Most reviewers consider it as s point of honor to define the music created by The KVB. There are many terms – from shoegaze and goth gaze, through post-punk, psychedelic to cold wave. All of them are accurate, but we decided not to ask Nick and Kat about their music, but about the music that influenced their lives.
When I first moved out of my home town.
Serge Gainsbourg – 'Histoire De Melody Nelson’
Nick: This isn’t from when I first moved from my hometown, but since we’ve moved from London to Berlin, we’ve spent many long nights with our friends listening to this record. It’s a perfect late night album.
When I started my first job
The Smiths – 'This Charming Man’
Kat – My first job was at a call centre part time whilst I was studying for my A Levels at school in Yorkshire. It was when I first got my car and I remember driving to work and having a few CDs on rotation such as The Jesus & Mary Chain, Television and The Smiths.
When I first thought about becoming a musician
The Beatles – 'Strawberry Fields Forever’
Nick – I received a book with all the chords to songs by The Beatles when I was 16. I had been playing the guitar for about a year before this, but this was the first time I was able to see how to write a song through chord progressions and build melodies on top.
My first love/girlfriend
Dirty Beaches – 'Lord Knows Best’
Nick – I remember listening to this album and this song in particular, a lot around the time i first met Kat. It reminds me of hours spent on the train going to meet her in London.
Music that describes my life right now perfectly
Teleman – 'Dusseldorf’
Kat – A band we’ve listened to a lot recently, particularly on our last tour is Teleman’s album 'Brilliant Sanity’. It feels like optimism with occasional flutters of euphoria… if it says anything about our life right now, i’m not sure, but maybe!
An artist that changed my perspective of life.
The Brian Jonestown Massacre
Nick – I remember reading their name in a magazine article about BRMC and then shortly afterwards seeing the DVD of Dig in a shop and buying it, without knowing what to expect. Watching that documentary and hearing the music was one of the first things to inspire me to make the kind of music i am now. It was a great experience to eventually go on tour with them and release on Anton’s label.
Most important music album in my life
Love – 'Forever Changes’
Nick – It’s very difficult to only pick one album, but this is one i have always loved since I first heard it.
Pic by Klara Johanna Michel (2017)