Always and forever, Kiss Bang continues to smear the lines that pop music has attempted to draw so neatly. Since dropping their debut EP Horrors Of Your Hometown earlier this year right before their South by Southwest showcase, Kiss Bang has relentlessly delivered an artistry that is fiery and magnetic.
Composed of vocalist Kaya Stewart and guitarist Max Mercier, Kiss Bang is an ethereal pop rock duo that dons themselves with a colorful arsenal. Highly influenced by a variety of genres such as metal, pop, rock and soul, Stewart and Mercier are not just indie’s favorite rising rockstars, but they are also tried and true music fans at heart.
Following the release of Horrors Of Your Hometown back in March, Kiss Bang decided to take some time to pause and reflect on where they wanted the project to go. After an extensive amount of brainstorming, Kiss Bang came back bolder than ever when they released their newest single “Drag” on October 31. A highly energetic and hard-hitting synth-pop track, Kiss Bang has said that “Drag,” as well as the band’s recent signing to Greater Than Distribution, represents the dawn of a new era for the band.
“We didn’t make the music in a full-size recording studio this time,” Mercier explains. “We made ‘Drag’ in my bedroom in my apartment. It was nice, I think, because we had a good moment to just look at what we had and use those resources to the best that we could. I feel like we’ve grown a lot visually and sonically, and I’m glad that we took that time to do it.”
With pop music experiencing such a stark revolution these past few months, it seems now that the music industry is embracing all things bold and theatrical. Kiss Bang admits that they now feel more confident to pursue the project and fulfill their rightful place in the pop music scene.
“I think with the evolution of pop music now, Chappell Roan kind of gave the space for camp and different artists, and I think having that door open for us was really incredible and I feel like there is now room for that music in the mainstream world, which is great,” Stewart says.
Modern music has yet to witness an act as diverse and eclectic as Kiss Bang, and the pop duo wants to make one message very clear: they don’t plan on going anywhere anytime soon.
You guys have recently signed with Greater Than Distribution, which is super awesome for you two. How do you think that will impact you guys, both musically and otherwise?
Kaya: I think that the traditional label route is something that’s been slowly dying, and I think both of us were really adamant about having creative control no matter what deal we signed or what position we were in. We always wanted to make sure that Max and I were at the forefront of what was being put out there and the message we were trying to convey. So I think signing with Greater Than just seemed like the best option, because it really felt like more of a partnership than a traditional record deal.
Max: And on top of that, they just have such great resources. As much as we want to think that we can do it entirely on our own, it’s really great to have some support and have someone that has our back, especially with releases, PR, playlisting, all that kind of stuff.
Going off of that, your debut EP Horrors Of Your Hometown came out earlier this year — it’s crazy that it came out in March because it literally feels like two years ago. But what was the aftermath like following the album’s release?
Max: It was really great. I felt like it was really great that we released it during South by Southwest. It felt like we had so much to show when we were playing there, because people could leave directly and go listen to our music. And I felt like we nailed the shows sonically, so that songs sounded exactly like the shows did, which is awesome. And Greater Than found us through the release of the EP and coming to see one of our shows, so all in all it was a win for us.
Kaya: Absolutely. And I think putting out a first EP is such a hurdle to accomplish, and I think it really taught us a lot and we’re excited to continue with the knowledge we have from that.
Going off of that, your new single “Drag” just came out, which I absolutely loved. Max, you made an Instagram post ahead of the single’s release where you said that, after Horrors Of Your Hometown came out, you two both took the time to figure out stuff with both of you personally as well as where you wanted the band to go. What was going on during that hiatus and what was on your minds after the album’s release?
Max: I felt like when we released the album, we were just trying to pull together a brand of our songs and our look and get everything done as quickly as possible. I think we felt like we had a vision for what we wanted the project to be, but just because we didn’t really have enough time and we didn’t have enough resources, we didn’t really get to execute it exactly in the way that we wanted it to. So throughout the past couple of months following the release, I’m really proud of us because we took the time, we sat, we wrote. I have a mirror closet door and we bought a pack of Expo markers and just drew a crazy, spider web thought map to really nail down every aspect of the project. We did a couple different photo shoots, we found the best one and then we really took the time with the music. We didn’t make the music in a full-size recording studio this time. We made “Drag” in my bedroom in my apartment. It was nice, I think, because we had a good moment to just look at what we had and use those resources to the best that we could. I feel like we’ve grown a lot visually and sonically, and I’m glad that we took that time to do it.
You said that the album felt somewhat rushed. Was that because of South by Southwest? Why did you feel that pressure to get the EP done quickly?
