Taking one for the team: Kid Savant plays Divers/cité Aug 3
More : Brooklyn, Divers/cité, Kid Savant
Brooklyn-based foursome Kid Savant was known to traipse around Montréal honing their indie craft before relocating permanently to the (other) centre of the hipster universe. Not that their being straight makes them special, but we liked that they asked specifically to play at ultra-gay Divers/cité’s Apocalipstik on the Quai Jacques-Cartier August 3. We talked to their good-natured drummer John Sullivan about the gig, the boys, and “warmth and good vibes” in gay old Montréal.
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Kid Savant‘s Drop it On Stereo album has something for fans of the Killers, mid-career David Bowie, and electro-rockers like Hot Chip. They’re straight, but we enjoyed this interview so much we just had to share it. Check ‘em out this Friday, Aug 3, at Divers/cité’s Apocalipstik.
2B: You have spoken of having previously spent summers in Montréal. Was that under a different band name? Where did you perform/who’d you open for?
Kid Savant (John Sullivan): Yeah, we were pretty much anonymous college-kids at the time. Ryan Donavan (vocals) and I (John Sullivan, drums) spent every college summer we could in Montréal living in the Plateau just focusing on writing and crafting our sound, so playing out wasn’t a huge concern of ours.
Spending consecutive summers there allowed us to bring new members on board to complete the line-up. We got to meet local faves (and practice space neighbours) Hollerado and aKido, and it was great watching the Plateau scene first hand. And I remember, we all had the BIGGEST crush on DJ Vivie-Ann of Blond:Ish. Still do. Think that was ecstasy-induced watching her spin at Circus one night.
2B: Antoine Rochette (Divers/cité) booked you along with the Dirty Mags to give an “alternative” vibe to the Apocalipstik stage. What are your musical influences and how’d you end up on their radar?
KS: A month back, we were like, “shit, we haven’t played Montreal in a while” and thought what festivals might be going on. We remembered this one and had our agent reach out. The timing was right, and luckily things worked. But just let us know if we have to wear ‘lipstik’, and what colour Apocalipstik really is. End-of-Days black?
2B: You describe your music as electronic rock (at least on FB). This is particularly present in “Na Na Never Ends”; did you decide to go more dancey/electronic after doing more sentimental stuff, or was this always your vibe?
KS: The genre-question has always been a bitch. We don’t even know. Facebook just wanted us to fill something out. We don’t really analyze our repertoire to see patterns in mood or feel over time. We just write, ya know, with the live show and recorded product always in mind.
2B: Please tell me at least one of you is gay/bi/fairie/did-webcam-for-money. Please, for the children! For instance, whose the David-Bowie voice on “4 years”?
KS: Haha! We’re actually a bunch of pretty simple straight guys. but the LGBT scene is one we find warmth and good vibes in, ever since one of our first shows in NYC at the infamous Sugarland. There’ s just a camaraderie you don’t get elsewhere. And PS, the David Bowie doppelganger is our frontman, Ryan [Donovan]. Heart-throb for sure. But rumour has it he applied to be a gigolo in Montréal when we needed to pay rent. Some nights he came home late – I didn’t ask : )
2B: Brooklyn: centre of the universe or overrated overpriced hipster-trap? Discuss.
KS: Damn, that’s a tough one. I oscillate daily on that. There’s just an indelible awesomeness you get in Brooklyn you can’t find anywhere else in the world, but that can be trumped the second that a bicycling handle-bar mustachioed bro almost mows you down with nonchalance.
We think the zombie apocalypse might take form in the bodies (and minds) of the hipsters. But the thing is, that blowing the head off with a shotgun would be only the beginning of winning the war: it’s the fashion that’s below the neck that is the real problem. Brooklyn: it’s mostly love and little bit of playful hate. But we couldn’t imagine being anywhere else (except maybe Montréal for a summer?….
For their music and vids: kidsavant.net
Kid Savant @ Apocalipstik
Friday, August 3, 6pm: Quai Jacques-Cartier
Their video for “4 Years” from the album Drop It on Stereo
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