Rock Documented had the opportunity to sit down with the band Kaleido at Stage AE in Pittsburgh, PA on the release-date for their first full-length album, Experience. We talked with Kaleido about their album release and what’s to come for this high-energy band.
Rock Documented: What is the history of Kaleido and what are you all about?
Chriss: Well, we met in the local music scene in Detroit. Cody and I were in a band together. Joey was in a different band and our bands played a show together and kind of hit it off, became friends, decided to start working on some music. Very soon after that, I had an opportunity to open for Mickey Avalon at The Roxy in Los Angeles, West Hollywood. I didn’t have the band together yet for that, I just had a few songs that we had written. So, then we asked Ronnie to come play guitar. So we just went into the show, we didn’t have a name or anything yet, but that was technically our first show. And then we came back to Detroit and named it Kaleido, and then just got to work.
RD: Your debut full-length album came out today. Are you guys excited?
Fava: Were pretty ecstatic. We’ve basically been working on this album, kind of on and off, like 3 years technically through demo, preproduction and everything. Went through a lot of changes to it while we were doing it so we are ecstatic to put it out, just exciting, we’re just happy that it’s today. I’m excited.
Chriss: I can’t believe it, finally it’s here.
RD: Your second EP Unbreakable came out in 2014. How have you grown musically in the past 3 years?
Chriss: I think we have tremendously. We’ve evolved. We’ve been put into so many different situations and experiences well we’ve learned a lot along the way a lot of big opportunities opening for huge artists and touring and all of that goes in the pocket with the experiences and that’s what Kaleido is about anyways. A collection of experiences that make everyone each a unique individual. So, staying true to what we believe in and what our band is, we’ve totally done that over the last five years. This album is much more mature than Unbreakable because we’ve gone through so much together and been not separated in all this time. So it’s very exciting and we did spend a lot of time making sure it was perfect. I don’t know, how do you guys feel about how you’ve grown? I can say that individually they’ve grown a lot. I’ve seen it. And that’s what we’re about too—encouraging people to be the best version of themselves. Ronnie has just come so far with recording. He actually did some of the recording on the album. Cody does all of our video multimedia and Ronnie too is now starting to do that. So it’s just everybody’s kind of really just grown.
RD: What is your writing process? How did this album, Experience, come to be?
Rosolino: Christina writes all the lyrics and we just kind of all like, if I write had a riff for Zach or whoever has a riff we just kind of stem off that. Joey has a lot of really good ideas musically. It’s good to have him around producing.
Chriss: We never really sit down and specifically try to do it any certain way it kind of just happens.
Morales: There’s really not a formula it’s just collaborative work really. More that this plus this plus this equals that.
RD: So, it sounds like you produced it yourselves?
Fava: We worked with Nick Morris on it and Josh Dillon, they were engineering and Nick mixed it and everything but the production and the way we wanted it to flow and everything was us. It was great having them around for ideas here and there. It was great too because they weren’t trying to step on us or make us do something that we weren’t trying to make that record be.
Chriss: They understood us. Which was very important and that was something that we kind of were missing on our first two releases we had. Some outside influences on the sound and production of it. When we went in to make this album our, my number one was I wanted it to sound as close to what we sound like live as it could because we just shine live and it needs to translate onto the recording. So I think we accomplished that but that was definitely on the list of certain specific things that needed to happen but other that that we kind of let it just flow and happen naturally. We didn’t really micromanage it too much, we took our time.
Rosalino: We never forced it really.
Morales: And neither did Nick or Josh and that was really what facilitated us to do that. Fertile ground you could say.
Fava: And they were also somewhat in the area too so when we weren’t touring a lot we’d come home and just get back to work so it wasn’t like we went to this destination and knocked a record out in a quick month or whatever. We went back and just kind of kept building on it. Adding songs, it was originally going to be an EP of what, 6 songs, then we just kept kind of adding, subtracting, then adding. We ended up calling it Experience because it is a really good experience. It tells a whole story of those three years. And to us those three years to us feel like a lifetime. We’ve changed so much and it’s weird to get it out finally. Now we’re on this huge tour and it’s pretty amazing. We just stayed true to ourselves and tried to do a good record and it seems like people like it so far. I just hope that keeps going and we’re going to keep rockin man. The shows on this tour have been incredible. Seether is amazing, some of the coolest dudes I’ve ever met. The crew is incredible everyone is so good to us. The show, the crowds.
