us are. I’m from Michigan originally but I was at USC South Carolina for a couple years and then I went to SCAD for sound design and now I’m here.

Radio: I feel like the music scene in Savannah is kind of developing a little bit. La Chonk is sort of kind of spearheading a bunch of bands coming together and doing shows and stuff. What is your perspective on that? 

Klept: I’m glad it’s happening, yeah I mean it’s definitely one aspect of the city here is a music scene. I always like to try to seek that out. And I know Civvies on Broughton recently closed, but we played one show there and I went to a bunch of shows there too. There’re places around that are happening. Yeah, with the whole Covid shut down everything is just now starting to come back up. A lot of people miss shows. We’re trying to do them as safe as we can. 

Radio: I guess to finish off, did you guys have any upcoming shows or releases that you guys were planning on? 

Klept: Nothing in particular, but like we’re working on trying to get some shows in April, though, so yeah you can expect something in April.

The post Exclusive Interview with Local Artist Klept About Influences and Inspiration appeared first on SCAD Radio.

SCAD Radio: To start off with, do you want to tell us who you are and what your band is and just a little bit about you? 

Sam Groveman: Sure. My name is Sam Groveman and I play drums for the band The Orange Constant. The band started in 2012 in Statesboro, Georgia at Georgia Southern and then relocated to Athens in 2015 right after they released their first album (on Spotify and Itunes if you want to listen). And then I moved to Athens when I was 18, for college, in 2015 and happened to go on Craigslist in 2017 looking for some gigs while I was in school and then found an ad that said “band looking for serious drummer playing over 100 shows a year, touring” and I was like “Well, I can’t do this because I’m in school”. But decided to jam with them anyways. And then next thing you know, I joined them and Chris, our keyboardist, shortly joined after me and now we have the modern lineup.

Radio: How have you guys dealt with being a band during the pandemic? Since playing live shows is kind of like half of what it is to be a band. How has that been for you?

Groveman: It’s definitely been tough. Obviously because we went from playing, you know, like I said earlier around at least over 100 shows a year to not really playing many shows at all. But I think we did pretty well with what we had. I mean, we released an album in May. So that was kind of perfect timing trying to find ways to stay relevant with social media. It makes things a little bit easier consistently posting and keeping your name out there and playing social distanced shows. Also, I feel like there’s been this resurgence in live music because people just want to see bands and now you know people were at home are watching live streams and it’s just not the same. So I’ve noticed from playing shows like Pour House, or different shows we’ve played recently. People are just, they just seem so excited for music and are so much more into it right now.

Radio: Yeah, maybe people are grateful for what they’ve been missing. People used to take shows a little bit for granted. But now that they’ve kind of had to go without for a little bit. People know how important they are.

Groveman: Yeah, totally.

Radio: After going for such a long time without consistently performing. What might people going to your show on the 23rd expect?

Groveman: New music. Some jams [laughs] I know I feel like the shows that we have played together have just been a little more polished. I think as musicians we’ve all had a lot more time at home to just work on our crafts and we’ve had a lot more time to work with each other and practice at home. And yeah, write new music. So I think they can expect some new songs. 

Radio: Listening to your music, it’s easy to pick up on quite a few influences. I got some prog rock and a little bit of country. There’s even a bit of reggae in there. Where did such an eclectic style come from?

Groveman: I think everybody in the band just grew up listening to different music and we’ve all found different ways to kind of mesh them together and also you never know what kind of style you’re going to get. Everybody in the band writes songs–like Andrew really likes reggae. So sometimes, and you’ll be like, “Hey, I got a new song,” and it will be reggae influenced and I actually love that, at least as a musician and I think others do, too. Because you’re like, “Well, we’re not just a rock band”. So I don’t just need to just practice rock and need to practice jazz or funk and practicing all these different genres makes you better with the band because we kind of have an eclectic sound.

Radio: Kind of switching gears a bit but you mentioned that you guys are based in Athens right now. That’s a place with a pretty rich music history. Do you think that has an impact on your sound or anything?

