Behind the music - Kyral

Dublin prog pop punk band Kyral have released their new single, The Tide. We asked them the BIG questions . . .

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Kyral are guitarist Tara Behan, Alex Webb on vocalist Alex Webb, Jack Lennon on drums and Tom Ambrose on bass.

The band say their new track "explores the challenges of grieving the end of relationships and friendships, and the process of coming to terms with life without important people. It reflects on difficult conversations and emotions from the past, capturing how they felt during the breakdown".

Tell us three things about yourself . . .

Tara: I am a lady of many passions with my main two being music and all things science! I'm currently in my final year of my biomedical degree with the hopes to do a PhD in immunology afterwards. I typically spend my downtime playing video games like Valheim, Red Dead Redemption and Kingdom Come Deliverance. Anything with a good story to immerse myself in. My favourite thing is writing music in Kyral - it’s just letting any chaotic idea loose that comes up, it’s extremely freeing and wonderful to see those ideas come to life so viscerally.

How would you describe your music?

Alex: We were recently described as a "very unlikely metal band". Our music has elements of pop-punk, metal and prog, with quirky guitar riffs, intricate rhythms, and a soaring vocal. Once our music has an inherent visceral rhythm and is simultaneously pensive, I’m happy.

Who are your musical inspirations?

Tom: We’ve got a lot of love for Paramore and Fall Out Boy. Particularly, Paramore’s Brand New Eyes and their self-titled album. They’re great examples of a band pushing past the foundations of pop-punk to deliver a more unique sound. In the same vein, Tara and I love the album The Weird and Wonderful Marmozhets by Marmozhets. It’s loud, weird, chaotic and exhilarating. Exactly how I’d describe our band. We’re also heavily inspired by progressive metal bands like Dream Theater, Periphery and Animals As Leaders. We’ve found that incorporating heavier guitar tones, and odd-time signature riffs into our music contributes to that chaotic energy that we’re always striving to capture.

What was the first gig you ever went to?

Tom: A friend’s cool, older brother brought us to see Dragonforce in the Ambassador. I was obsessed with them at the time, and I just remember how loud and chaotic everything was. They had this multi-tier stage with trampolines, so band members were constantly flying through the air. Those early Dragonforce albums have a frenetic quality, almost overwhelming at times. That level of energy is something that we try to replicate in our live shows, although I’ve yet to incorporate trampolines.

What was the first record you ever bought?

Jack: I can’t remember the exact first record I ever bought myself, but one of the earliest records in my collection which was given to me as a birthday gift was 2112 by Rush. 2112, in my opinion, is incredible and is widely regarded as one of the most iconic rock albums of all time. Just as some background, before its release in 1976 the band was actually in trouble with their management and record label because of a bad response to their previous album, and the management didn’t like the progressive and experimental approach that Rush was starting to take in their music so alternatively they wanted to try keep control over them to make them more commercial and have shorter songs for radio play, more singles etc. So, in one last effort while on the verge of losing everything, the band refused to "give in and just be something that everyone else wants us to be" and released 2112 as a statement, which was by far their most progressive record to date. The opening track was a 20-minute-long epic overture full of storytelling, hard hitting drums, guitar solos and instrumental virtuosity which I had never heard anything like before and I loved it, having a big influence on my drumming when I first heard this at age 17. The other tracks on the album are also great, but music aside, I especially just loved the band’s rebellious attitude to not care about what anyone else thought and instead make music the way they want to.

What’s your favourite song right now?

Jack: My favourite song right now would probably be Young by Dog Is Dead, who are an indie band from the UK. I first heard it in an episode of the TV show Skins, and I love how uplifting and fun it sounds. In terms of heavier rock/metal songs though, I also love Natural Disaster by Tesseract. The band opened up with this when I saw them in The Academy a few months ago and it was mind blowing to see live.

Favourite lyric of all time?

Alex: "All kinds of sadness I've left behind me, Many's the day when I have done wrong, But I'll be yours for ever and ever, Climb in the saddle and whistle along." - The Whistler, Jethro Tull

If you could only listen to one song for the rest of your life, what would it be?

Tara: Hmmm, I would have to say that I’d pick The Walk by Periphery but the instrumental version. The music is so dynamic in its rhythms that you could just never get bored from listening to it. It is also face crushingly heavy at parts that just make it totally addictive.

Where can people find your music/more information?

If you’re looking for our music, head over to Spotify. There are one or two Kyrals on there, so just keep on listening until you hear something awesome. That’s probably us. To find out about upcoming gigs, Instagram is your best bet. You’ll find all our announcements there, as well some awesome videos from our live shows.

Alan Corr