Latest / HEAVY Music Interviews / BLACK NOTE GRAFFITI’s KRIS KELLER On Resist The Divide And Everything In Between

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BLACK NOTE GRAFFITI’s KRIS KELLER On Resist The Divide And Everything In Between · HEAVY Music Interviews

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  Speaker 1: Her.
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  Speaker 2: My name is Chris Keller. I'm the guitar player from
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  Speaker 2: Black Now Graffiti Beautiful.
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  Speaker 3: Your sound fuses rock with metal and textured layers. How
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  Speaker 3: did you land on this particular blend and how has
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  Speaker 3: it evolved since your earlier work?
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  Speaker 2: Well, I play, I played rock and roll with my
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  Speaker 2: younger brother and my best friend Adam for many years,
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  Speaker 2: and then Ricardo in Gabby joined the band in the
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  Speaker 2: last several years and kind of continue down with the
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  Speaker 2: same thing.
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  Speaker 4: But that's pretty much the deal.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, and so Gabby obviously added her own sort of
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  Speaker 3: flare into you guys the band.
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, we're definitely more well behaved now since she's you.
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  Speaker 2: But she has brought out the best in all of us,
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  Speaker 2: so it's been really cool.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah.
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  Speaker 3: Oh that's awesome. And you've worked with Josh Schroeder, who's
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  Speaker 3: no for producing heavy hitters. What did he bring out
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  Speaker 3: of you during the making of Resist the Divide?
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  Speaker 2: I would say the greatest thing about working with him
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  Speaker 2: as a producer is he would listen to He'd listen
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  Speaker 2: to everyone in the band to find out and figure
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  Speaker 2: out exactly what sound we wanted on each instrument, from
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  Speaker 2: you know, guitar, bass, vocals whatever we wanted to do,
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  Speaker 2: and we pinned that down with him and then recorded it.
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  Speaker 2: And then so what happened was at the end of
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  Speaker 2: the recording we had something that really represented each member
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  Speaker 2: in the band, which is pretty special.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, all of you. So you all had your own.
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  Speaker 4: Input exactly equally.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, that's awesome.
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  Speaker 3: And the themes of addiction, trauma, and self redemption are
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  Speaker 3: central in Resist the Divide.
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  Speaker 1: Was there a specific turning point in your lives that
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  Speaker 1: shaped this focus?
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  Speaker 2: I guess all of us were at the time going
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  Speaker 2: through all of those things in a different way living
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  Speaker 2: our lives, and so it was it was a nice
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  Speaker 2: release for dealing with all those things. And like I said,
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  Speaker 2: all of us were in a different place in dealing
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  Speaker 2: with dark things, and this was a way to vent
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  Speaker 2: some of that frustration. And and you know, life is hard,
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  Speaker 2: it really is, and being a human is difficult. So
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  Speaker 2: so this was a great place to go. We booked
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  Speaker 2: a studio for a month with Josh and just got
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  Speaker 2: to dig in and you know, let all that out.
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  Speaker 2: And so it was really a special situation where this
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  Speaker 2: is the best record probably I've ever been involved with.
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  Speaker 4: Yeah.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, and so did it feel quite cathotic. I supposed
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  Speaker 3: to release this album.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, it was great, it was really great, and and
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  Speaker 2: especially we got to release it with an Australian label,
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  Speaker 2: Golden Robot, which we love those guys and they've been
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  Speaker 2: really hopeful.
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  Speaker 4: And so it's cool that you met with me.
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  Speaker 2: Today since we're since we're on a Australian label and
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  Speaker 2: so it's pretty cool.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, no, we're so excited to have you.
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  Speaker 3: And speaking a little bit more about Australia, do you
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  Speaker 3: know if there's any Australian tours in the works?
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  Speaker 2: You know, I hope so someday, not right now, but
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  Speaker 2: that would be a dream.
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  Speaker 4: And you never know.
