Kyte - Interview

by Anthony Strutt

published: 30 / 6 / 2013

Anthony Strutt chats to Scott Hislop from Leicestershire-based electronic/shoegazing group about their new album 'Love to be Lost', and while they are little known in Britain their huge popularity in Asia

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Kyte are an electronic/shoegazing group from Leicestershire. They formed while still at school, and released their debut 7 inch 'Planet/Boundaries' on Sonic Cathedral in 2007. The band consists of Nick Moon (vocals), Tom Lowe (guitar keyboards) and Scott Hislop (drums, percussion). They have just their fourth album, 'Love to be Lost', on Eastworld Records, and which went in at number two in the Japanese iTunes chart on its week of release. This follows on from their previous albums, 'Kyte' (2008), 'Science for the Living' (2009) which was released only in Japan, and 'Dead Waves' in 2010. 'Love to Be Lost' was written back at home then recorded at the Robert Lang Studios near Seattle where Nirvana recorded their last ever sessions. While almost unknown in their native Britain, the band in Asia are superstars. Pennyblackmusic caught up with Scott Hislop, and spoke to him about the recording of the new album and about life back home. PB: Why did you call yourselves Kyte and spell it that way? SH: Kyte was just a name that seemed to fit the project when we started writing songs, and spelling it that way just came naturally. PB: You all met a school. Hw did the band gel? What was the masterplan? SH: We were all mates at school playing in several different bands, but always wanted to do something together. There was never really a masterplan, but after Tom got some good feedback on a bunch of songs he'd written it was a good opportunity to get together and form an actual band around it. PB: Which part of Leicestershire were you formed in? How do you fit in with the rest of the Leicester music scene? SH: We all originally lived in a few small towns about ten to fifteen miles south of Leicester. We are very good friends with quite a few Leicester bands, but are not really regulars of the scene...in recent years we've played more shows in Tokyo than Leicester! PB: The first time I saw you was at the White Noise Festival, and you were a three-piece electro act. Then I saw you at last years' Summer Sundae, and you were more guitar-based. Would you say your music is somewhere in between? SH: Yes I would agree. The way our stuff is written means we can have several different live set-ups. We can do a stripped back electronic set or go for a more guitar heavy sound, but it always depends on the venue and type of gig. PB: I first heard you via Sonic Cathedral and with 'Planet/Boundaries'. Was that your first recording? SH: Yes, the first thing we ever released was that on 7" vinyl on Sonic Cathedral Recordings. It had an awesome remix by our good mate James Chapman from Maps. PB: Do you consider yourselves as Nugaze? SH: I am not sure how that genre is defined. I first heard that term when we had a small feature in 'NME' just after our first release, and that's how we were described. As a band, we have elements of shoegaze in our music, but that wasn't really intentional and to be honest we were'nt aware of that sound. It was more of a coincidence. PB: You are big in Asia, but how do you feel about your home country's attitude to the band? SH: Because of lots of boring stuff involving managers, it has been quite a long time since we released anything over here, and therefore we haven't really done many shows. As a band, we really like playing in the UK ,but it is a tougher place for us. Now that the new record is out we hope to tour the UK and Europe quite a bit more later this year and early next. PB: Why do you feel Asia and Japan get you while back home you are still finding fans? SH: Our first record came out in Japan on a cool small indie label that really helped us connect with fans out there. But beyond that we don't really know. We just feel very lucky to get the chance to head out there so often. PB: Would you say your current album is more where you are now? SH: Yes, it incorporates a lot more of the live sound. It was an amazing experience to head out to Seattle and spend time experimenting in a studio with live drums, percussion and guitars. It was, however, recorded last year and we already have more than enough material for a new album. There will be a new single out before the end of the summer which is a taster of the next LP. PB: And last question! A member of the band left to form Dark Dark Horse. Has this changed the band much? SH: Dark Dark Horse are a great band and Jamie Ward is a great guy, but he only joined Kyte for live shows so as far as the actual songwriting goes it didnt change the sound at all. PB: Thank you.