Crossing Swords with KYLE SHUTT from THE SWORD

Posted on Feb 24, 2011 / Posted by Lily Howell /

Austin, Texas rockers, THE SWORD are taking the stage all over Australia next week, on SOUNDWAVE  FESTIVAL and I had the opportunity to spend some time with guitarist, Kyle Shutt, on the eve of the tour. THE SWORD, have a reputation for danger, which I planned to dig for, but first, I asked Kyle how THE SWORD came to be…

KYLE: We got together in 2003 and we – JD and I  - had known each other through different musical circles that we’d both been playing in and out of and we all just kind of eventually ended up in the same band.  A lot of people in Austin are in two or three different bands, so whenever we had decided to start THE SWORD we were all in other bands.

I think after playing the first Sword show we all knew that it was going to be bigger than anything we’d ever done before just by the reaction that – I mean from our first show there were more people at that than at any of our other band shows after being in them for like two years.  So we quit all our other bands and decided to focus full time on being in THE SWORD.

LILY:  Oh wow.  I guess, just going back a little bit to what you said about the different bands you were in and I think, I suppose the crowd reaction is a good indicator of which one is going to be the most successful.

KYLE: Yeah, it was just silly how obvious it was!

LILY:  So would you say that The Sword is exactly what you hoped it would be?

KYLE: Yeah, I mean really, it’s surpassed my expectations.  I mean, I think it’s just because of my naivety.  When I was first in this band I was 20 years old and didn’t really – like, I knew how – I knew what I needed to do to get to where I wanted to be.  I didn’t really know how – what it was like or how it worked.  Like, you know, you think a band is big and they’ve made it and then you look at your record sales and you see that you sold three times as many records as they have and you’re still sitting around, and you’re like, oh man, this is way different to what I thought it would be.

LILY:  Yeah, you could say that about almost anything in life couldn’t you?  We’re so busy making our life, planning it, and it never really turns out exactly how you want it to.

KYLE: True, very true.

LILY:  Now,  you guys have been categorised as doom metal, alternative metal, heavy rock.  How would you describe your music?

KYLE: We’ve always called ourselves a heavy metal band, and there’s so many different sub-genres that we don’t fit into.  No, we’re just an old fashioned heavy metal band.  Maybe we’re just not made for these times, I don’t know.

LILY:  I know, it’s funny isn’t it?  I got into heavy metal in the late 80s and it was just heavy metal.

KYLE: Yeah, it was – there was just Def Leppard playing heavy songs. (laughs)

LILY:  Yeah, and I was there, starting to get, into bands like Anthrax, Death Angel and that was thrash metal, but now I can’t keep up with all the sub-genres.

KYLE:  Oh, tell me about it.

LILY: I was listening to you guys last night and, like the main kind of  sound I could really hear, was BLACK SABBATH.  It’s such an old school sound, that guitar, really raw guitar, and that was – it just sounded like definitive heavy metal to me.

KYLE: That’s what we play.  I mean it’s just – we use the amps and turn them up real loud.  Yeah, our drummer plays the drums, you know, there’s no triggers, no crazy tricks.  We just get up there and do it like people used to do, I suppose we can anyway.

LILY: What kind of music do you like to listen to when you just want to relax or zone out?

KYLE:  I listen to lots of different types of music to be honest. Y’know,  it’s kind of just whatever mood I’m in.  I mean, I like to say that I like good music.  I don’t like bad music.  If it’s rap and it’s good then I like it.  If it’s dance music and it’s good then I like it, but there’s just so much music out there it’s hard to just get – it’s hard to be closed minded about it, you know.  When people just get kind of elitist about the whole thing and won’t let themselves listen to something because it’s not cool or whatever.  I’ve got no time for that.  There’s so much music out there that can influence you.

LILY:  That’s alright, and if you kind of limit yourself to one, especially like you as a music creator, you can kind of limit your creativity can’t you if you’re only listening to one type or one genre.

Now I read that your lyrics are often about us humans and our flaws.  Can you tell me a bit more about this?

KYLE: That’s a good way to put it.  I don’t write the lyrics but I can add to that.  You know, JD writes about everyday things just like everybody else does but he uses metaphors and things to make it a lot more poetic than a lot of people try to who do lyrics, and a song like Fire Lances of the Ancient Hyperzephyrians is really just about, like the fire lances being the nuclear weapons that America is in possession of and then the ancient Hyperzephyrians being the modern day Americans.  So the song itself is sort of told from the point of view of the future where a race of people in the future discover these ancient fire lances that were left behind from the modern days, and sort of what they do whenever they come across them.  So, and you know it’s – and like a song like Lords was just sort of about the Bush Administration to be honest, but you wouldn’t know it just by reading the lyrics, you know.

LILY:   I think there are a lot of songs about Bush.

