The venue was the Freakin’ Frog in Las Vegas and KIDS was the name of the band which graced the stage. Throughout the first couple songs in the set, something seemed amiss – there were only a handful of people watching. By the time the third song started, the number of people in the audience reduced to only two viewers. Two! The scenario qualified as the start of one of the worst fears a band can realize: a dud of a show.
Fortunately for KIDS, the people who escaped to the lobby of the venue were so excited by the music they felt compelled to call their friends at the nearby college campus. Within minutes, guitarist Christian Gonzalez, aka “Papi,” looked up from the stage to a packed house. You might say the only reason KIDS didn’t have a capacity crowd to start the show was the poor marketing by the folks at Freakin’ Frog. Have I mentioned that place has since closed down?
Whereas Freakin’ Frog has shut its doors, KIDS is opening theirs to a world of possibilities. The indie band is comprised of Josiah Sampson (Guitarist), Joshua Diaz (Bassist/Vocals), Matthew Barrios (Drums), and Christian Gonzalez (Guitar). They released an EP in 2013 titled Sink or Swim, and their first full-length album Rich Coast debuts on Jan. 27, 2015. I had the chance to speak with the band where we discussed the origin of KIDS, stories from the road and much more. Here’s a little Q&A to help you get to know the boys from Fort Lauderdale a little better:
Pat for The Young Folks:
Can you give us a brief history of your band including how you came up with the name “KIDS?”
KIDS:
We’ve been friends for a long time. We formed a friendship way before we ever formed a band. And as for the name, it comes from a quote from Picasso, “All children are artists. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up.” Our goal is to make music that holds adolescent themes of adventure and curiosity. We encompass the imagination of a child and couple it with a mature mindset and that really shines through in our music.
TYF:
Is there a central theme to your upcoming album, Rich Coast? What is this record about?
KIDS:
When we decided to do this album, it was important to remove ourselves from our everyday experiences, so we retreated to Chattanooga, TN. In that process and thinking about the vision for the band, we wanted to figure out what we were about – adolescence. We would wake up in the morning, look for waterfalls, rope swings, and hike to get our blood flowing and get that sense of adventure. Then, we would come back to the studio and let that feeling transcend through our finger tips and into the music.
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TYF:
Can you talk about your writing process?
KIDS:
Josiah Sampson: The approach to writing in the band is – we all have our own lives so we all contribute in that aspect, but on paper it’s split 25% each guy. If there’s something I’m going through, something that entices me to write, I’ll lay something down on guitar or piano and then go to the guys with it. When we went to Chattanooga, we had 25 ideas from everyone and we homed in on all of them.
Matthew Barrios: When it comes to lyrics for any particular song, one person will take the lead on it. At the same time, everyone comes together to provide insight on the lyrics until we come to a mutual agreement.
TYF:
What is a typical show like?
KIDS:
I feel like we have what a lot of other bands don’t – a bond on stage that is a product of knowing each other pretty much our whole lives. With us, it’s like we have this energy that shows adolescence and adventure. They see how much fun we have on stage and so it’s easy for them to get into it. Someone said it looks like you get lost in the music together and we do. It’s the same connection we have when we write in the studio, but a different color.
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TYF:
Where have you performed?
KIDS:
We have done a lengthy and expensive US tour. We’ve also been to both the West Coast and East Coast. We primarily play shows in the Southeastern United States, think Miami up to Chattanooga and then east over to the Carolinas, that whole region. We played the big boys, but there really isn’t a venue that is extremely special to us.
TYF:
What has been your biggest challenge to date as a group?
KIDS:
We’ve gone through everything from breaking down 4 miles away from the show to missing ball bearings in our tires in the middle of a desert. I guess you can say a lot of troubles are mechanical issues. *laughs*
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There was a time in our career where the most important thing to us was to cater to the industry. We came to the conclusion that we needed to abandon that mindset and instead be ourselves. That adversity has been our biggest success. People can subconsciously relate to that. We were spending a lot of time and money driving to random managers and we felt led on. Going through that challenge is one of the most fruitful things that could have ever happened to us because we learned how to be ourselves.
TYF:
Where can people access your music?
KIDS:
iTunes, Amazon, or any major online marketplace. Our EP is on Spotify and Rhapsody. Needless to say, it won’t be sold in stores. We had a few record deals and decided none of them were really a good fit so we will be selling hard copies at our shows.
***
Rich Coast will be released on Tuesday, Jan. 27. Until then, I’ll leave you with a music video from their EP, Sink or Swim.
http://youtu.be/j8OKqtU7bvE
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