Groveman: Definitely I would say different artists who have been in Athens influence us. Widespread Panic is a huge influence on us. We’ve even recorded with their producer for two of our albums. And just how easy it is to see other artists in Athens is really nice because most people live within a five minute radius of downtown and there’s bars like Nowhere Bar I used to go there all the time. I actually don’t live in Athens right now but I drive there for rehearsals. So that kind of has a big influence on people and just how easy it is to see shows.

Radio: And what’s the band’s connection to Savannah? I think that we’ve interviewed you at scared radio before. 

Groveman: Yeah! I remember that interview. I was sleeping on the couch while the other guys did the interview, because I think I did all nighter, which I don’t usually do. I just couldn’t sleep well then. We’ve been playing Savannah for years, actually. And we played there a couple months ago if I’m not mistaken. Savannah is right by Georgia Southern so I know when the band was in Statesboro, that was probably one of the first new cities that the band would play.

Radio: Are there any venues that you guys have kind of a special relationship with at all? Or do you just kind of go whenever you can, in Savannah or in general?

Groveman: Yeah, I think so. Over the years, you kind of start to realize what places don’t really work well for you and what places do. Obviously the Georgia Theater is always special for all of us, because it’s you know it’s home. It’s a hometown show. I love that venue and I know everybody does. I always like Pour House in Charleston. There’s some venues where you ask yourself “Why do we even play here??” Like, “What is the point?” And so you kind of start to narrow down what places are good for the band and what places are just kind of pointless.

Radio: And you mentioned that you guys came out with your third full length in 2020? It’s called Peel. How did that come together? Was it recorded during the pandemic?

Groveman: Actually it was recorded over a span of two years. We had a pretty busy touring schedule. We decided to go a different way about it when recording this album. Usually the band would record for 10 days straight. When they’ve recorded the first two albums, Time To Go and Point of Reference. Peel was recorded over a span of two years. It was released in May. It taught me a lot because I was 19 or 20 when we first started recording. It was like the first recordings I did. And then by the time I was 22 I think we did our last recordings, so there definitely were some changes throughout that album.

Radio: You guys have an interesting band dynamic with everybody writing songs and how many Members total do you guys have again?

Groveman: Five.

Radio: Do you think having more people writing songs means there’s a more collective decision process in terms of what direction you’re going in?

Groveman: Sometimes. It’s funny because sometimes a song is written by someone. It’ll only be like halfway written and then they’ll be like, “Hey, I really want the band to put their thoughts into” this and then sometimes that goes really well and everybody writes their parts and next thing you know, have you more of a [full] band song. Like if you listen to “Go” on Peel, that’s kind of one of those songs. I think that was a song that I brought a melody to Andrew and then we showed it to the band. Within like two days, the band kind of put their parts in and fully wrote it, whereas other songs like “Reliance,” Andrew wrote that song more reggae and he pretty much had that completely written. Sometimes people have the song fully written and they have a direction they want it to go in. Sometimes the band comes together and they write songs.

Radio: How do you think having a really rigorous tour schedule has shaped you guys?

Groveman: It’s definitely taught us a lot of lessons–helped us get used to being around each other a lot. I think the more shows you play the more tight you get, so it always helps to just keep playing. We do a lot of improv on stage. So, you know, just continuously playing and doing stuff like that always helps.

Radio: Is there anything else that you wanted to mention for the listeners?

Groveman: Check out our music! Check out our new album Peel. I think there’s a song for everybody on there. And come see us in Savannah!

Radio: And you guys have a show at Barrelhouse South on January 23rd!

The post Interview: The Orange Constant Performing at Barrelhouse appeared first on SCAD Radio.

Lead Singer: I think it’s cool to see a possible grouping of bands that can go around SCAD and go around Savannah, and a place for people to go watch live music. Even though we have a bit of a world situation we’re dealing with at the moment, it’s so great to have a scene forming here in Savannah. I guess that’s our overall goal. A month ago we decided to have house shows. We actually had a pretty decent turn out in our backyard last night. We are planning on doing another house show in a week or two from now, and try to limit the size in order to keep it safe. It’s going to be a really awesome year. 

Q: Do you know where your next show is going to be? 

