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Music from the heights with The Kissaway Trail
Music is a universal language and even a band from a sometimes-frosty place like Denmark can share a warm and uplifting experience with the world. That heat comes through loud and clear on The Kissaway Trail’s new album Sleep Mountain. The band’s influences may originate in America but their sound is global. I caught up with band member Rune Pedersen to get a few words on the new work.

Where are you in the world today?
“I’m in Odense in Denmark, a small city in the center of the country.”

What is the music scene like in Denmark?
“Ah the music scene, well I’ve been gone the last two months so I don’t know much about the most contemporary stuff but it seems to be thriving from the underground still and there are a lot of bands doing their own thing, so things are good.”

So it’s still a DIY thing that’s happening?
“Yean exactly and it’s been like this for the last four or five years and people have been more confident with things of their own.”

When you were growing up, was there any difficulty getting the music releases you wanted?
“There was never a problem getting stuff here, there were always novelty stores that you could pre-order stuff, you might have to wait a bit to get them but they were available.”

I’ve always thought that when I was young and had to wait for stuff, it made it all that much more enjoyable when you finally got to listen to it, almost everything is so instant now.
“Yeah I remember that when I was young. I remember waiting eagerly for the mail.”

Has the band always written its lyrics in English?
“Yes we always have because we never considered ourselves to be a Danish band per say, so we always strived to make our music something that would be more global. It’s been important for us to reach as many people as possible and you can’t do that with your indigenous language.”

Was that the case even in your early bands?
“Yes we never really did, it’s not unheard of in Denmark to sing in the native language but if you do, you will only be able to sell records in Denmark.”

How much did the critical success of the album The Kissaway Trail change the band?
“The way it changed the band is more like being made aware of the importance of making an album that had to be a really good one which was good for us because we were well under pressure. We got a lot of feedback on the first album to help us see our way.”

Do you consider The Kissaway Trail the first album and not the EP, Into the Ocean and Rise Again?
“Yes the EP was just a bunch of tracks we recorded not for fun but just to see if we could record an album, it wasn’t meant to be an album.”

I wanted to ask you about the dual lead vocalist approach the band has, who were some of the inspirations for that sound?
“It terms of all the harmony parts and stuff, I’d have to say The Beach Boys have been a major influence for me and Thomas, so a lot of the harmonies come from Brian Wilson and the way he saw things of letting the vocals be as important as the other instruments.”

Was there also much of a Beatles influence with the way Lennon and McCartney sang lead vocals together?
“Of course, The Beatles have always been a tremendous influence for like most musicians because we all listened to them growing up. My Mom and Dad were big fans as well but I’m more of a Rolling Stones fan.”

You liked more grease with your meal than sugar?
“Yeah exactly, but I love both of those bands. The guys in the band always argue who are the better song writers but it’s one of those arguments that will never be resolved.”

What were some of your inspirations on bass?
“We are all very different people in this band but we all have a few key bands that we listen to while we were growing up and it was bands like The Beach Boys, Sonic Youth, Cream and The Pixies, bands like that. We all had a broad musical up bringing.”

With a reputation for being such a great live act, did that affect the writing of the new album at all?
“We always try to separate these two things because first of all, is the importance of making an album that works regardless of your need to play it live. When you get a studio album to where you want it, then you can just sort of wing it when it comes to doing it live. You don’t really know what you want it to sound like until you stand on stage and play it.”

Do you ever augment the sound with additional musicians or rearrange the music to fit just the five of you?
“We always try to rearrange the music for live. We want a different kind of ride than when you record an album. So live the tracks can get a bit more epic. The low and the high parts can get more accentuated.”

I’ve always be disappointed when a band plays their songs live and they sound exactly like the recorded versions, I want something new live as I already have the recorded versions at home.
“We in the band have always felt that the elite bands that are out there are the ones that can really perform live. With all the technology available today almost everybody can get a great sounding room.”

At least in their bedroom.
“Exactly and some of the best stuff is recorded in people’s bedrooms but it’s been important for us to bring a ferociousness to stage. People pay to see a show and they shall receive a show.”

Could you talk a little about the band’s writing process?
“Basically a lot of the songs come together through Søren and Tom, the band’s primary song writers. The write these bits and have all these pieces laying around that we listen to and they have these ideas that they bring to our rehearsal place and we see what’s viable and what’s not. But in general a lot of the tracks are almost done when the rest of us start to work on them, at least the core concept but other than that we try to not have too many rules about that.”

The new album’s songs have a very anthemic feel but are very much driven by drums and percussion, what process does the band use in the studio? Are the songs built around the drum tracks?
“When we record, we of course have tried to play the tracks a few times in our rehearsal space but in general we start out with the drums, they are put down first then the bass and then we see which instruments need to be put on there but drums and bass always get recorded first.”

What was working with Peter Katis like?
“Well we recorded everything ourselves and produced it ourselves and fortunately Peter had time to mix the album for us, which had been a long time dream for us mainly because of his drum and bass sound, it’s amazing. The National, Boxer album and the Interpol album, Turn On The Bright Lights were the sound we were aiming for. Like a hybrid between the two and he nailed it. We were fortunate to have what we called a sound carpenter.”

How did the choice to cover Neil Young’s Philadelphia come about?
“It was sort of Thomas’ idea, he’s always been a huge fan of Neil Young and of course we all are as well but I’m a bit of a late comer in that regard. I didn’t really listen to him until about five years ago but Thomas listened to him a lot growing up and he was talking about one of the first girls he was ever with and he connected that song to her. He thought it was a very beautiful song and that it wasn’t getting the recognition that it should so we tried to record it in the spirit of Neil Young.”

That song fits quite well with the lyrical content of the rest of the album. If someone had never heard it before it would not sound out of place.
“Exactly, that’s the hard part about doing a cover and putting it on an album, it needs to fit context wise.”

Even when the lyrical content of the song is less than happy, the band’s music is very uplifting, is it ever a struggle to keep the music from being too down?
“Yeah but we’ve always had a feeling that even though you have some lyrics that are a bit down and a bit sad you can still have music that allows for a good time. Music gives some hope regardless of the lyrics, recognizing that uplifting sounds are always coming your way.”

Those uplifting sounds can be heard on the band’s new album Sleep Mountain, available now.

www.thekissawaytrail.com


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