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| KYLESA |
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| INFO |
YEAR FORMED: 2001
HOMETOWN: Savannah, GA
MEMBERS:
Phillip Cope - Vocals/Guitar
Laura Pleasants - Vocals/Guitar
Corey Barhorst - Bass
Brandon Baltzley - Drums
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| BIOGRAPHY |
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Since this Savannah, Georgia, quartet -completed by vocalist/guitarist Laura Pleasants, vocalist/bassist Corey Barhorst and drummer Brandon Baltzley- first formed in early 2001, worrying about genre limitations has never been a priority. Taking musical chances, however, has been. While Kylesa are as heavy as any band out there, they are beholden to no one scene�punk, hardcore, metal, stoner rock, crust, or otherwise."Lots of people like to stick to one kind of music," Cope elaborates, "and even with the underground lots of people segregate themselves into small little categories and place lots of imaginary rules on these scenes." Kylesa ranges far and wide, using their utter disregard of musical boundaries to bring together avante-gard experimentalism with the pure fury of dirty, sludgey riffs and raw, impassioned male and female vocals. There is a relentless intensity to their music, from the ambient noise interludes that sometimes link songs to the doom-inspired punishment they are capable of dishing out with dual drop-tuned guitars.Kylesa�s second album (and first for Prosthetic), To Walk A Middle Course, was produced by Alex Newport (At The Drive-In, Melvins, The Mars Volta) at Hot Head Recording in Los Angeles and it accurately captures the fullness and musical diversity of the band�s sound. Songs link together seamlessly, drawing a continuous musical strand from the crushing guitar avalanche of �In Memory� to the contemplative psychedelia of the closing "Crashing Slow." Free from any stylistic confines, Kylesa nonetheless create a unified sound that�s progressive without being difficult and heavy without being oppressive. The vocal dynamic between Cope and Pleasants is perhaps the defining element of Kylesa�s sound. The pair not only trade lines throughout songs, they also add harmonies behind each other. It is an unconventional arrangement-not unlike John Doe and Exene Cervenka in X or Amy Miret and Al in Nausea-rarely heard in punk or metal, but it works effectively in Kylesa�s profoundly expressive sound.The band�s reluctance to attach itself to one sound or scene has ultimately made it that much more versatile. Their heavy touring schedule has found them sharing bills with bands as diverse as High On Fire, Circle Takes the Square and Darkest Hour, among many others. It�s a route that has brought them to where they are today. "While we are no kings of one scene," says Cope, "we have, in a sense, just developed our own thing."
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