Kylesa: Heavy Psyche-Rock Band Looks To Its Past to Write Its Future

By Jamie Ludwig
Published: December 14th, 2010 | 1:23pm

One day in the not-so-distant past, Laura Pleasants walked into an instrument retail chain to scope out the store’s selection of vintage gear. When a salesclerk learned she was in the market for a new guitar, he promptly presented her an instrument bearing the likeness of Sanrio cartoon Hello Kitty. Needless to say, Pleasants didn’t make a purchase that day (Curious parties may take note: The name of the store rhymes with “Sitar Center”).

Pleasants’ band, Savannah, Georgia-based quintet Kylesa may not have the household name recognition of say, Black Sabbath, but for those in the know the salesman’s gesture seems as ridiculous as trying to sell a Fisher-Price microphone to Ozzy Osbourne.

Kylesa, a veritable powerhouse of psychedelic rock, metal, punk, sludge, prog and indie rock, is at the forefront of an entire generation of heavy rock bands, one that has captured the hearts of thousands of music lovers around the world. Its fifth and latest album, Spiral Shadow (Season of Mist), released in October 2010, was one of the most anticipated hard rock albums of the year. As one of Kylesa’s lead vocalists, songwriters, and yes, guitarists, Pleasants can hammer out more than a few bars of “Mary Had A Little Lamb.”

Pleasants co-founded Kylesa with fellow singer/songwriter/guitarist Philip Cope in 2001 with the intent to take risks and push the boundaries of heavy music. “We made a pact when we first started that we weren’t going to pigeonhole ourselves in a genre,” says Pleasants. This vision is apparent throughout their discography.

Each record finds the band incorporating new twists and sonic experiments, such as interplay between three lead vocal parts throughout its early releases. By Kylesa’s third record, Time Will Fuse Its Worth (Prosthetic, 2006), the band added a second full set of drums to its lineup and constructed atmospheric samples to set off each track. Kylesa’s critically acclaimed fourth album, Static Tensions (Prosthetic, 2009) showcased a raw, introspective array of songs, artfully constructed around raw riffs, grooves, and more melodic streak than ever before.

The band’s dedication to freedom, independence, and change stem in part from its DIY punk roots. “That kind of stuff formed who I am,” says Pleasants, who booked early shows and tours through her connections in the underground music community, and utilized her artistic skills to create much of the band’s artwork. “I grew up going to house shows and loving all kinds of music, but loving the element of the punk show. In the house shows, or VFW Halls you share music with people who seek it out and really want to be there.”

The reward for their efforts was the music itself and life experience—as with the overwhelming majority of artists that delve into unconventional or otherwise marginalized styles of music, there was no promise of that they would ever find financial stability or recognition.

“It is so foreign to people that don’t come from [punk culture], or grew up listening to punk, or knowing what DIY is,” says Pleasants. “There is a lot of hard work involved with being in a band, and a lot of sacrifice, and if you’re not willing to do that, you’re not in it for the right reasons,” says Pleasants. “On those early tours, there was no money. We were sleeping on floors, getting by as best as we could,” says Pleasants.

After a decade of hard work and perseverance, Kylesa has benefitted from a creative standpoint and the results have naturally struck a chord with fans, including a growing number of listeners that don’t traditionally like harder styles of music. “When we first started, we’d play with a lot of different bands because we didn’t have a home per se,” says Pleasants. “Our music was too metal or too punk or too weird. It didn’t fit into a category. The scene that we’ve kind of helped to create is considered acceptable now. A lot of it has to do with the times, but we’ve always been kind of a crossover band and always seen a gamut of people coming to our shows. [On recent tours] there are way more females coming out, which is awesome. I don’t know if it has to do with the times, or our band,” Pleasants says.

The journey Kylesa has taken since 2001 is reflected on Spiral Shadow through the theme of “distance,” a concept Cope and Pleasants had determined before starting the writing process. “The word ‘distance’ has many different meanings and connotations,” says Pleasants. “We had all lived together for a while [in Savannah], and then we didn’t. I moved away for a year--I needed to get away for personal reasons. So there was some distance as a band and in our personal lives, both emotional and physical. We’ve traveled these distances and here we are at the end of the decade. What have we learned?”

This introspective mood is evident throughout Spiral Shadow, an intense collection of songs that from an outside perspective seem to indicate that the band accomplished its mission; The raw, warm sounds, tribal drumbeats, and grooves of “classic” Kylesa are interwoven with fresh riffs and melodies, choruses that linger in the mind for days, and musicianship that reaches further than ever before. Bassist Corey Barhorst’s double duty on keyboards adds an element of drama and mystique from the first notes of the album on “Tired Climb.”

Also noteworthy is Cope and Pleasants’ increasingly intricate guitar work on tracks such asthe world-travel inspired “Crowded Road,” and the hard-hitting rock of the album’s title track. “It took a long time,” Pleasants says about her own growth as a guitarist. “I’ve never really considered myself as a ripper or a shredder. I’ve always been way more interested in the vibe and the feeling of the music, and playing a little more blues guitar. I always want to keep improving.”

Distance comes through in the album’s lyrics as well, and while Pleasants and Cope write from personal experience and philosophies, their songs deal with universal struggles with life, death, and questioning one’s purpose on the planet, for example in the anthemic “Don’t Look Back,” the narrator grapples with whether he has lived up to the expectations he had of himself as a youth.

Although the members of Kylesa are basically satisfied with the end result of Spiral Shadow, Pleasants feels that as a band there is room to accomplish even more. “I don’t think we’ve written the perfect record and we can’t do any better,” says Pleasants. “I think [challenging yourself] is very important for both the musician and the listener. So many bands don’t last over 5 years. They keep writing the same record and they are stuck and their fans get bored. It’s not satisfying as a musician to do the same thing twice. You have to get your fans to grow with you too. You can’t totally alienate them. Bands who shun their fans and just don’t care, its not just insulting, but they’ve been the ones that love and support you this whole time. With that said, we’re very much trying to keep the elements of our roots there always, but then venture out into new territory.”

Kylesa: www.myspace.com/kylesa