Kay kay and his weathered underground interview

Interview number 4
Kay Kay and his Weathered Underground
12.01.07

Interview with Kirk Huffman of Kay Kay and his Weathered Underground

NWB: Where did the band name come from?

Kirk: Originally, kyle and i were just recording songs in hotel rooms all night long while on tour with the band we used to be in, gatsbys american dream. we were flushing out songs with no attempt at that time to start a band, the idea was to write a pop cantata with the lyrical drama being inner monologues of a central character in the midst of falling into schizophrenia, kay kay. schizophrenics are characterized by their hallucinations, prophetic delusions and indications of split personalities, his weathered underground, a reference to the vietnam-era radicals, is the fools paradise kay kay dwells in or the music to the allegory.

NWB: Is there an actual line-up to Kay Kay? Every show I see there seems to be another member.

Kirk: It's a never-ending rag-tag rotating cast. but it's essentially myself, kyle o'quin and phillip peterson and the others acting as the weathered underground
How would you describe the Seattle music scene?
i think it's clearly thriving in a way now that it hasn't ever, at least since i've been here and that's 21 years. this years block party was such an epiphany to me. the fact that whole intersections were shut down, stages erected, a killer line-up of national to international acts from aesop rock to the cribs were booked and all the while the local acts held their own on those stages too. i've been to the every lower 48th state and i know there isn't another place as unique and ahead of the rest of the country as seattle. everyone in my neighborhood is so god damned talented it's downright frightening and as a consequence its a city that enstills a particular drive and ambitiousness in you because everyone is making a name for themselves on their own terms while still being part of a community. i mean fuck, city hall threw a yo la tengo show so there you go.



NWB: What other bands have members of Kay Kay been in?

Kirk: tennis pro, wild orchid children, the lashes, strong killings, the divorce, surrounded by lions, gatsbys american dream

NWB: How did Kay Kay form and what was the idea behind the band? (IE: This is the band that will pay your bills, or this is the band that will relieve you from the job that pays your bills? etc.)

Kirk: When gatsby had called it quits and ended the 5 straight years of relentless touring both kyle and i really wanted to get to recording studio versions of the demos we had been making on the road. we had no money, but we knew phil peterson who is an extremely talented composer, arranger and producer in his own right, who also had a makeshift studio in a charming old northwest home that made a perfect setting for putting these songs to tape. the three of us basically tracked and recorded all of the basic instrumentation and music ourselves while phil charted the orchestral parts to the tunes, which he then brought in string and horn players to track. after piecing together 8 songs we cut a live dvd and lp at the pretty parlor boutique in seattle and released a double-disc lp/dvd under our own imprint, bombs over bellevue. i've never been able to pay my bills with any band i've been in, so i didn't have a whole lot of expectations with this project, so everything that has happened has been an unexpected delight.



NWB: How do you have time for Kay Kay? Each member seems to be in multiple bands- and have jobs. Is this why Kay Kay plays so few shows?

Kirk: Thankfully and luckily we have a host of talented players, so practicing isn't something we have to deal with much, i can send everyone home with a copy of our live record and charts to the songs and know when they come to the show, they're going to do great. everyone is extremely busy, but also extremely dedicated to being on the bus with everyone. scheduling of course is a small reason we choose to play so few shows, but it's much more about the original idea for kay kay's live set, to be over-the-top and jam the stage with a gang of musicians, to have it be less about kyle and i's songs and more about the spectacle and sensory overload. being an event and idea rather than a band on a bill sticks with people, also allowing the listener to not over-consume us cause we're playing in town every weekend.

NWB: Songs like ‘Hey momma’ have an unusual mix of genres (reggae, indie), what are your musical influences – and how do they effect your song writing process?

Kirk: Our musical influences are everything to our song-writing. i don't care who you are, everything is derived from something else. it's the small additions, objections and dashes of unique personality that make the next thing, the next thing and the interesting niches you create from the ashes of a handful of influences. it's never been a big secret that kyle listens to odyssey and oracle endlessly or that i have muswell hillbillies and emmit rhodes tunes on repeat, any bozo can listen to us and figure that out. but again that was the idea when kyle and i started writing the songs. we know we're not and will never be as clever and groundbreaking as mike patton, that wasn't the point. all the records we wanted to model our cantata after are based in traditional american roots music, the same things all our favorite bands were mimicing in the 50's, 60's and 70's and if you know the basic physics of music, how notes are derived from vibrations and what happens to air molecules in the atmosphere around your body when tones are made and received, then you have to understand that there is a much deeper connection between humans and music than ninety-nine cent singles on itunes. that's trading in tradition and heritage for cheap thrills. the point was that we wanted to touch on those classic chord structures and changes, while trying to navigate three styles of music in one song, so the songs had a familiarity at first listen and an ability to get the hair on the back of your neck standing, again, to try and be less about kyle and i's songs and more about the mood and emotions you feel from listening and absorbing the music.



NWB: With the amount of bands/musicians in the NW, do you think that any two NW bands could be connected to each other in some way or another? What way do think is most likely? (a producer, label, band member…etc)

Kirk: There are a handful of bands who operate like that especially locally, i think that is why seattle is so unique and ahead of the game. take minus the bear who used to have a producer, matt bayles, playing in the band as well as engineering, mixing and producing the bands records, then gained all the noteriety on a small seattle label. that's the future man. there's no need for the middle-men or major expenses. more and more i think you're going to find collectives and communes keeping everything under one roof while still hustling using the same tools the major labels do. it's the digital age and all the things the big labels are doing that everyone thought for so long you couldn't do without their help, are right at your fingertips. every band should be their own producer, label, booking agent, publicist and distributor. that's clap your hands say yeah, devandra barnhart, saddle creek and omaha, nebraska, the chuck norris house or the amount of northwest bands signed to sub pop. the band connections and people playing on other people's records, that's all evident in seattle and has been going on for years and a huge reason the kay kay thing even got off the ground. it wouldn't have ever evolved from demos on a lap top to playing on last call w/ carson daly if kyle and i didn't live in a city where talented musicians want to feel connected as a part of a group or community.

Interviewed By: Jacquee