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  Speaker 2: I mean when I was a kid, I would never
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  Speaker 2: have believed the things that I've got to see and
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  Speaker 2: play in stages that I've got to play now. So
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  Speaker 2: I feel really lucky for that, So you never know.
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  Speaker 2: I hope, I hope one day that we do.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, yes, yes, me too. And is there talking a
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  Speaker 3: little bit. I know you guys are from ann Arbor.
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  Speaker 3: Is there another US town that feels like a second
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  Speaker 3: home to you guys after playing there?
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  Speaker 4: Or well, yeah, I would probably.
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  Speaker 2: We We really love Toronto in Canada. It's a really
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  Speaker 2: great It's got a great rock and roll scene. We
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  Speaker 2: played a lot of festivals and shows there and it's
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  Speaker 2: you know, it's very similar to Michigan being a northern
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  Speaker 2: uh you know, United States northern state. If you look
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  Speaker 2: at a map, just to give anyone who doesn't understand
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  Speaker 2: the US, if you look at a map, Michigan is
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  Speaker 2: like the the glove or the hand or the lakes
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  Speaker 2: going around it, and then Canada is right above. So
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  Speaker 2: you know, we just go over the border and we
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  Speaker 2: in four hours we're in another big city. Yeah, and
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  Speaker 2: it's amazing. So I would say Toronto has been great.
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  Speaker 2: We've been to Austin a lot of times. That's that's
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  Speaker 2: way south in Texas, but we love that too. And
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  Speaker 2: we're coming up. We're going to Appleton, Wisconsin, which is
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  Speaker 2: very similar to Michigan. It's just west of Michigan, and
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  Speaker 2: we're doing a festival there on August first and second,
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  Speaker 2: and so that's coming up.
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  Speaker 4: That's gonna be awesome.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, Is that the Mile of Music first?
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  Speaker 4: Exactly?
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  Speaker 1: Yeah?
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  Speaker 3: Beautiful And do you can what can fans expect from
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  Speaker 3: that performance?
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  Speaker 1: Are there any surprises on the set list?
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  Speaker 2: Well, that festival is really a unique festival for the
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  Speaker 2: US because a couple of reasons. It's it's free, which
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  Speaker 2: is awesome, and it literally is a mile of music.
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  Speaker 2: They close the streets down and they have music for
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  Speaker 2: a mile down this dragon there's there's over three hundred
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  Speaker 2: artists and so it's really amazing. But the thing is
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  Speaker 2: with that festival, they treat the artists so well. I mean,
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  Speaker 2: it's you know, we get when you go there, you
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  Speaker 2: can get dental you can have dental care, you can
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  Speaker 2: get you know, you can see a psychiatrist, you can
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  Speaker 2: you can.
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  Speaker 4: We get.
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  Speaker 2: Nice hotels, we get food and lodging, I mean the
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  Speaker 2: whole time, breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I mean, it's really
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  Speaker 2: amazing festival, and it's a lot of independent artists, so
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  Speaker 2: it's just really cool to.
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  Speaker 4: Be involved in it.
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  Speaker 2: And the people putting it on are I mean, you
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  Speaker 2: go into this festival and there's all these moms that
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  Speaker 2: are like, what do you need? What can we do?
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  Speaker 2: Really well taken care of. So it's a really artist
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  Speaker 2: centralized festival. So not only to do the fans get
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  Speaker 2: a really great treatment for one thing, it's free, but
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  Speaker 2: the fact that the artists are treated so well, we
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  Speaker 2: really love doing that festival. I think this is the
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  Speaker 2: third or fourth time we've played it, so that's going
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  Speaker 2: to be amazing.
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  Speaker 1: It sounds yeah, it sounds amazing.
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  Speaker 3: I have actually never heard of it, but that sounds
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  Speaker 3: like something i'd love to go to, especially if it's free.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah.
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, it's free.
