Almost ten years old but still a new band? Read on to find out how that works.
Simple things first – where are you guys from?
We’re from Minneapolis, Minnesota!
How did you meet?
I (Durry) met Wilder (Bass) in high school when we originally formed the band. Everybody else has joined along the way since then.
How long have you been playing as a band?
This is kind of a trick question for us. We originally started as a band called Marah in the Mainsail in 2010, released 2 full albums and an EP under that name. Then just a few months ago decided to hit the reset button and rename the band Coyote Kid.
Before you get sick of being asked… where does the band name come from?
The new name, Coyote Kid, is the title of the main character we follow in this new album story we’re releasing soon. Kind of the gun-slinging dark hero archetype.
What are your influences?
Personally I take the vast majority of my influences from film. I really enjoy soundtracks and learning about how they form the music around characters to help build the story. I also am a big fan of the band Murder By Death. They have a similar storytelling approach to music that I think is really special.
Describe your music. What makes you unique?
“Unique” is a pretty good descriptor. We approach writing in a pretty unusual way. Trying to craft these large scale mythologies around our albums. We more so try to write songs that ad to the story, and try to write stories we think are exciting. The result is music that’s usually pretty dark, pretty aggressive, and very dynamic. We integrate horns heavily into the sound, with big rumbling drums and a lot of choir/gang vocals, to try and bring a cinematic quality to the usual rock n’ roll outfit.
Do you have any particular lyrical themes?
Definitely. We try to have each album follow a handful of characters, so each character kind of has a different lyrical style and musical themes that follow them. We don’t use very many metaphors compared to a lot of other bands. When we say “It’s a beautiful night for a blood bath” it’s because that villain character wants to go kill people. This new song “Femme Fatale” is all about two of the main characters trying to stay together when they have opposing values. (i.e. one’s a villain and one’s a hero)
What’s your live show like? How many shows have you played?
We work really hard to make our live show an experience. Not just by being super high energy on stage, but with lots of fun crowd interactive parts, and band members jumping off stage and stuff like that. Our dream is to develop the live show into kind of a rocky horror picture show type experience. Where there’s a real culture formed around the show, and it’s something we do together with the audience.
What’s the wildest thing you’ve seen or done at a live show?
Man, what haven’t we seen? One that stands out in my memory was a guy that played after us in a 9 foot tall foam tree costume. That was wild.
What kit do you use / guitars do you play / etc.?
Honestly our gear is pretty straight forward. My guitar rig has 2 pedals that are pretty basic. Basic keys, bass, and drums. Where things really get interesting are in the trombone. Johnny Bones uses a pretty intense effects board that allows him to do some crazy stuff on the horn. Stuff I didn’t know was possible. It allows us to really fill the soundscape and have some really off the wall sounds, while also allowing us to not use tracks at all, and keep everything real and in the moment.
What, if anything, are you plugging/promoting at the moment?
We just released our first single under our new name! It’s the first piece of our new record, The Skeleton Man. It’s called “Femme Fatale” and we released a music video for it too! Shot entirely on really 16mm film. We also just wrapped up our 4th successful Kickstarter! Our fans are nuts, and raised over $13,000 to fund this record. We are floored by the response so far.
What are your plans for 2019?
We’re just trying to get the word out about the band! Touring as much as we can, recording the new album, releasing a few singles and music videos. It’s gonna be a big year for us!
If you were second on a three-band bill, which band would you love to be supporting and which band would you choose to open for you? A chance to plug someone you’ve toured with, or a mate’s band we’ve not heard of before!
Honestly, we already had my all time dream bill. With an amazing band from Chicago called Mutts, and my all time favourite musicians Murder By Death. I’d kill for a chance to do that again. What a night.
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