Rodger Caldwell interviews Kovak, the Brighton, UK band shimmying through LA’s airwaves as we stand ready for their assault on our shores.

Tim Estrada raves about newcomers Kovak featuring a lively flurry of electro funk favorites while drawing heavily on the techno beats of Goldfrapp and the slick glam beats of LCD Soundsystem. With pelvis penetrations and rump rocking rhythms Kovak will secure their spotlight designed for the dancefloor with their first release ‘I Love the Dancefloor’….so we had to learn more!

Tell us about your chat with Rodney. He’s a true American Idol/Hero and gave Kovak the first airplay in the USA. How did that come about?
I (The Dazzler) watched Rodney’s film 'Mayor Of The Sunset Strip'. I thought, "This guy needs a CD". I decided to call, whilst he was on air (as you can listen to his show live on a Monday morning here in the UK) and he put me straight on air, we had a chat… and the rest is history. I believe I was filmed in my dressing gown that morning speaking to Rodders, it’s about, somewhere on the website in all my shame! We have been in contact a few times since, and he even wanted us to play at his party when he received his star on the Hollywood walk of fame, unfortunately, we were unable to make it over at such short notice. We will however be coming over later on in the year. So watch out US OF A!!!!

What’s your favorite Johnny Cash tune?
“Well, My Daddy left home when I was three, he didn’t leave much for Ma’ and me, just this Ole’ Guitar and an empty bottle of booze”…That one!

You have the dubious honor of your own club night. It must be challenging to put on a fresh performance week after week at the same venue. How do you keep the energy pumped up to make the show exciting for fans that have seen it 10 times?
We test out all our new songs at Club Kovak and are always changing the set around, we don’t have any time restrictions so we’re free to experiment and improvise with the songs when it feels right, this usually keeps US entertained at least! Our audience is always a mixture of hard core fans (we’ve had people travel from Wales especially to see us at Club Kovak!) and new people who just roll in off the street or finally decide to make the trek to see what all the fuss is about, no one though is prepared for the heat that hits them upon entering the venue…. even with our rubbish weather! The audience get excited if we get excited, simple as that.

Dazza can always entertain the audience with his amazing magic coin trick, failing that, if you’re lucky enough, he might just perform his rare ‘Belt trick’… this doesn’t leave much to the imagination as the trick consists entirely….of a belt….and a naked Dazza!

Tell us where your sound comes from? It is such an excellent blend of pop/rock/dance grooves.
A big mixture of all our favorite bands in one, which I can tell you are a lot of different and diverse bands, the list on our Myspace page doesn’t scratch the surface! That includes half of us liking Rock/pop, and the other half like the Grooves (baby!)

I love the little duet phrasing between vocals and guitar on Never Find Love in a Nightclub. How did the melody and lyrics come together?
Like a lot of our songs, the whole band has an important input; this one is a great example. The song was based on an idea that Toby had, me (Karl) and Marty came up with the killer lick which is guitar and synth together and we all ended up thumping out the stabs in the chorus, we couldn’t think of anything for a while and all heads turned to Toby… he just came up to the mic and shouted “NEVER FIND LOVE IN A NIGHTCLUB”, the rest is B’ side history.

Do you have a system for composing the tunes or does it just flow out of the cosmos from somewhere far above?
Definitely flows out of the Cosmos – Dazza says that it’s from the Cosmos in his brain! No system really, usually we write together at rehearsal, sometimes Toby or I (Karl) will write a complete/near complete track but things soon change when songs are brought into the bright lights of the rehearsal room…for better or for worse! Recently the band having been working on a riff and Abby will start singing something we all like…that’s when we hit the record button. We have found a kind of structure that we like to stick to every now and then, a certain way to actually construct a song which we like that you can hear on the single and the B side, sort of like sister songs if you will. The ‘Vak magic when added does actually come from The Cosmos though!

It’s near impossible to find any background info on any of you. Is the Vak from outer space?
Outer space? Yes, this is true. We guys are from Mars, and Abby from Venus!

Seriously now can you tell us a little about how you came to be together in this band? Your music is very polished and musically sophisticated yet you came outa nowhere with two monster hits!
The rest of the band probably wouldn’t like to admit it but really, they have all been looking for, and have found me… (Maestro Martino White!)

Mrs Bray is responsible for Karlos and Dazza, as they’re brothers Dazza met Martin in Martin’s cellar-studio during a hellish night of debauchery Toby rented a room in a shared house with the Dazzler. Abby was auditioned as a backing singer (imagine that!)

Karl’s basic rules for writing two monster hits: Make sure that you’re all perfectionists and extremely stubborn, that your guitarist is obsessive compulsive, that you enjoy screaming at each other for half of the rehearsal (except your synth player who is always nice and relaxed) and that your drummer is a family member who will make the whole band cry with laughter at the most random of times. (This does sometimes include the infamous belt trick)

We observe no last names are posted on your MySpace. Is this to protect your privacy or just more proof that you are in fact from another planet?
Sshh...it's a secret!  Martians don't have surnames.

You name many and varied influences. Yet your sound is like no other band we can think of. What current day artist do you most admire and enjoy?
Dazza loves The Raconteurs, The Killers and Ray LaMontagne, Marty can’t get away from listening to ‘Brothers In Arms’ Dire Straits, Abby - Camille, M.Ward and Kate Bush’s ‘Ariel’, Toby loves the quirky American bands like Grandaddy and The Flaming Lips and Karl has recently enjoyed Nick Caves new band Grinderman, Bonnie Prince Billy and Bright Eyes.

Are you dog people or cat people?
Woof Woof!

If you are on a planet with no music, what would your passions be?
A planet with no music? Sounds like a place to tour... after the tour on the planet with no music I think we’d all set about eating, we spend 95% of our time in Kovak either eating or talking about food, this is another reason why it’s so important we get over LA this year… Reese’s cup cakes! (Is it true there is now Reese’s Ice cream?) Mind you, you can’t beat a good English Sunday roast! Pile the gravy on Luv’!




 

LA guitarist Rodger Caldwell

has been shooting the action ever since a resourceful high school teacher offered a photo class to him as a last-ditch attempt to keep him from dropping out. Jerry’s pit pix grace such sites as hip-hop and world music's Fly Global Music Culture in the UK.