A: Tomorrow morning [10/31/20] at the Stables three of us will be there. Us, Bastardane, and La Chonk will be there tomorrow. It’s going to be awesome. Seeing things coming together in Savannah for music, all started by SCAD students, and perpetuated by SCAD students is really amazing. 

Q: Do you have any musical inspirations? I see there’s an Alex Turner vibe.

A: I don’t know I just had this suit and I wanted to put it on. We’re actually politicians. I was actually going to introduce us as some Democratic candidates, Jon Ossoff, so shoutout Jon Ossoff, I hope everybody’s voting and all that. But to answer the question of musical inspiration, shoutout to my guy, Amen Dunes. He’s a very little known artist that deserves much more attention, so Amen Dunes would be mine. Another would be a combination of John Mayer and Charles Manson. Also, the typical taste of Led Zeppelin. Really got to stress [Amen Dunes]. Everyone go listen to the album “Freedom” by Amen Dunes. 

Q: Any new music coming out soon? 

A: We should have an album coming out in the coming months. Honestly, we are a very new band, and we actually made our Instagram before the show started. But, we have been working on some original stuff and hopefully we’ll have some music out on streaming platforms for everybody to listen to. It would be great to do that, for after shows to be able to plug that. Like I said, pretty new, we are Something Happened, stay tuned!

Follow them on Instagram @somethinghappenedband.

The post Something Happened Discusses Growing Local Scene appeared first on SCAD Radio.

Q: What made you guys want to start a band? 

A: Initially we were in our dorm room and it was the beginning of college, we didn’t know how to get any female attention. So we thought, well maybe we should start playing some instruments. We realized that if you just play instruments s***** then girls will still come after you. I didn’t play bass until I started the band.  We didn’t think we’d get this far, if I’ll be honest with you. 

Q: Who are your musical inspirations? Who have you been obsessing over lately? 

A: Fred Durst. Big fans of Fred Durst. I’ve seen his new movie “The Fanatic,” it was fantastic, John Travolta freaking killed it. In addition to Fred Durst, Rob Zombie, we’re just trying to do that. Suicidal Tendencies and J. Cole as well. Shoutout to the new “Year of the Knife” album, he recorded it in our dorm room. To be honest, really, we were just chilling with Jimi Hendrix one day and Tom Petty, and they were like, “Y’all are the most talented people we’ve ever met” and it was just a few days after learning our instruments. They told us that the world needs more music about the issues that really matter, so that’s what we’re out here trying to do. Not enough people are talking about homosexual stuff, big issue right now, and cars. That’s what we’re out here for. We’re just about bringing people together and having a good time. 

Q: You guys got pretty popular after performing at the talent show, are you guys grateful for what Paula Wallace has given you guys? 

 A: I wasn’t a member of the band at the point of the talent show, so I went up to the guys and was like, “I’m gonna mosh, I’m gonna do it, I’m gonna mosh.” They were like, “ For legal safety reasons, we do not suggest that you mosh.” But I did it anyway, I moshed, jumped off the stage, and getting second place in the People’s Choice Awards, I really think that helped us give a boost. Really we’re just out here trying to spread the gospel about how freaking good Denny’s chili is (and ice cream). If you check out our Instagram, we had a lovely conversation with Paula Wallace, herself, and Miss Wallace, we would love to collaborate on a music video with you. Also, we are looking for an official declaration that we are officially the worst band in Savannah, and we would like you [Paula Wallace] to arrange that. If not that’s okay, we’ll keep studying for our midterms [which passed].  

Q: What’s next for La Chonk? Any new music? 

A: Our album was halted by a big event that happened recently, there was a fire in our apartment, it burned all of our instruments. We had to build them together with brick and mortar. We were all heartbroken. The bass is actually made out of ramen noodles. You know those videos where people repair everything with ramen, that’s what we had to do with all our instruments. Good as new. We actually have a 5 song Christmas EP coming out. Titles may include: “Traditional Christmas,” “Deck the Halls,” “Nog Season,” “Quarantine for Christmas,” and “Open on Christmas.” 

Check out their music on Spotify & Apple Music.

