In this interview feature, we get to know the most radicalist up and coming stars on the planet.  

Right now, we’re talking to forward-thinking Brighton band Kudu Blue who have been regular features on TMR. For two years, the four-piece of Tom Peterson (bass), Owen Crouch (keys), Clementine Douglas (vocals) and Creeda Kirkman (drums) have been releasing their multi-textured electronica with heavy doses of indie-pop, R&B and trip-hop. Despite their traditional band setup, their music is far from your regular expectations as Kudu Blue have proven to be incredibly inventive with their sound.

As the band will go on to explain, their first song ‘Bones’ seems almost like a different band entirely, with each track release taking a new twist in their journey. ‘Fallin’ Away’ was the first hint of their trippy pop style, with “its wobbly beat, chilled synth riffs and pitch-perfect vocal hooks,” as we previously reviewed. Unbelievably, the foursome went on to up the energy with bass-heavy drama of ‘Vicinity’ and what followed was just as sonically engaging as the band explored emotion and tempo in ‘Call Out’. With no signs of slowing, just six months ago, we were shown a new level of Kudu Blue’s collective artistry with the super electronic reflexes, shadowy undertones and vocal athleticism on ‘NGFM’, which stands for ‘No Good For Me’. Their recent track ‘Sugar Lemz’ also caught our attention here at TMR, which displayed a more reserved, pensive side to the band’s songwriting, with their R&B tendencies and slick production still at the heart of their sound.

With their debut EP out now, Kudu Blue cemented the release with yet another high-octane gem ‘Drink Alone’ – below, we get the lowdown on their past, present and future plans.

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TMR: It seems like the whole blogosphere is talking about Kudu Blue at the moment, how has this past year been for you?

Kudu Blue: Does it? That's cool! It's been a great one - it feels like we're starting to gain a bit of traction which is really nice, we've been working really hard on our music over the past few years so it's great to see people enjoying the tunes.

TMR: Going back two years and the release of ‘Bones’, how has your sound, approach to songwriting, recording, producing and relationship with each other developed since then?

KB: Listening back to ‘Bones’ now, it's a mad one. It almost sounds like a different band to us. We've constantly been developing, but the most noticeable is probably the production side; we learn so much every time we take a track from the idea to the finished song and take that knowledge forward. Behind the scenes our biggest challenge was being able to get the tracks finished, sometimes it could take five months just to do one track because we'd be so perfectionist about it. We've developed a system now though which we're able to get it done a lot quicker, that makes things less time-consuming. Relationship-wise, we were all good mates beforehand so the band has just brought us closer. We're at a point now that we work so well as a group, whether we're writing the track in a rehearsal space with our instruments or sat in Tom's bedroom writing around a computer - it works both ways.

TMR: How did Kudu Blue get together?

KB: Tom and Owen were best buds since a tender age and used to produce hip-hop together. Creeda had played with us all in various projects as well. Clem came over from Brummy land and we met through mutual friends and just started making tunes together after having a few jams.



TMR: Do you all have different musical influences or are there some really strong points of similarity?

KB: We have quite similar overall tastes but we definitely lean towards different genres from what we grew up listening to. Owen is into trip-hop and electronica. Tom likes his jazz and world music. Creeda is into hip-hop. Clem's big on R&B and soul music. It's good that we've got varying influences, it helps us keep the music creative as we've always got different ideas knocking about.

TMR: The recently released ‘Drink Alone’ was initially the product of a writing session a couple of years ago, right? Why did now seem like the right time to resurrect that song?

KB: It was one of those that we had in the bag for a while but it never felt quite right to put out. There was a point where we thought we'd keep it just as one for our live set, but everyone seemed to really like it and we had quite a few people asking if it was ever going to be put out. Now felt like the right time for our first EP, it's kind of a nod to our past in a way, the other two tracks are very different.

TMR: The central lyric for ‘Drink Alone’, “please don’t make me drink alone,” came about during Clementine's old job working at a bar. What advice would you give to other artists working less-than-ideal jobs in pursuit of a career in music?

KB: JUST KEEP GOINNGGGGG! It can be pretty hectic trying to balance working, making music and having some kind of life. Music is what we all love though, we're so passionate about what we do and will just keep pushing! We're all definitely looking forward to the day when music can be our only job, that will be pure 100% unadulterated bliss.



TMR: Here at TMR, we’ve written about quite a few of your tracks over the past year, what would you say your favourite song to date is?

KB: It's probably a toss-up between ‘Sugar Lemz’ and ‘Vicinity’. ‘Sugar Lemz’ is quite different to everything else that we've put out and is really chilled; it's most similar to the kind of music we like to listen to. ‘Vicinity’ feels like it's got lots of energy, so is another of our favourites.

TMR: Are they also your favourites to play live? Can you tell us about a particularly memorable Kudu Blue show?

KB: ‘Vicinity’ and ‘Sugar Lemz’ again are both very fun to play live, but we feel that way about most of our tracks to be honest. We just get really into it! Our most memorable show was when we played our first headline gig in Brighton - it was packed out and the vibe was so good.

TMR: What’s it like to be part of the Brighton music scene right now? Would you recommend any local names to look out for?

KB: It's buzzing down here with loads of great musicians and different genres. We're into Bobbie Johnson, Sea Bed, Luo, Mrisi, Croox, Vels Trio, Yonaka, Frankie Stew and Harvey Gunn.

TMR: Of course, we have to ask, what’s next for the band?

KB: We're working on loads of new material that we're excited about and we're just going to keep making music for as long as possible!



Check out Kudu Blue’s Shaded EP here!

-Hannah Thacker