- Big Gipp & James Worthy – Out Of Control (Official Music Video) - December 30, 2023
- SnOOp Dogg Still DA FLyeSt and FreShEST - November 8, 2023
- Sultry and Soulful Songstress Jori Sun Previews Fresh New Track - November 3, 2023
Eclectic indie-rock band KIDS are on a mission to reinvigorate your youth and they are succeeding. The Fort Lauderdale, Florida based four-piece consisting of Josiah Sampson (guitar), Joshua Diaz (lead vocals, bass), Matthew Barrios (drums) and Christian Gonzalez (guitar) have blended the spontaneity and curiosities of childhood into their exciting debut album ‘Rich Coast.’
Officially out now, ‘Rich Coast’ will take you on a nostalgic journey while lifting you up in the present day. GroundSounds recently caught up with KIDS to talk about their latest project, musical inspirations and more check out the exclusive interview below.
For those just discovering KIDS , how did the band form and how did you guys start making music?
We have been playing music together since highschool. It’s been an extensive journey through different band titles and genres over many years before we came to find our authentic voice that we call KIDS
How did you decide on the moniker KIDS?
In 2011, we had been playing music together for 5 years, and we started to recognize the weight and pressure of our lacking status in the industry. And we weren’t getting any younger. So We decided to refocus, and find joy in our art again. So we took some time off to decide whether or not we were gonna keep going, or settle down and get day jobs. After a few weeks, we regrouped to talk about our time off, and each member had the same thing to say, “you can’t quit who you are. It doesn’t matter how old any of us get, we are always going to write and play music. There’s no quitting that. Even if it’s not professionally, we will continue to be artists the rest of our lives.” Josiah Sampson (guitar player, vocalist) backed this thought up brilliantly with a Picasso quote that hit home,
“All children are artists, the problem is remaining one once he grows up.”
At that moment, we decided to call the band KIDS, find our love in it again, and only write/play music that made us feel something and not merely to satisfy the corporate ears of the music industry like we had been in the past.
We’re loving “Second Star On The Right,” can you tell us about the writing and creative process behind this track?
This is a song that truly envelopes our “wonder” as a band. We want all of our writing to reflect an actual feeling we have; and this direction of tapping into our childlike, dangerous wonder of our adolescence as a band came out sounding like this song.
So much of human culture encourages behavior that is paralyzing to ones growth artistically, morally, and intuitively. As we get older, we’re told, “don’t ask questions, you’ll look dumb. Don’t ever look or sound like you don’t have it together. Don’t show vulnerability. Always be impressive. Don’t let anybody see how human you are.” As a child all you care about is if the kid next door wants to play catch.. You just want community, you ask questions, you let people in, you hope for things, you believe in things, you TRY for things. It’s no wonder the most growth a person has is when they’re young. Imagine if we could keep the same wonder of a child, paired with the maturity of growing up. This is what inspires this song. It’s a song that says, stop trying to impress me. I just wanna play catch.
Can you tell us about making the nostalgic feel-good music video for “Second Star On The Right?” Who came up with the concept for the video?
The video was a collaboration between Josh Miller of C&I studios, and Josiah Sampson of Kids. We wanted imagery that would spark imagination; and without even having to communicate much about that to Josh Miller, he already had the same ideas in mind. It truly is a blessing to work beside people that share your vision.
Can you tell us about working on and bringing your upcoming debut album Rich Coast to fruition?
Rich coast is the first product we’ve ever made that had intent from the start, and we got the exact end product we were hearing in our heads all along. You need to have a good team to accomplish this. The right members, the right producers/engineers. (Producer: Jeremiah Dunlap, mixing: James Joseph, mastering: Brad Blackwood
But we took a retreat as a band to write the main hooks and feelings that ended up making the adventurous sounds in the record. We left home for a few weeks, shut off our cell phones and went to the woods to explore the Appalachian trail and setup a writing studio in a cabin just outside of Chattanooga. The point of this trip was to explore and feel adventurous, without the distractions of “normal life” back home; then to go back to the cabin and express those feelings through our fingertips. We used every aspect if this trip; from breaking down in the vehicle the first 100 miles from home, to reaching our shelter cabin at Hawk Mountain, to the documenting of the adventures in the cabin afterward. Art is an interpretation of experiences. We were experiencing the whole time; so we were writing the whole time. The simple view of the mountains always seems to inspire a certain type of melody, used in such songs as Loves Song, Falsetto, or Sunshine. We watched an unhealthy amount of spaghetti westerns and Kung fu films on the drive and in the cabin.. Probably contributing to some of the sound in Lone. There was a moment we were all racing each other down the Appalachian Trail, running and jumping gaps, boulders and creeks; and every time we play Second Star To The Right, we get that same feeling back. Or the feeling of abandon you have to have when jumping off of a waterfall, or sliding a natural rock slide… I believe that’s how we wrote the hook in Vistas. All of this trip made it in the record somehow
What is it about Spaghetti Western films and Kung-Fu movies?
When we started to feel that we were gravitating toward folk melodies, we decided we didn’t want them to be “hokey”. If we were gonna write folk melodies, we would want them to be classic, cinematic, and badass. And what’s more classic, cinematic, and badass than a John Wayne or Bruce Lee film. Plus, there’s something cool about the pentatonic scale that brings far eastern and far western music together. I mean, Quentin Tarantino does it every time he makes a film. Pentatonic scale has some magic to making these classic, but badass hook lines.
What was the inspiration for the track “Love’s Song?”
You love what you work for. Love is a verb, not a feeling, but a choice. The great little goosebumps you feel for a person, that’s not love; that’s the result of the choice to love. The feeling you have for someone new and exciting.. Well… That’s just lust. Love is a decision; a decision to work, a decision to serve, a decision to invest. And the reward is the feeling. And the feeling is the inspiration to LOVE that person further. They go hand in hand. But it starts with love.
The song is an analogy about work. If you had two farmers, and one you gave a lush farm that was already producing crops; and the other you gave a barren wasteland that he had to put his blood, sweat, and tears into to return the same crops; in the end, which farmer would love his farm more? I would imagine the answer would be the one that had to work harder. Work=Love.
Just so happened, the girl I worked for (who didn’t work for me), well… Her last name ironically was Love. Hence: Love’s Song
What do you guys enjoy most about Ft. Lauderdale? What is one thing every visitor should check out?
You know, there’s a funny stigma about Fort Lauderdale; especially among the majority of young people here: “Fort Liquordale”. It’s a stigma that we think is sad, and only a cheap side of the coin when it comes to what our town has to offer. We are a band of young dudes that love the finer things about our city, such as the arts district of FAT Village on the last Saturday of each month for Art Walk, a world class cup of coffee at Brew Urban Cafe, or the down home culture at Riverside Market. Our town has so much culture, history, and life to it. So we’ve decided to set our roots and help build a music scene with other amazing artists that come from here, since so much of art culture stems from music. We want to help hold that responsibility and pride for our town. In addition, visitors MUST experience south Florida from the water. Get on a boat. All our best views are from the water. We’ve been dubbed “The Venice Of America”. Out intercoastal waterways are too romantic to not experience for yourself.
After the album drops, whats next for KIDS, what can fans look forward to?
FUN SHOWS! We’ve been working VERY hard to give a unique experience to our friends that come to support our music. Make sure you get to have some fun with us at one of our upcoming shows. We are in the works of planning at tour shortly after the release as well, so stay in tune. We just may be comin through your hood. Cheers!
To Keep Up With Kids Online:
