TALKING WITH KIRBY KRACKLE
Interview by Liam Bradley
This week I had the pleasure of Interviewing Kyle Stevens and Jim Demonakos from Comic Rock Band "Kirby Krackle". These guys are putting out fantastic songs which focus primarily on comic books as well as other pop culture. Here's what they had to say.
Liam Bradley: First of all, what are the origins of Kirby Krackle? How did it come to be?
Kyle Stevens: The first flirting with [the] idea of KK came around the time I had just ended my band of 11 years called LAYMANS TERMS in 2004. I thought it would be awesome and after throwing the idea around with Jim's business partner Brian Meredith (who came up with the KK name) decided to put it away. In early 2008, it came up again when Jim and I started talking about it and was written and recorded from Spring through December 2008.
Jim Demonakos: After Kyle and I had spent time lamenting the fact that there were really no good comic book songs, we decided that we should give it a shot and spent a large part of 2008 writing and then recording what became our self-title album.
Liam: "The Kirby Krackle" is a technique which some comic artists use to create
certain special effects. It was named after Jack Kirby who commonly used this
technique. Would I be right in assuming that you guys enjoyed the comics he
illustrated and co-created?
Jim: Yeah, for sure we're fans of the King and I have a special place in my heart for the more odd-ball stuff like Kamandi and The Demon.
Kyle: Totally, his comics continue to be gloobly spongey krackle-y goodness.
Liam: What is your all time favourite comic series? Better yet, which would you say influenced you most?
Kyle: For me I'd say the X-Men. Like Jim, it's the first comic that I really got into as a series and base all opinions of current X-books off of my love with the Jim Lee/Chris Claremont re-launch. When I got into comics, it was the time about a year before the creator break to Image. Looking back it was cool to be really new and heavily into comics during the fun time in modern comics history.
Jim: To both, the answer is Fantastic Four, hands down. It's the first book that got me in to comics and though it's been really up-and-down for a long time, the core characters and family are still great and were my gateway drug in to the Marvel universe and all the comics therein.
Liam: What comic character do you dislike most?
Kyle: I will never...I repeat ever buy a book featuring the X-babies. I know there's a market for them out there somewhere, but where?! Who?! Why?! Just say no like Nancy Reagan.
Jim: The KGBeast. Seriously, he's like a fourteenth-rate Deathstroke and about as intimidating as children's safety scissors.
Liam: As a band that writes songs that focus mainly on the world of comics, have you ever considered taking that writing talent and directing it towards comic book writing?
Kyle: I thought about it a few years ago and would like to someday. For now though, I'm kinda locked in mindset wise to the format of 3 minutes and 20 seconds, so 20 or so pages might be a shift that'll take some time. I love stories and I think I have some in me so we'll see.
Jim: I've actually written a graphic novel called "The Silence of Our Friends" that is being illustrated by multiple Eisner award nominee Nate Powell. Can't talk much about it yet, but it's 200+ pages and is likely being published late 2010 or early 2011 at this point.
Liam: If Kirby Krackle had its own comic book series, how do you think that would go? What powers would they have, and who would their enemies be?
Kyle: Hmmmm...that's a tough one. I think Jim and I actually had a conversation one time that it would be cool to have it "Flight of the Concords" style. Where we're walking through this comic book world and then a song busts in. And before we get jacked, that's Copyright 2009 kirbykracklemusic...
Jim: I think it would be, hands-down, the best comic book in the known universe, as well as a few unknown ones as well, considering it would be about Kirby Krackle as intergalactic, interdimensional, time-traveling ninja assassin robot pirate cowboys.
Liam: I do love me some Time travelling Ninja Robot Pirate Cowboys. On your album
there is a song named "Zombie Apocalypse", it's quite hilarious. When I first
heard it I couldn't help but think to myself "did Robert Kirkman's series The
Walking Dead influence this at all?" Would there be any accuracy to that
presumption?
Kyle: You got it! If there was any comic reading experience that I wish I could relive it would be the 4 hours I spent reading the WD trades #1-5. Calling me obsessive after that afternoon would be an understatement. It's just so good, and so for us it was a no-brainer to do a zombie song. Part dark humour, part social commentary is how I like to think of it and I hope the listener gets that as well.
Jim: Most definitely, Robert's a buddy and of all the books he writes, you can tell that his creator-owned books are his babies. The Walking Dead is such a great book and with our own love zombies, you can definitely see the influence of TWD on "Zombie Apocalypse."
Liam: The song "Villain Song" on your album focuses on (funnily enough) a villain. Now you guys did something different here. The way you wrote this song (both lyrically and instrumentally) made me feel empathy towards the villain...something that isn't easily done. What made you decide to portray the villain this way?
Kyle: Cool! I'm glad you felt that way. Isn't it true that the stories and characters that affect us exist not in the "good" or "bad", but the grey area in between? You feel sorry for him because he decided to take himself out of the game, and by the end the hero sounds like a douche...at least to me. The guy sounds tired and just done, and then the cheesy hero's smile on the news gets him off the beach to kick his ass one more time. That's our "Rocky" moment I guess...if soundtracked by New Order. That song seems to be a lot of people's favorite which surprised me because it's mine, but the listener's is almost never what you would pick as your favourite. This time it lined up!
Jim: It's true what Kyle says, and also the best heroes have the most interesting villains, so when we were pondering the song, we kept thinking about how a villain would feel if his whole life, everything he did, kept crashing around him because of a single person/hero. What that would lead to, the kind of mindset it would take, and eventually the burnout you would feel. But also, after all those years, it's hard to put emotions like that behind you, so getting back on the horse was what this villain needed to do and that's how we wrote him.
Liam: The song "Marvellous Girls" is obviously about the babes of the marvel universe. There is a line in that song that goes "I could think of a dozen ways that I'd like to see you, mainly naked but always with the chin. I know it's wrinkly, but I kinda like it. So don't you ever, never, never get rid of that chin you Skrull Girl" My question would be this. What's the deal with the chin fetish?
Kyle: I think that's just the sexy standout feature of the Skrull girls in general! Celebrate beauty in all its forms baby!
Jim: Lots of texture. Just think about it.
Liam: When reading comics, do you listen to music? If so, what do you listen to?
Kyle: Yeah, I get distracted easily so I don't listen to music when reading comics. I'll break it down for you like this though...last Wednesday when new comics came out I turned the Blackberry off, got out a beer and plopped down on the couch to read a pile. I loved it and I need to make quiet comics time like that more. Is that Rock enough?!
Jim: I like it quiet when I read, doesn't matter if it's novels or comics, like Kyle I get easily distracted so I enjoy reading without background noise!
Liam: My personal favourite song right now is the song "Last Sunset" by Kyle Stevens' other band, named "Collider". My question to Kyle is, what influenced this song, what influences you when not writing songs about comic books?
Kyle: Well, this writing about comics thing is really new to me as far as songwriting goes! Still, I think the themes I like writing about in songs are the same I like reading about in comics, even when my songs aren't about comics. Hope, Love, Forgiveness, and complex situations that someone can find themselves in are all themes that appeal to me whether they're personal experiences or stories I heard from others. In the case of "Last Sunset", it's kind of the calm before the storm in that song recognizing that things are going great...so when is it gonna get not so great if ever? Glad you like that one.
Liam: Do you find it difficult juggling
between the two bands?
Kyle: Yes and no! It's really great to have lots of different outlets for my music, but logistically sometimes it can get a bit confusing for me. What I hope to do is make it not confusing for fans of my music. I actually have 3 names I play under if you count my solo material which is where I get to play my more stripped down songs. With Collider it's a big rock show with big guitars, and with KK it's about comics/video games and pop culture in general. I don't expect fans of my music to like everything I do, and I don't try to compete with my own projects either. I just try to write the coolest songs I can and where they fit is where they fit. KK has been a real freedom for me though and a blast to promote my music in a different kind of way! If anyone wants to hear my other stuff outside of KK they can go to www.kylestevensmusic.com.
Liam: Jim, you organise the Emerald City ComiCon in Seattle, own a chain of comic stores, package and edit graphic novels and write music (as well as many other comic related goodness). How do you find the time to do all of this?
Jim: I'm a very, very high-energy kind of guy, I can operate on not a lot of sleep (even though I do like to sleep), and most importantly, all the stuff I do is fun & exciting, so there's always motivation for me to do as much cool stuff as possible, while still finding time to be social and not just completely become a shut-in. My girlfriend helps with that a lot as well.
Liam: I have to ask, it's always been my dream to own a comic store, what's that like?
Jim: It's really pretty awesome, especially as a life-long comics fan, having access to that many books on a regular basis is pretty great. Don't get me wrong, it's a lot of work as well, but it's hard to beat having a place where your job is to talk to people about who would win a fight between the Hulk and Superman.
Liam: Can you give me a job in one?
Jim: Yes. If you move yourself to Seattle and are willing to work for a pittance, I think we can make something happen.
Liam: Are you currently working on any new songs for Kirby Krackle?
Kyle: Yeah, there's lots of fragments of ideas going on now and some solid song ideas should start coming together in the next month or so because we have the unbreakable goal of getting the new album out by January of 2010! We hit on some pretty accessible/broad topics that everyone knows on this first album, so we might have to get a little more in depth. What does Sinestro do in the "me" time we all need? What was Lockjaw like as a puppy? I think the world wants to know.
Jim: Why is MODOK so angry? Why won't Kyle let me do an X-Babies song? Who watches the Watcher? Burning questions we aim to answer.
Liam: Any upcoming gigs?
Kyle: Our big summer show is the San Diego Comic Con this July, where we plan on playing in the area while we're down there. It'll be our first time there so we hope to have a kick ass show.
Liam: What do you see on the horizon for Kirby Krackle?
Kyle: More fun songs, cool projects, we're working on some videos for the first album now, some upcoming tour dates and more, we're just having a blast doing this stuff and we ourselves have no idea what's in store for us, but we're excited to find out!
Liam: Where can we purchase your album?
Kyle: iTunes, Amazon MP3, CD Baby, Digstation and through our website, http://www.kirbykracklemusic.com
Liam: Any final words of wisdom for our readers? Any shameless self promotions?
Kyle: We've been having a blast with the record and we really appreciate all the love we've gotten from the industry/fans since the record came out in January. People always are so nice to ask how they can help, and we always tell them to pass the word and share the music with their friends. If you like comics and video games you'll love the album. We hope to see readers at the shows!
Jim: Let it rock.
Liam Bradley / Creator and Writer
My name's Liam Bradley and I live in Glasgow, Scotland. I've been a major comic fan since I was six years old and since then I've always wanted to create my own comics. I've recently been converted from a Marvel Zombie to an Indy Snob. I still love Marvel and DC stuff but most recently I've been picking up a lot of Indy titles. I'm currently scripting two projects right now, and toying with some ideas for a third and fourth project. I also do Indy reviews over at projectfanboy.
Liambradley22@googlemail.com
www.projectfanboy.com
www.scarletvulture.deviantart.com
www.liambradley.wordpress.com
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