Morales: I mean, check out this green room, it’s got a shower in there. Our name’s on the door.
Fava: We’re happy. We’re excited and we’re just happy to get it out to people who can actually hear it instead of us just listening to it a hundred times, being “Oh, this is awesome.” So, yea, we’re very excited. Today is the day.
RD: The singles on Experience are “Love & War,” “Trouble In Paradise,” and ‘Die Tryin’.” Aside from that, do each of you have a favorite song on the album?
Fava: To me, this album, we worked so hard and so long on this, they’re all like your kids. You might have an inkling towards them that you kind of like, which your mom won’t tell you anyways, she’ll just say I love you both the same but you know she kind of has a favorite. We’re maybe leaning towards that on a couple but they all feel that way.
Chriss: I feel like each one of the songs is just so important to the whole that I can’t really pick a favorite. I do love them all. We picked them specifically for the experience so they all belong on there you know.
Morales: It’s like quality masonry. Everything fits and then you take one out it’s not going to work.
RD: What was it like writing with Dryden Mitchell from Alien Ant Farm?
Chriss: [Sarcastically] It was terrible. It was fun. It was amazing. He’s one of my favorite people in the whole world. The whole band is very close to us. We’re kind of like their little brothers and sisters I guess in music. They’ve kind of taken us under their wing. Brought us on our first national tour, brought us on tour with them to the UK for the first time. We wrote two songs, “Die Tryin’” and “Love & War” at Mike Cosgrove’s house in Riverside, he’s the drummer. And then Dryden [Mitchell] came over and did some writing on the lyrics and vocals for “Love & War.” Those guys are the best but co-writing, it’s always different. You never know what you’re going to get. I mean we co-write, but when you bring someone that’s outside of the band in to co-write. I mean, it was so fun.
Morales: We love them, they’re like family. It’s crazy because we’re doing this interview and they’re playing “Like A Stone.” They’re going to play this tonight. It’s crazy. This is them rehearsing it. And that’s nuts to us. We’ve been talking about that for. With Chris Cornell that’s so nuts, it happened in Detroit. That’s right in our neighborhood. My sister was at the show standing in the front row, sending me videos right before. It’s a crazy shock. They’re going to do this tonight, it’s going to be really emotional.
Fava: It’s a crazy day and time. It’s just weird because he was a huge influence of ours too. This record is coming out. Definitely for us, riff-wise and all that stuff, Audioslave, we were influenced by them and especially Soundgarden. It’s crazy. He passed away and it’s in our hometown which is so weird but this album comes out right at that time. Hearing them do this right now. It’s been a crazy day. It’s weird that it’s out but I’m happy about it though.
RD: What has it been like touring with Seether?
Morales: Everyone has been fun and friendly. It’s like a summer camp-type situation where the first day you’re trying to figure everyone out then after that it’s like, “Let’s play, let’s turn the sprinklers on, I don’t care.” But the crew is really fun and I like sprinklers man.
Fava: But that’s kind of how it is. You never really know what you’re going to get on tour but you always end up getting close to people when you tour with them. But they [Seether] welcomed us as as an opening band coming out. Shaun [Morgan] has been incredible to us and took us out on this tour to begin with and everyone in the band is just so cool.
Chriss: We’re learning a lot. As I said earlier, about how we’ve evolved, we’re still evolving so we’re learning every day. This is the biggest tour we’ve ever been on and we’re just feeling really blessed that we’re able to be here.
Morales: Did I mention this green room?
RD: You are halfway through this tour, what’s next for the rest of this year?
Fava: We’re going to be touring like crazy for this album. Trying to write new stuff for the next one. We want to basically be on the road, constantly putting work with this album and just putting it out there.
Chriss: We’re playing with Rob Zombie in July. Besides that we’re trying to to shake out the rest of the year tour-wise but we’ll be on the road promoting this new album and then yes, we do plan on trying to get back to writing right away.
Fava: A lot faster this time. Not three years. We’re hoping just a quick roll out, just like a year. Then we’ll get to it. But yea, we’ve already been doing some new stuff and we’re digging it so we’re feeling good right now.
RD: Is there anything else you wanted to put out there?
Morales: I think Zach had something to say.
Bolling: Well, I’ve been eating a lot of fast food and I weigh more than I did before we started so that’s cool.
