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KMB: a history, by KM
It all started in 1989 when I took my little toy Yamaha keyboard and the first three or four songs I wrote, and joined a band. This band, Inbalance, consisted of 3 other friends, all about five years older than I, Brian White (guitar), Bob Dasaro (bass) and John Coughlin (drums). It was very exciting hearing my songs actually being played by a “real band,” but a recently unearthed video of us rehearsing in Brian’s basement confirmed my fear that we were actually “real bad”. My favorite bands at the time were XTC, Hüsker Dü and the Pixies, but my songs sounded more like 80's Yes/Rush minus the musicianship. The band disintegrated and reformed about a year later with me on vocals and a fretless bass. Disaster. My intentions were good but my execution was something else entirely. Brian and John were good musicians but it became painfully obvious that this trio was going nowhere, fast.
In 1992, Sugar released Copper Blue. Aside from the brilliant songs, it was the SOUND of this CD that had an enormous effect on me. I stopped writing on the keyboard and basically willed myself to learn guitar (it had always been so difficult for me, and still is). By default, I stuck with the fretless bass (it was my only bass), bought a Tascam 4-Track and the rest, my friends, is Rock-n-Roll History! (NOTE: I never really did achieve the fullness or the edge of Bob Mould/Sugar, but it was a true catalyst nonetheless.)
1995 – I’m gonna empty my bank account at Fort Apache Studios because I am disillusioned and believe my songs are good enough. I get John Coughlin back to help me (his drumming is much tighter and disciplined than it was five years ago) and away we go. There were a few minor obstacles at Fort Apache to overcome. It was about 100 degrees in the studio and, inexplicably, we had no tuner. Throw in a fretless bass and a pitch-challenged singer and you start to get the picture. Chalk it up to sheer enthusiasm and naiveté, but these didn’t seem like major problems at the time. I worked my ass off in that studio, twelve hours a day playing every instrument (except drums) and singing every vocal. The result, Where Am I…and Where Are My Glasses?, was nothing short of mediocre. The experience was great, the CD was not. John played fantastic, me…not so much. It has some moments, but only “Someday Someone” seems to be pointing in the right direction. One local critic noted that some songs had a Bob Mould-ish feel to them – no small victory at the time.
John and I had an excruciating time trying to form a band throughout 1996. That is, until October. Enter Eric J. Watts, bassist. Eric would have entered a lot earlier if I had just listened to him. He wanted to join, but his taste in music (Type O Negative, Megadeth, GWAR, etc…) scared me. I just wasn’t sure how committed he’d be to playing my little inoffensive pop ditties. Ten years later, it appears commitment was not an issue. His style, while initially somewhat crude and muscular, became more fluid and melodic. He managed to combine all of these elements into his own inimitable style. He and John formed a nice tight aggressive rhythm section that gave the songs a little extra punch. We played our very first show at TT the Bears in Feb. 1997, and continued to play throughout the year until we found ourselves back at Fort Apache in October.
They Laughed at Noah was not an embarrassment. Actually, it was a huge improvement over Glasses. The songs were well rehearsed from being played live throughout the year. Having Eric in the studio this time was a big plus. John, as usual, was solid. The songs, in general, were just better (with better lyrics courtesy of old friend, Bob Dasaro). Listening to it now, three songs stand out to me especially. The aggressive “Drink,” which sounds like nothing we’d done before. The adventurous, seven minute, multi-part, mini epic “Complex Christ,” which isn’t a complete success, but is clearly forward looking. And “Nineteen Years.” I feel “Nineteen Years” was easily the best song I’d written up to that point and sometimes I think it still is. It has a maturity about it, and it was the first song I wrote that I really felt was “accomplished” (am I beginning to sound like a self-absorbed, egomaniacal dick?). Noah was released in Feb ’98 and we played shows throughout the year until…
Dec 1998 – John quits. Why? Ask him…he never really told us. Replaced by Eric’s friend Tom Bishop. Eric had played with Tom in previous bands, so they were familiar with each other’s styles. Tom brings two very important attributes to KMB: 1) an uncanny ability to play tricky time signatures and 2) his voice. For the first time, we now had someone to sing harmonies. Odd meters and harmonies would become two key ingredients in KMB’s music from this point forward. As a songwriter, this was an exciting opportunity. Tom is very creative by nature, and his penchant for trying new things/inability to play the same thing twice, could at times be frustrating. However, at other times he comes up with things I know I wouldn’t have, and there are many KMB songs which have benefited from Tom’s “mistakes” (or “ideas” depending on who you ask). At a time when I was looking to stretch out musically, Tom was the perfect addition to this band.