Kaya: When we decided we were going to make this EP, we had a bunch of songs that we’d written together and we picked our favorite ones. Then it was basically a race against time. We knew we had South by Southwest coming up and we knew we wanted the EP to be out during that time. We also found out about South by Southwest not that long before we actually played. We wanted to get everything done. I don’t necessarily think that the EP felt rushed, I think it was more we had all of this material that we created and we just formed Kiss Bang and we were trying to pull all the best pieces and not feel like we weren’t leaving anything out. I think now, because we didn’t have the pressure of anything coming up, we said this time is just to create a record that we love and visuals that we love. It felt like we were really able to just do everything we wanted to do and explore every avenue and really pick one thing to focus on.
Going off of that, how will future music maybe be different than what was on the EP? What are some things that you’ve explored or things that you’ve been wanting to explore with your music?
Max: It’s definitely going to get a lot more satirical. I think love and romance is truly one of the most powerful things in the world, and it’s such a theme in everyone’s life that it’s something that just naturally comes out in writing. And I think that’s something that we both felt there’s so much more to talk about. There’s so much more to write about, and there’s also different ways to frame love and romance in a way that’s a little bit more satirical or a little bit more provocative. So I think that our music is getting a lot more playful right now, which is really fun to work on and perform live. Back to “Drag,” that was always one of our favorite parts of that. It’s this sort of mellow, synth-pop song and then this massive wall of guitars comes in before the double bass line at the end. It’s just kind of stupid. Ridiculous (laughs).
Kaya: I think that also, visually, that was something that was so important to us. Just these really strong, jarring visuals. I think with the evolution of pop music now, Chappell Roan kind of gave the space for camp and different artists, and I think having that door open for us was really incredible and I feel like there is now room for that music in the mainstream world, which is great.
Before Chappell Roan took music by storm, did you feel hesitant to do certain visuals or be campier or more satirical with your music?
Kaya: I wouldn’t say we felt hesitant. I think that something that Max and I have always leaned towards was shock value, strong visuals and this camp performance. In the beginning, and especially with this first record, we felt that we were kind of shoveling our way into that world, whereas now I feel like as we’ve grown we’ve also watched pop music grow, and it’s created a lot more room for artists like us to have a shot in that world.
I’m glad you mentioned the pop scene, because I know last time we spoke we talked about how Kiss Bang ultimately wants to break the barriers that pop music usually has and, before Chappell Roan, pop music had these strict rules. Over these last few months, how have your views on the music industry or pop music changed?
Max: I just love that people are saying exactly what’s on their minds now. I think another perfect example of that is BRAT. “Girl, So confusing” is the anthem for everyone, ever. At the same time, it’s just so crazy to me that it’s been so rare that people have spoken their minds so freely and been exactly who they are. The pop scene itself is tough, because the pop scene often is not tangible. It’s hard to just go see a pop show without paying $50 or $60, because it starts small and then it just explodes and then the artist is huge. I think it’s cool now that things that are so big and so prevalent in the music scene are things that are so undeniably relatable, and both of us feel so much better. Because it feels like finally there’s room to carve out a space of music that just hasn’t really been available for the last five years.
I love that artists are starting this new wave of people carving out spaces for themselves and sticking up for themselves, and they’re a lot more relatable, like you mentioned. I think it’s cool that Kiss Bang is also, in a way, very involved with this new wave of pop music.
Kaya: I think when we started it was interesting because we never wrote to sound like anything. We were just writing what naturally was coming out to us. Max produces, and it wasn’t like he was trying to produce something that sounded like this. It was just something he came up with and I think that that’s what’s so interesting about our connection to each other, as we were always on the same wavelength musically and in general. But what’s so cool about it now is, without even trying, we created a sound that we at first were like, okay, there’s no room for us in this world so we’re going to have to carve it out ourselves. But slowly with the evolution of pop music, it feels like there actually is room for a band like us in this world.
Both of you felt like you didn’t fit into pop music or the music industry. Was it just because of your sound, or was it in other ways as well?
Max: Both of us were making music for a very long time. Kaya always leaned more pop, and I always leaned a little bit more indie. But both of us have always had really big dreams and have a lot of ambition, and I think through fusing those two things together we finally feel like there is room for us and there is a place to carve out. No one has successfully fused pop and rock yet. Not yet.
Kaya: I also think that we’re just weird as fuck [laughter], and it’s nice that people are being weird as shit and they’re actually doing well.
Going back a little bit to what you said, Max, about how nobody has successfully fused pop and rock together. I feel like a lot of artists are described as pop rock artists. Why do you think nobody has done it successfully yet, and what do you think it takes to do it successfully?
