Kaura
Interview with Malcolm Guess (Vocalist/Multi-Instrumentalist)
by Attila Timár
Malcolm Guess talks about aspects of KAURA’s artistic vision, the intensity of metal, and other up and coming Los Angeles bands.
So the title of your debut, That Which Defines Us, is anything but self-explanatory – at least to me. Could you explain it a bit? I am particularly intrigued by the pronoun “us.”
The title for the album is multi-faceted in its meaning. On a very surface level, it is simply what is… this album is what defines us as a band. It’s our first record and our first attempt at solidifying our vision for this band in a collection of songs. Another layer of the onion is that this album is a collection of a myriad of different expressions and experiences that have coalesced into songs. The collection of these songs is very much akin to the collection of all the experiences we as sentient beings have had in our lifetimes which creates us. We are the collection of every moment we’ve ever had in this life and other lives. The album is the hologram of our lives. To go further beneath that metaphor is what’s represented by cover art. At the same time that we are a collection of our life’s experiences, we are none of them. We are just what we are right now: new in each moment. The falling faces is like the shedding of skin and masks that we wear and define ourselves as being, when in reality, we are not our masks at all. Wow, so there you go; we just jumped down the rabbit hole right off the bat [smiling].
I understand that the album was self-produced. What were the pros and cons of this?
Yeah, it’s a blessing and a curse, I guess. We’re not on a label so we didn’t have any pressure to use a certain producer or to have to make the record satisfy the needs of anyone but ourselves. It was great in that way because we could truly do whatever the hell we wanted to do. When it came to producing, it was amazing to be able to fully channel the intention of what we wanted the songs to be and let our vision express itself unbridled. The flip side to that is that sometimes it’s hard to pull your head out of the ass of the songs to really get any sort of objective perspective on what the hell you’re doing. The other downside to it all is that because I was producing, engineering, editing, mixing etc., it made for a shit ton of work all getting channeled through one pipeline, so the process took a really long time. But after all is said and done, we’re as happy as we can be with what we created as this stage of the band’s evolution.
And can you actually listen to your record at this point? I am asking because some artists get completely fed up by the time the record is finished.
Oh man, I totally know that feeling! When you spend as much time as I did working on every minute detail of everything, it is very easy to never want to hear it ever again. To be honest, I don’t think I’ve listened to the album all the way through since we had to listen to the final master to make sure there weren’t any problems. So yeah, I guess I’m kind of over it… in the most grateful, satisfied way possible.
You may listen to it again in 2015 [smiling]. What video(s) accompany the album and what was your creative vision regarding these?
The album package includes a full DVD with videos for ‘Ephemeral Fall,’ ‘Silence Speaks Louder,’ and then a bunch of live clips, video blogs of our world travels, and “making of” clips. Ben Jones is the man behind all our video production. We’re blessed to have someone like him in the band because he can facilitate the visual video aspect of the band’s art. Ben studied film in college and has amassed a decent collection of cameras and tools to work with the band’s video content. We basically had no budget for any of the videos he’s created, so it’s really impressive that he was able to put together what he did while working with so little. Ben has a visionary mind when is comes to the visual aspect of the band. He designs our live light shows and everything. I’ll be excited for when the band has access to larger funds and resources to let him really rip with all of his ideas.
So does it mean that two of you are at the helm of the band?
Because of our skill sets that we’ve learned, it puts us both in the cockpit of the band, but we definitely function as a collective as a band. Ben and I have known and worked with each other for a long time, so we’ve developed a really good working dynamic. But when it comes to the band as a whole, we all have very strong opinions about creative decisions.
By the way, some claim that being in a band is like marriage without sex. What is your take on this?
You couldn’t be more right on with the marriage thing. It’s definitely like that [laughing]. Regarding the effectiveness though, the one thing that I find miraculous about this band is that we all have a very definite and strong integrity with how we wish to approach making music and being a band. Our life paths are all very similar in many ways. We definitely have our differences, but the commonalities between our world perspectives is very definitely of the same frequency.
Kaura’s music has a lighter and darker dimension. Can you elaborate on your heavier influences and how it comes through in at least some of your songs?
All of us come from a heavy metal background. I used to play in a hardcore band, and both Ben J. (Drums) and Ben R. (Guitar) played in metal, death metal and grindcore bands when they were younger. I know for me at least, metal music was more than just a genre of music. It was an expression of who you were. It symbolized that you were willing to listen to music and live a lifestyle that was outside of the norm. There was this unspoken knowing that you and the kid walking down the hall with his metal shirt on were cool with one another. You both were on the outside and you kind of stuck together in some strange way. Those were the beginning steps of beating the rhythm of your own drum. The other side to that is simply that the intensity of metal music was just unparalleled. Life is intense! If you want to express that intensity in a song, laying down a heavy ass riff is the only way to get there.
Kaura incorporates some exotic instruments into its sound. Do you also listen to world music?
You’d think I probably would, but in fact I don’t really. I like some music from different parts of the world that came forth from different cultures, but I can’t say that I have a collection of world music or anything. I sometimes feel that I’m more influenced and inspired by other cultures themselves rather than by their music. The inspiration I do take from the music of other cultures is usually just in little bits and pieces here and there. I’m not as much interested in how these instruments have been used, but rather how they can be used in other contexts.
Do you have any new songs since the record? Any plans for a new release in the near future?
Yes, we recently wrote a song for a short film titled Subject 6, which did really well at the film festivals and is now in the works of being turned into a feature length, which will be titled Subject 7. It’s one of the first songs that we’ve begun to explore taking the dynamics of the band even further than we did on That Which Defines Us. We’re seeing what happens when we crank up the brutal, heavy knob as well as going deeper into the quiet, delicate spaces. We’re just pulling ourselves apart in both directions to see what comes out of us. As for a release of this material, I think we may do a series of small releases as opposed to waiting a long time to do one big release of an album’s worth of material. Who knows though, we’ll see…
What other up and coming L.A. bands do you think deserve the attention right now?
There’s a few that I think are cooking up some good stuff. One of them isn’t exactly a band, but rather one guy by the name of KRADDY. He’s probably categorized more as an electronic musician, but he often plays with live drummers and other musicians. He makes super heavy, ass-pounding electronic music and just recently did an album with Ross Robinson. OPUS DAI is a great band based in L.A. who’s kind of more on the progressive side. They just fucking rip live. Super amazing human beings on a personal level, too. On the more melodic side, CAGE 9 is a really accomplished band. They write some really catchy rock tunes for sure.
What bands would you love to tour with and resonate well with the audience of?
For some reason we seem to really connect with the people and bands in Australia. I’m not sure exactly why, but we always have Aussies contact us who just love us. KARNIVOOL and DEAD LETTER CIRCUS are both from Australia and would both be great bands to tour with. I think there’s also a common bond with those bands beyond just the musical similarities, but also on the level of the intention behind the music and art. Those bands and Australia in general seem to be really open and progressive, which seems to be our crowd. It would also be fun to tour with PELICAN. Were not exactly the same genre as them, but I just love that band, so I just think it would be cool whether or not it made any sense!
What other forms of self-expression would you be attracted to if you had not ended up a musician-songwriter-lyricist?
That’s an interesting question. I often find myself getting really passionately into all sorts of things. I love working with raw food. I’m super big into the consciousness and the self-empowerment of the raw food movement. In a lot of ways it’s a big fuck-you to the healthcare system, the pharmaceutical industry, insurance industry and many other “big agenda” industries. I guess that’s also a self-expressive passion of mine; to share information about the “truths” in our world and find ways of assisting others in waking up and recognizing their true purpose and potential. To be honest, I think it all goes hand in hand; music, information, self-empowerment, art, health etc. They’re all different modalities of inspiring the evolution of our consciousness. Music has been one of the most influential means by which I’ve grown and expanded. It’s such a powerful medium for creativity and change. Maybe not as much today, but at one point in history music was a tool for revolution. So yeah, I guess no matter what I do it’s all just a different facet of being a part of our evolution and… revolution.
Where do you see yourself and the band in five years?
You mean besides livin’ large in Beverly Hills [laughs]? Seriously, though. I have so many ideas for the future. I’ve been brewing on a concept for a movie that we would write the score to. I have an idea for a sort of Kaura multi-media performance experience that we could tour with. I have ideas of collaborations with other bands and musicians that I think would be sick. Oh man, so much! Although, those are big projects and five years isn’t that much time. So maybe just the basics of touring our asses off to support That Which Defines Us. Releasing several more collections of songs. Knock out a remix album of That Which Defines Us. I’d like to have Europe, and the rest of the world for that matter, be a consistent and frequent part of our touring routes. I’d also like Kaura’s music to be more involved in films. Having written one song for a film, I really like crafting a song that’s specifically intended to hit the big screen. Oh man, so much! Lots to do… lots to do.