Okay, now I heard that you guys were considered to be the most dangerous band in Austin.  Do you have any idea what this means?

KYLE: I don’t know if we’re the most dangerous band in Austin, but that is a funny title.  I don’t know if we deserve that.  We’re not really dangerous.  I mean, if you, you know, you cross me I’ll probably pop you one but I mean we’re not – there’s probably bands that you have a higher chance of getting hurt at one of their shows than THE SWORD, unfortunately.  What’s that band – TRAIL OF DEAD? They had won the Austin’s most dangerous band award and deservedly so because you used to actually – you know possibly get hurt at their shows.  Like their drummer, Angelo would kick all his drums out into the crowd and the bass player would pull his amp down on himself or some – I mean, they were nut bags.  Those guys were out of control!

LILY: There’s not literally an award is there for the most dangerous band?

KYLE: Yeah, you get a plaque.  Yeah, you actually – you show up and you get a plaque at the Austin Music Awards.

LILY:  Oh my God!

KYLE: Uh huh.  See we have been in recent years winning the best metal band, so I like that award better than the most dangerous band.

LILY:  Yeah, definitely, for sure.  What would you say has been the biggest challenge for THE SWORD?

KYLE: The biggest challenge for THE SWORD was when our drummer took a shit and decided to bail on a bunch of tour dates and we had to basically clean up the mess.  That was by and large the hardest thing that we’ve ever done, yep.

LILY:   Yeah, alright.  I can imagine that was hard.

KYLE: Yeah, it was a bummer on multiple levels, but it’s all worked out for the better.  So I can’t say that that was done any other way.

LILY:  Because you’ve got a tour drummer now?  You haven’t replaced your old drummer as such?

KYLE: No, I mean, we do have a tour drummer.  We didn’t really want to just adopt a new member straight away just because we didn’t know how the guy would react, just being on tour all the time, or you know, there’s different things like that.  We didn’t get somebody who was totally green.  You know, he’s been on some Dirty Van tours and stuff, but you know, he’s never done a European tour or Australia for that matter.  There were some little tests we wanted to run him through before we ask him to come on permanently but, you know, for right now he’s kicking ass and doing everything that we’ve asked him to.

LILY: Cool.  Do you have any rituals or habits that you do before you go onstage?

KYLE:  If I’ve got weed I’ll smoke it but, we don’t really have a lot of rituals per se.

LILY:  Yep.  Have you guys ever had an incident where a fan has crossed the line and gone from fan to stalker?

Just not quite stalker.  We have had a few insane haters that have gone out of their way to try to – I don’t know.  I don’t really pay attention to that stuff.  People are just crazy so they’ll do whatever they want on the internet anyway, but I’m just – I’m surprised that people will go so far to make you feel uncomfortable just because they dislike you, you know what I mean?  Like I try to just concentrate on things I like and try to be positive.

LILY:  Yeah, I think some people just – they obsess about it don’t they?

KYLE:   Yeah, you confuse them or something.  I don’t get it.  You ask them to keep your distance, but for the most part our fans are awesome.

LILY:   Yeah, and the internet has made it a little bit easier – well a lot easier – to have access to your idols. You can kind of dive in a bit deeper to your obsession (laughs).

KYLE: Yeah, it’s pretty nuts the internet, it’s crazy.   I just think it’s crazy now because all the kids that are being born right now, like, they’re not going to know a world without the internet.  They’re going to have their minds blown.  It will be like, well look here, we didn’t have the internet.  He had to get the phone book out.

LILY:  I know.  I think back to when I was a teenager and if someone had said to me, you know, when you’re in your 30s you’re going to have your own phone that fits in your pocket and it’s also a camera. I would have said, no way!

KYLE: Uh huh, uh huh.  The funny thing in 15 or 20 years, the iPhone is going to look like – you know, people are going to be like, oh are you still carrying that thing around?  Oh my God, lame!

LILY:  Yep, totally!   Now you’re about to do some touring obviously.  What else has 2011 got in store for you guys?

KYLE: I mean, you just said it pretty much. Touring is kind of job number one right now.  We’ve got some European shows that we’re doing in April, then some festivals kind of here and there along summer time that we haven’t really confirmed yet or anything, just sort of shows we’re talking about, but tours top one right now.

 

LILY:  So, we’ll wrap it up here Kyle, but before I say adios,  you’ve got the Soundwave Festival  just around the corner.  What’s your favourite thing about festival tour?

KYLE: The VIP pass that gets you in to the backstage place where all the free drinks are.  That is my favourite part, but I’m really excited to see Iron Maiden too, so that’s going to be like a double whammy for me!

Party on Kyle and catch THE SWORD at Soundwave in your capital city in only a few more sleeps!

Tags: interview, knobrock, mastadon, soundwave festival, the sword