Follow them on Instagram @la_chonk.

The post Interview with Self-Proclaimed “Savannah’s Worst” – La Chonk appeared first on SCAD Radio.

My Last Years is a Savannah based metalcore outfit with members from across the country. Having been a year since the band released their last single, “Dimensions,” the band are gearing up to release their debut EP in the near future.

Here’s a look at our interview with Andrew Preavett (vocals), Ethan Sather (vocals), Brendan Bagwell (guitar), Luke Myers (bass), and Jalen Roark (drums) of My Last Years.

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Kush with SCAD Radio: Are there any bands, both old and new, that you’d say would have influenced your music?

Andrew Prevett from My Last Years: It varies for each person, really. It’s like a cluster of a bunch of different bands all together. Some of us are really into metalcore like Of Mice and Men, Parkway Drive, or anything like that. Some of us are into djent.

Ethan Sather from My Last Years: Uh…I’ve been greatly influenced by The Wiggles. [laughs]

Jalen Roark from My Last Years: I think most interestingly — Andy, you’re in love with Def Leppard.

Andrew Prevett: I am a HUGE Def Leppard fan. They’re such a huge influence on me, but it’s not like they put me in the mood to write or anything, since they’re so different from what a lot of people in this genre will listen to. A lot of people are influenced by Issues or anything off of Rise Records. But I listen to a lot of hair metal. At the same time I also like R&B and I listen to some showtunes and I have a wide variety of what I like.

Brendan Bagwell from My Last Years: So the many different influences from each person really brings a new take on our music that we can all collaborate and try to bring something new to the genre.

Kush: Are there any other genres of music outside of metalcore and post-hardcore that you’d say had an impact on your music?

Jalen Roark: I’m actually a jazz drummer above anything else. I try to bring the more interesting chops I’ve got now from that into this.

Ethan Sather: A lot of us listen to a lot of different music. I used to listen to country as a kid. So there’s nothing really ruled out as far as what we listen to.

Brendan Bagwell: I think that really opens it up for us. Most of us are open to pretty much anything. I know a lot of my other friends have a very specific music taste and they’re not willing to expand to anything else, like country. Like “Metal is so non-country! Screw that!” But I feel this band is open to anything which honestly does open up for a lot more open mindedness for what we come up with in the future.

AP: Music is music, regardless of what genre it is. We can appreciate it regardless of what style.

Luke Meyers from My Last Years: Genre just makes it easier to find similar artists. I don’t think it needs to be a barrier.

K: How would you say the Savannah hardcore and metalcore scene is different from other similar scenes across the country?

ES: I think I’m the only one in this band that has witnessed the hardcore scene. There is a very good hardcore scene. When I first came down here 2 years ago, it was kind of being brought back up. There was a very small scene.

AP: The venues were shutting down and stuff and people have to resort to house shows and junk.

ES: Seeing the people that go to the local shows and stuff, there is a very good following for the local music, especially in the hardcore genre. People will come from at least 20 or 30 minutes just to come to Savannah house shows. It’s a very welcoming community.

Luke Meyers: Speaking of those house shows, I’m never going to forget those house shows I went to all of last year. People were willing to destroy their homes for beautiful venues for punk shows. It was just incredible.

AP: It’s a surprise to me. I’m from Tennessee and other there we have a decent hardcore scene but they suck at promotion and stuff. Down here, it’s really pushed and people here are interested.

BB: Especially with Timothy (Walls, Coast Rock Productions). Timothy has done a great job with everything Coastal Rock. He’s went out of his way to go out and print fliers for us. There were lineup changes for this show, and he made a whole new flier and printed them out and handed them out as well. So his dedication helps a lot for promotion down here.

K: So do you guys have any hobbies outside of music that you’d say work to influence your music?

AP: Video games.

ES: Video games.

AP: Jalen and I, we both love theater.

JR: I incorporate that so much into what I do, especially on stage.

AP: All through high school, I took drama classes. I did plays and stuff. So, I’m very involved with crowds. I’m used to being out there and I’m pushing to be a better frontman. I try my best to give the people a show because that’s what they’re here to see. They’re not here to hear a record. They didn’t pay for that. Anyone can just go on YouTube and just listen to music. Going to a concert is different. You’re paying money to see a show and that’s exactly what we try to put on.