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  Speaker 2: And it was in the it was featured in The
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  Speaker 2: Rolling Stone last year, and so it's become pretty popular
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  Speaker 2: and pretty hard to get into. Yes, you can imagine
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  Speaker 2: artists love it because they're so well taken care of.
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  Speaker 1: That's it.
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  Speaker 3: And with the free healthcare. Just a side note and dental,
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  Speaker 3: is that something that happens in Wisconsin like already or
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  Speaker 3: is that just something special that you guys get given.
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  Speaker 2: It's just it's just for this specific uh, this festival
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  Speaker 2: that they offer, which is really cool.
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, it's crazy.
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  Speaker 2: I know, it sounds it sounds really bizarre, but you
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  Speaker 2: just I know, and you I mean they do everything
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  Speaker 2: from like custom earplugs so the artists protect their ears,
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  Speaker 2: and it's free. Everything's free for the artists to get
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  Speaker 2: all this all these benefits and it's really cool.
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  Speaker 3: That's amazing, And I know you guys have released a
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  Speaker 3: limited vinyl edition of Resist The Resist the Divide.
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  Speaker 1: Was there a particular reason or feeling behind that move?
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  Speaker 2: I love vinyl and all of our albums are available
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  Speaker 2: on our website. I actually when we're here, But yeah,
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  Speaker 2: I just love the fact of like holding feeling it,
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  Speaker 2: opening it, playing it in like and it's an experience.
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  Speaker 2: And you know, in this record, especially this album, especially
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  Speaker 2: because you can play it through. We wrote the record
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  Speaker 2: to be played through from start to finish. That's how
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  Speaker 2: we did it, and so it definitely had to go
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  Speaker 2: to vinyl. Yeah, so that's the backstory.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, I have, do you have? See I have?
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  Speaker 3: I've only got a few vinyls, but I'm really funny
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  Speaker 3: about them and I won't open them. I treat them
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  Speaker 3: like a museum piece. How what about you and your
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  Speaker 3: vinyl collection? Do you feel like everything should be opened
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  Speaker 3: and played?
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  Speaker 4: I do, and I do.
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  Speaker 2: I have some limited edition stuff that's expensive, but I
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  Speaker 2: don't care.
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  Speaker 4: I still play it. Yeah.
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  Speaker 2: It's like, you know, I'm not going to be that
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  Speaker 2: person who just it's not going to play. It is
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  Speaker 2: worth money, it's worth listening to. But that said, when
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  Speaker 2: we're done with this, if you email me or send
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  Speaker 2: me your your guys is mailing address.
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  Speaker 4: I'll send you guys some vinyl, so just let me
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  Speaker 4: know how many you want. You know, I'll make sure
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  Speaker 4: everybody over in your team gets one.
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  Speaker 1: Oh, thank you so much.
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  Speaker 2: I would love for me to have this somebody listening
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  Speaker 2: to this in Australia and going oh wow, tech man
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  Speaker 2: in loving it. I mean, that would just make me
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  Speaker 2: so happy and make my day. So I'll take care
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  Speaker 2: of it. Because we we we actually do really well
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  Speaker 2: with vinyl and in we sell more vinyl online in
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  Speaker 2: Europe than in the States, so it's really interesting. I
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  Speaker 2: mean we're selling stuff in Germany and all over the place.
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  Speaker 2: So yeah, I'd be happy to send you guys some copies.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, we'll have to get it going yea too. It's vinyl, absolutely, yeah,
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  Speaker 1: Oh thank you.
• 10:02
  Speaker 3: And the music video for Place You Lie is visually grouping.
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  Speaker 3: How did that collaboration with William Wombat Felch come together.
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  Speaker 2: Well, I've saw some of his work in the past,
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  Speaker 2: and he's based out of Atlanta, and I really liked
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  Speaker 2: the guy. I mean, his stuff's kind of dark, well
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  Speaker 2: it is dark, but he's he's really talented and he's
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  Speaker 2: really cool and you know, it was going to be
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  Speaker 2: relatively for a indie band, so to speak, a low budget,
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  Speaker 2: and he's worked with some huge artists, I mean, you know,
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  Speaker 2: so and he took he he actually like called and
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  Speaker 2: said yeah, I want to do the project and yeah.
