Interview The KBC

Fresh out of Preston The KBC have seen their profile rise over the last year thanks to a barrage of dance funk driven shows, constant touring, a prestigious spot at the Glastonbury festival, and thanks to a prime support slot with The Strokes in Blackpool, 2006 doesn’t look like letting up: DIY caught up with guitarist Jimmy to give us the lowdown on the band.

‘Hello. We are The KBC. We are three mates who play Disco house/electro/punk music. It’s good fun. We all met at school through a mutual respect for Motown classics and the latest indie tunes. We played around together with music for a while and formed The KBC about 2 years ago. Ric is really into his Motown old funk records. That’s why he plays like he does! Mick loves his dance music which gives us the dance beats. When I first started playing guitar I learnt loads of finger picking and classical styles of playing. The electric side didn’t come out until a lot later on. I’m glad I learnt it that way because it gives you a better understanding of the workings behind playing and being creative. People like Bert Jansch, John Martyn, Jackson C. Frank etc have influenced me a lot even though our music sounds nothing like theirs! Sounds daft but it’s true. We’re all really into the guitar dance thing at the moment’

How did supporting The Strokes come about?
The Strokes management were looking for support acts and our name was put forward. They chose us.

Spending Valentines Day with a bunch of New Yorkers; it’s every musicians dream isn’t it?
Yep. It’s a really good gig for us obviously and we’re all best pleased. It’ll be an experience I’m sure. We’re really looking forward to it! The Empress Ballroom has got a really bouncy floor so this will help everyone to jump around to our tunes the more people the merrier. We know Blackpool pretty well, being close to Preston so we’ll be able to give The Strokes a guided tour of the local sights!

What would you have been up to that night otherwise?
Probably wishing we were supporting The Strokes. Or practicing.

What’s the general feeling in the KBC camp?
We’re feeling very optimistic about this year. We’re working hard and having loads of fun doing it which is what it’s all about. Things are moving
steadily in the right direction. We’ll be playing a load more gigs around the country this year and there’s new material. We’re writing new songs all the time. We feel we have got a very strong library of songs waiting to be unleashed.

While DIY was queuing up to quell the onslaught of trench foot you were in the midst of wowing the festival goers of Glastonbury. How did that come about?
We got asked to play only a few weeks before the event. We thought there was no way of playing because all the bands are usually booked ages in advance! It was a good laugh. It started pissing it down just before we played and we had to carry our gear over all the mud. If I’d have slipped in that our stuff would have been wrecked!

Preston - Not somewhere we’ve come to expect as a hotbed of music, what’s it like?
There isn’t a scene in Preston. To be fair there are people putting a lot of effort in trying to awaken people to live music in the area via loads of live events, fanzines etc but it is a relatively sleepy city in that respect. That said, when we put on our club night at the Adelphi we have to turn people away because it gets a bit full!

Anything else you think the DIY readers should know about you?
Our keyboard cost me £1 from the local market. Bargain.