Kaya: I think that it’s really interesting. There was this huge resurgence of pop punk and I think that people kind of assumed that that was pop rock music. But I think that the way that we look at rock music is so different. Max and I both grew up huge metal fans, and I don’t see any sort of correlation between pop music and that. I think there was this gap where it was like, it’s either pop punk, pop music, or rock music. There was nothing in the middle for all those other genres that we are so inspired by. And I think something about listening to our music is that there’s just so much influence. That’s the reception we get the most. It works for everybody. Because whether you’re a rock fan, a metal fan, a pop fan, a soul music fan, there’s a little bit of everything in there.
Max: I also just think that music has to evolve. Rock music was pop music at the time that it was popular. And I think that that has to evolve. I have this argument with my friends all of the time because when I’m like, ‘We’re trying to fuse rock and pop,’ they’re like, ‘What are you trying to do? Greta Van Fleet?’ And I’m like, no, because when I think of modern rock music, I think of infusing rock guitar playing, heavy belting rock vocals and big drums with a more modern sound. For instance, “Ghost Town” by Kanye West. I think there’s a great argument that that’s a rock song, because it has this big, crazy, super distorted guitar and these big drums. I just think that there’s a way to modernize that sound and make it accessible to create what new rock is supposed to be.
Would you say that rock is dead? Or do you think rock is just taking a new shape?
Max: I feel like rock has become sort of like a cosplay, in a way. There aren’t rock bands. Well, not anymore, really. If there were rock bands, I feel like they were just trying to copy the 70s sound. But now you have people like Turnstile. That’s totally rock and it’s super modern, too.
Kaya: We have such strong opinions about it and I think that it’s so interesting because there was a lot of music that, when I met Max, I’d never heard before. And I feel like it went both ways where, we were such huge fans of music – especially rock music – but we were listening to all different kinds of rock music and defining with each other what we consider this genre, what we consider that genre. I think what’s so cool about our generation now is genres are really bending and melting together. We were talking about Chappell Roan earlier, I just saw her on SNL and she’s making country music. And it’s so cool because in the past, I remember when Taylor Swift had to publicly say that she wasn’t a country artist anymore. It was so interesting because all artists develop and evolve and I think that drawing inspiration is such an amazing thing and I think that’s how rock music is changing. There’s new music out there and people are drawing inspiration from everything.
I love that there are really no strict genres anymore and, alternatively, people can listen to everything. We’re not really holding artists or listeners to such strict standards anymore. Going off of that, you both have said you’re a pop rock band, but would you ever experiment with something crazy? Are we going to see a Kiss Bang country album?
Max: Funny you should mention that [laughter]. At the end of the day, we’re always going to have the rock influence. Because I’m like every guitar player ever, I have a massive, inflated ego and need to put a solo in everything. But at the end of the day, what we’re going to be is a blend of everything.
Kaya: We’re influenced by so much. I remember the first time I ever met Max I was playing him country songs that I’d written and Max was playing me rock songs he had written. It’s so cool that I think our love for music really, at the end of the day, is what creates these songs. I definitely think that there will be some songs very soon that are of very different influences. But I think at our core we’ll always have our same sound in there.
I know “Drag” obviously just came out and you can’t give too much away, but what projects are you working on right now that you can share with fans?
Kaya: We have a lot of new songs that we’re working on right now. We are hoping to just keep putting singles out, keep building that fan base, keep connecting with people. And I think now it’s so easy to put out music and I think it’s a blessing and a curse. But we’re really using that to our advantage. The songs that are coming out are now songs that we wrote a couple months ago, and I think the more can put out, the better.
Max: We got a real good one on the horizon. When I was talking about satirical and approaching things in a different light or in a different way just to make them a little bit more provocative, we’ve got a real good one coming. I feel like there’s strong potential that it could be a little underground club hit.
You guys have both said on social media that this is basically the new era of Kiss Bang: Kiss Bang 2.0. What do you want people to ultimately get from this new era? What do you want to accomplish with this next chapter in your lives?
Kaya: When I think about it, to me, everything is stronger. Our visuals are stronger, our music is stronger. I think we’ve really found what’s most authentically us, and from now on it’s just building on that and evolving with that. But this really does feel like who we are as a band, which is really exciting.
Max: At this point everything is thought out. Don’t get me wrong, there’s still absolutely improvisation and authenticity there because Kaya and I are always going to just kind of improv and wing some stuff when we can because we trust each other to do it. However, now I feel like it’s all a learning process.
Kaya: There’s just so much intention behind what we’re doing.
Max: We want them to know that we’re here to stay [laughter].
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