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  Speaker 4: So it was like okay, cool.
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  Speaker 2: So he flew in from Atlanta and his wife flew
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  Speaker 2: into Detroit. We rented a studio in Detroit because we're like,
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  Speaker 2: we're like thirty and I was like, thirty.
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  Speaker 4: Minutes from Detroit.
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  Speaker 2: Okay, to Detroit is a huge you know, a great
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  Speaker 2: place to catch bands coming through.
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  Speaker 4: People in Detroit love rock and roll. They show up
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  Speaker 4: in bands.
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  Speaker 2: They make money here because people come and buy tickets,
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  Speaker 2: they buy albums, they buy tickets, and so they love
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  Speaker 2: Detroit and it's really close to where we're located.
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  Speaker 4: So anyway, so he flew in with his wife and
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  Speaker 4: we filmed it.
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  Speaker 2: One day and we were lucky on a limited budget
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  Speaker 2: that he took on the project.
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  Speaker 4: But we had a great time. He did a great job.
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  Speaker 4: Was really cool.
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  Speaker 1: That's awesome.
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  Speaker 3: And speaking of some big names as well, you've shared
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  Speaker 3: the stage with giants like Lamb of God and Bring
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  Speaker 3: Me the Horizon. What's the biggest lesson or influence you've
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  Speaker 3: taken from these shows.
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  Speaker 4: I would say that.
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  Speaker 2: Be on time and be nice to the crew and
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  Speaker 2: the staff because they're going to make it happen and
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  Speaker 2: they're going to make you sound good.
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, if they don't like you, they're not going to care.
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  Speaker 4: So if you get in that.
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  Speaker 2: Situation, do that and do your due diligence and do
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  Speaker 2: the right thing. And uh, yeah, we've been lucky enough
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  Speaker 2: to open up and play in front of some some
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  Speaker 2: pretty pretty big crowds and pretty special moments.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, did you have?
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  Speaker 3: Was there one defining moment that you're that was like
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  Speaker 3: a pinch me moment for you?
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  Speaker 4: I guess up?
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  Speaker 2: People was that's like the biggest outdoor music festival or
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  Speaker 2: biggest biggest festival in Michigan.
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  Speaker 4: It's in Grand Rapids, And that was great.
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  Speaker 2: I mean it was kind of the real playing a
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  Speaker 2: stage with those kind of bands, but you know, you
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  Speaker 2: get to go backstage and hang out with all these
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  Speaker 2: roadies and really see that it's not really all the glory.
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  Speaker 2: It's you know, people would think it is, it's hard
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  Speaker 2: and it's dirty, but when you get up there and
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  Speaker 2: do your thing, that's the magic.
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  Speaker 4: Moment and uh so that that was pretty special.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, definitely.
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  Speaker 3: I know myself from seeing a few shows from the
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  Speaker 3: side of the stage or backstage, how much work goes
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  Speaker 3: into it, and it's almost like, is this all going
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  Speaker 3: to be worth it? And then you know the payoff
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  Speaker 3: at the end. Obviously it's always worth it, but a
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  Speaker 3: lot of work goes into it.
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  Speaker 4: Doesn't it.
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  Speaker 2: There's so much work, and it's so it's there's so
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  Speaker 2: much energy and it's like, you know, just like what
• 13:20
  Speaker 2: you're saying, and ticket sales are getting expensive. Tickets are
• 13:23
  Speaker 2: expensive now, but there's just so much involved in it.
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  Speaker 2: Everything is getting more expensive. But if you love it,
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  Speaker 2: you pay it and go. And the artists I mean,
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  Speaker 2: you know, I mean it's to be in it in
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  Speaker 2: a lower level. You know, if a band is stuck
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  Speaker 2: around in doing it, they're not doing it for the money.
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  Speaker 4: They're doing it because they love to do it. Definitely,
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  Speaker 4: that's the truth.
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  Speaker 3: Definitely, especially starting out, even bigger bands. I know from
• 13:54
  Speaker 3: doing a concerturing and promotion that the bands usually aren't
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  Speaker 3: the ones that take the big cut of money anyways.
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  Speaker 3: It's usually the events and the organizers. But that's a
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  Speaker 3: different topic for another time. But but you're so right,
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  Speaker 3: you know, yeah, people are, they're not doing it for
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  Speaker 3: the money usually at the start.
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  Speaker 1: Beautiful and last question.
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  Speaker 3: Your music is deeply introspective and often feels like a
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  Speaker 3: call to action. Do you consider b NNG a band
• 14:24
  Speaker 3: with a message or does the message.
• 14:26
  Speaker 1: Grow out of the music? Naturally?
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  Speaker 2: I say on this album there was kind of a
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  Speaker 2: message of you know, we're playing hard rock. We're a
• 14:36
  Speaker 2: loud band, and you know a lot, you know, when
• 14:40
  Speaker 2: we play live, we're loud, and it's it's hard rock,
• 14:43
  Speaker 2: and it's heavy rock, just like you guys heavy So
• 14:47
  Speaker 2: we do heavy music. And and but I would say that,
• 14:54
  Speaker 2: you know, as far as can you repeat the assume
• 15:00
  Speaker 2: one more time?
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, sorry, I.
• 15:02
  Speaker 4: Forgot where I was coming around to this.
• 15:04
  Speaker 3: That's fine. I almost forgot the question myself. Your music
• 15:08
  Speaker 3: is deeply introspective and often feels like a call to action.
• 15:11
  Speaker 3: Do you consider BEng a band with a message?
• 15:13
  Speaker 4: Well?
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  Speaker 1: Does it grow out of the music? Naturalist?
• 15:15
  Speaker 4: Absolutely?
• 15:16
  Speaker 2: Thank you for repeating that. Yeah, resist the divide that
• 15:19
  Speaker 2: I was trying to get. I was almost there the message,
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  Speaker 2: you know, like we're doing this hard rock thing, but
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  Speaker 2: we're trying to do a positive message and bring people
• 15:30
  Speaker 2: together and deal with you know, dealing with problems and
• 15:36
  Speaker 2: things that being a human in life. And that's what
• 15:41
  Speaker 2: all these songs that really kind of come back to
• 15:44
  Speaker 2: on this album.
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  Speaker 4: So it's, you know, that's what I have to say
• 15:50
  Speaker 4: about that.
• 15:50
  Speaker 2: So yeah, it's we're trying to bring a positive message
• 15:53
  Speaker 2: even though it's hard rock.
• 15:56
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 15:57
  Speaker 3: I can tell you're really proud of it, and it
• 15:59
  Speaker 3: does seem like, I know, you guys have put a
• 16:01
  Speaker 3: lot of effort and thought into it so that the
• 16:04
  Speaker 3: listener walks away feeling something or maybe relating to what
• 16:07
  Speaker 3: you guys.
• 16:08
  Speaker 1: Are talking about exactly.
• 16:11
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, oh Chris beautiful, it's been so lovely talking with
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  Speaker 3: you today. We love Resist the Divide and can't wait
• 16:18
  Speaker 3: to see you guys here soon hopefully.
• 16:22
  Speaker 4: Oh I hope, So I hope. So yeah.
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  Speaker 2: You know, like like I said years ago, I never
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  Speaker 2: would have thought that we've I've got to play stages
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  Speaker 2: that I've got to play today, so you never know,
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  Speaker 2: we may be there. And again, thank you so much
• 16:36
  Speaker 2: for having me on and helping us promote the album.