06/26 Kadane Brothers Show + Interview

The Kadane Brothers delivered an intimate two guitar and no frills set at Emo’s Austin on Thursday night. Austin was the first show in a series of quick North American tour dates for Matt & Bubba Kadane without their backing band The New Year. The brothers showcased a few new songs off their forthcoming self titled release The New Year due out in September with their band of the same name. Each song of the set featured one of the two brothers singing lead with the other brother singing harmonies to back up. Let me first say that I did enjoy the show, but I was left wanting more. I’ve seen the brothers tour before with the support of their band mates and I must say I prefer that setting. It seemed liked the current idea of two gents strumming guitars and singing would be better suited for a quiet coffee shop than the loud and crowded Emos. Matt & Bubba will be embarking on a huge tour with The New Year once this solo stint is over so we’ve got that to look forward to.

In other news…. My favorite part of the evening was opening act Crystal Antlers from Long Beach, California. The band had the energy of a 5 year old and rarely stopped to take a breather. Each song had the traditional guitar, bass, drums, vocal & just the right amount of electric piano. My ear drums were left hurtin’ pretty bad after the set but I didn’t mind the pain in exchange for an intense live show. I highly recommend you check these guys out if they come to your town.

Also, one of my favorite songs of the night by Crystal Antlers entitled “A Thousand Eyes”:

[audio:https://austintownhall.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/01-a-thousand-eyes.mp3]

Download: 01-a-thousand-eyes

ATH sat down with Matt Kadane before the show and asked him a few questions about Emo’s, The New Year, and their upcoming tour:

ATH: Have you guys played Emos before? If so, what do you think about the venue?
MK: We’ve played Emo’s several times and love it. It’s one of our favorite venues in the country.

ATH: Where are you guys calling home now?
MK: I live in upstate New York. Bubba and Peter live in Dallas. Mike is in Vermont and Chris is in NYC. We don’t really have a home base, although we still have a Dallas p.o. box.

ATH: What have you guys been doing since the last New Year album came out 4 years ago? Music or outside of music.
MK: We’ve been working on this record for much of that time. And then we have our jobs, but who cares about that.

ATH: So your band mates in The New Year live all over the country right? How does a band work with members living in all different places?
MK: Bubba and I go back and forth with demos. We used to do this by tape but in the last few years we’ve done it electronically. Once we get songs hammered out, we get the band together and work up things as a band. Usually this happens right before a tour. It sounds complicated but the payoff is that since we never see each other outside of playing, our affection for one another, when we do get together, runs relatively high.

ATH: Would you say your new album goes in a different direction than your older albums? Are you happy with the way it turned out?
MK: There’s more piano on the new one, but I don’t think that translates into a radically different sound. I am really happy with how the record turned out, and I don’t think I’ve ever been so excited to play a new group of songs live.

ATH: You guys have a very unique sound, how would you describe that sound?
MK: Thanks. I’m terrible at describing music so I will take a pass on this question.

ATH: Why the tour without the band?
MK: The band has limited availability, but Bubba and I are relatively free this summer and decided to take advantage of that and play in advance of the full fall tour.

ATH: When does the full band start touring and where are you headed?
MK: We start in Texas in late September and will play the US and Canada through October and Europe in November.

ATH: Bedhead had a huge following when you guys disbanded, what’s it been like starting a brand new band and “starting over”?
MK: It has been a pain, but I don’t regret changing the band name even if it set us back in terms of our audience size. By 1998 I really stopped liking the name Bedhead. I like it fine now, but there’s no going back.

ATH: What new music have you guys been into?
MK: Bottomless Pit and the newest Shannon Wright record.

ATH: Any old music that you’ve been listening to recently?
MK: In May I was nearly obsessed with the first three Roxy Music records. Outside of the music I’m forced to hear in the grocery store June has been a month of musical silence.