K: What is the songwriting process for you guys like? Is there anything in particular that you guys do in the studio to make sure your music sounds exactly how you want it to?

AP: It’s different. We mainly write everything while we record. We record demos. It’s easier for us to construct a song, but it’s kind of spread out. I’ll write lyrics to a song that we don’t have music for and then we’ll write music for a song we don’t have lyrics for and we’ll just see. We’ll match it up and see what it sounds like.

LM: As far as the music goes, we’ll start with guitar, then add drums, and bass is usually last for us.

BB: I will say that the writing process has gotten a lot better in my time with the band. I actually started by doing merch for the band like 2 and a half years ago. After a few members left they offered me the position to play guitar.

ES: We needed anyone who could play guitar and he fit the role perfectly.

BB: But everyone in the band before lived in north Georgia, so it was a lot easier for the writing process. I have to say that it’s been a little bit more difficult.

ES: Very much so. We are very spread out. Jalen and I live down here. Andy and Luke live in Tennessee.

LM: Despite how separated we are, we get a lot done. More than I think most bands would be able to.

BB: When we meet up, we are very good at pumping stuff out.

AP: We are very productive and we try our best not to waste time.

JR: If I was going to describe a formula for our songwriting, it’s mostly just listening to (Brendan) f–k around on guitar for a little while and saying “I like that.” And then I’ll write a drum track to it. And then everything else comes after.

AP: If I like a track that’s just music, I’ll sometimes go in and just write to that. But a lot of times, I’ll have a melody in my head and I’ll like that melody and construct it how I like it and then add lyrics based on that. The lyrics range from pretty much anything. In this genre, a lot of listeners will go to music to just escape from life and have someone they know that understands what they’re talking about and we try to write lyrics to help them through whatever they’re going through.

K: Your last single, “Dimensions,” was super great. So I have to ask, what’s next for My Last Years?

AP: We’re trying to work on an EP. It was originally supposed to be a full length but because of how everything is spread out and also money, we decided to keep it around 7 songs and release an EP. We’re leaning towards the fall at this point. We’ve just gotta take our time and write the rest of our songs and record.

ES: Once we record it, we’re planning on big things. We’re going to be playing a lot more shows and be getting together a lot more.

BB: Australian world tour. [laughs]

ES: Hopefully we can get a lot more exposure, especially in Savannah.

AP: We’re actually going to be going on tour with 2 bands from 2 different states.

K: What can we expect from this upcoming EP?

AP: Each song has its own flavor to it. We try to not write the same song over and over again.

ES: We have songs that you can sing to. We have songs that you can punch people in the face to. And sometimes both in the same song.

BB: What I think is cool though — and this is one of the great things about being in a small band — is that of course we’re not signed to any label right now, so there’s no time crunch. There’s no “Hey, get this done within a year and a half or else.” So my biggest hope for when we start releasing full lengths and EPs is that each song is a really great song that we put our energy into. We’re not going to have filler songs to just fill up the album. Right now, I definitely want to take advantage of the time that we have.

ES: We can take as much time as we need to on each song and make each song special.

What are your goals with My Last Years going forward?

JR: One of our goals is definitely merch. We don’t have any merch at the moment.

ES: Merch is definitely a short term goal for sure.

AP: Long term I guess — we want to put all our energy into the EP right now and hopefully it will get a lot of publicity. Our goal is — of course we would love to be signed to a label. That would help a lot with funding for an album. If that’s not in our future, that’s okay. We’re perfectly okay being a DIY band.

K: Which tours Australia.

Collectively: [laughs]

LM: One of my long term goals is definitely to make a living with the band. I don’t want to have to work a day job.

AP: As Luke said, being able to play in a band full time and not work a day job would be awesome.

LM: Also, never have our s–t stolen.

AP: True. Keep an eye on your trailer.

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For more interviews, be sure to visit scadradio.org

The post Interviewing My Last Years appeared first on SCAD Radio.