“At that moment, you forget everything and you live for that moment, hoping it never ends.”

is how German band KYTES describes their feeling when they recently played live at the SXSW in Austin, TX for the first time. With all this incredible energy they are now back in Germany working on the final touch of completing their debut album. Beforehand we are pleased to sustain you with the premiere of their brand new single “I Got Something”, that will be released on April 29th. And a short chat about what has happened since our last interview, the American audience and Texan clichés.

Hey guys, we talked to you almost a year ago. How have things developed for you this year?

Lots of really crazy stuff has happened actually! We played our first headliner tour ever, through Germany, Switzerland and Austria, which was a dream come true and pretty incredible, especially if you consider the fact that we didn’t even officially exist 5 months ago at this time. Later In November 2015 we released our debut EP “On the Run”. Currently we are in the final stages of completing our debut album. Mixing and mastering needs to be completed. Our brand new single “I Got Something” will be released on April 29th. Throughout the summer we’ll be playing a string of European festivals including a few smaller club shows, before we go back on tour again in autumn and then release our first album. A definite highlight was playing our first show on American soil at this year’s SXSW in Austin, TX.

„It has been a completely new and incredible experience for us to play our music in a country, that is so far away.“ is what you said about the SXSW. Can you describe this feeling you had on stage there, and what makes it so special to play your music far away from home?

Finally getting on stage and performing our songs was like a sigh of relief, so we let off lots of steam. The build up to the festival and all the complications involved in getting our visas approved just a few days before the actual start of SX was pretty exciting, but very nerve-wracking too. Security at four different airports, connecting flights, endless baggage checks and then finally arriving at our destination was a relief. Then you´re on stage, six thousand miles away from home and complete strangers are singing and dancing to your music, what a feeling….undescribable! At that moment, you forget everything and you live for that moment, hoping it never ends.

Is there a different vibe coming from the audience as well?

At SXSW audiences were really relaxed and spontaneous but we guess it’s really too early to evaluate the American audience as a whole… We can say that it was stunning performing in front of American audiences, and that they have a good time, so we did too. And they seem to connect with the message we put in our songs.

Could you imagine to place your living and musical roots over the USA for a while, or do you see your future over here in Germany?

We can definitely imagine to live in the US. We will give our very best to get to the point, where we have to think about things like that. But of course our roots are in Germany and all our family and friends too, so it’s a hard one.

Any clichees you had about the USA/ Texas in mind that were totally wrong? Or any that were so true?

A few weeks before we flew over to Texas we heard about the “open carry policy”, that states its legal to carry guns in a hip or shoulder holster. So, to be honest, we imagined Texas to be similar to the setting of those westerns we all watched back when we were kids. Honestly we didn’t see one single “openly carried” gun except the ones of the police. It was kind of a relief knowing that there aren’t thousands of dueling cowboys in the streets while we are playing. (laughing) Austin is one of the most liberal cities of the US, so maybe if we come back one day and get to play in Dallas, we’ll meet the real cowboys. :)

images credit: KYTES – SXSW Austin

Tourdates:
21.04.16 A-Wien – Chelsea
22.04.16 A-Herzohshof – Noppen Air
27.04.16 Coburg – Sonderbar
28.04.16 Ulm – Roxy
29.04.16 Eggenfelden – Club Platinium
30.04.16 Nürnberg – Club Stereo