December of ’98 was also when I heard Baby Ray for the first time. I simply cannot overstate the importance of this band. Monkeypuzzle is the perfect guitar pop album. Erich Groat’s songs were stunning. Since this time, he has been my biggest influence (Jason Falkner ranks a distant second). Baby Ray had a deep profound effect, and I am a better songwriter today because of them. Hopefully, they will overlook the occasional "borrowing". (NOTE: I eventually became friends with Erich, he would mix our next CD, appear on stage with us a few times and even end up writing a few songs with me).
We finally got around to do some recording in the fall and winter of 2000. This time, not at the expensive Fort Apache, but at the inexpensive “Grandpa’s Woodshop Studios” a.k.a. Tom’s basement. None More Pop: Vol 1 clearly shows the direction we moved into over the past 2 years. The Noise writes, “...intelligent, carefully sculptured pop, pleasing melodies and harmonic structures merged with non-conventional pop devises such as 5/4 and 6/4 time signatures.” NMPv1 contains what would become our signature song (and arguably our best) “Hide Your Head.” Somewhere on this web site are individual reviews of “Hide Your Head”, “What's Today…?”, and “Supergenius” that were very flattering.
Over the next year and a half, KMB shows became few and far between. Getting shows became increasingly difficult. I’ve never been a big fan of playing shows, but booking them is infinitely worse. I am a horrible self-promoter and I’m even worse at kissing ass. I suppose I should’ve been more aggressive in this area, but I used that energy on writing songs instead. KMB grinded to a halt in the spring of 2003.
During this period of band inactivity, I put together a CD of 4-track demos, some were KMB songs that we never got around to recording, others were KMB songs we never got around to learning. Some More Pop: Vol 2 was released that summer, 2003. The Noise’s Joel Simches finished his review of it with “…absolutely, irresistibly brilliant!” (check is in the mail, Joel) I spent the rest of that summer and fall riding a sudden burst of creative energy. This resulted in writing and recording a whole new CD’s worth of songs which would later be released as A Good Idea.
In January 2004, Francis Dimeno of the Noise placed KMB in his “top 10 bands worth looking into". This was a nice surprise considering we barely existed. Agreeing with Dimeno’s assessment, I though it would be a good time to re-exist. Although I recorded A Good Idea on my own, we released it as a band CD in July of 2004 at the Lizard Lounge with Baby Ray and Francine.
A Good Idea is my favorite KMB CD. I won't delve too much into this for fear of sounding like a self-absorbed, egomanical dick again…BUT, I am proud of it. That short burst of energy I alluded to earlier may have actually been my creative peak (I haven’t been anywhere near as prolific since) and I got it all down on AGI. “Drizzle,” “Babble On,” “Not a Bad Idea,” Emily in Autumn,” and “Circular Saws” (with Erich Groat) are personal high points.
Fast forward about 15 months (we may have played a show or two during this time) and it’s time to get down to some recording again. This will actually be the first full band recording since NMPv1 (2000). We decided to record what we thought were our best songs spanning the past 5 years. (some of which appeared in demo form on SMPvII), plus a couple of new ones. Recording in Tom’s basement was so cold at times, if you isolate the vocal tracks you can hear my teeth chattering (not to mention about a billion edits). Recording and mixing the CD was a bitch – especially mixing – and after hearing it thousands of times I am probably in no condition to assess. I will say that the lead off track, “No One Is”, is probably as good as we get. “More Like Me” is a personal favorite, and there are a couple of instrumentals that reveal a more rock/less pop side to us. Titled (expletive deleted), the CD was released in Sept ’06.
The future of KMB seems a bit tenuous at the moment, but this is nothing new. Let’s just say our playing status could be listed as “day to day” or maybe even “game time decision.” Maybe (expletive deleted) will turn a few heads, maybe not. No matter. In the meantime, I am currently compiling and producing 2 CDs worth of unreleased Erich Groat demos. Found Missing Vol 1 should be out by the end of 2006 with Vol 2 soon to follow. Baby Ray fans should not be disappointed. KMB fans (where are they?); check in occasionally to see how we’re doing. There just might be a show on the horizon…