A Quick Chat with Kandalini

What are the origins of Kandalini? Where did it start?

Johnny and I have played together since we were in high school, we met after I heard him absolutely shredding during what he claims to be his only drum lesson. He was and still is the only drummer I know personally that can do the things that I hear in my head when I write this stuff. Much to his dismay. We did the suburban garage rehearsal thing but also made use of local youth centres in our area, which is where most of this EP was written. We’ve had a few iterations and a couple of spells as a two-piece but Scott joined us in 2019 after responding to our bassist wanted flyer around the time we put out our first single. Adam used to play in a band with Johnny’s brother (who is also an unbelievable drummer) and played a couple of songs with us at a post-lockdowns show at Max Watts in 2021, he joined full time after that.

 Tell us a bit about the new EP. What does it mean to you?

This EP features songs that have kicked around in the band since our earliest days in those youth centre rehearsal spaces (a bit of an overstatement since we had to bring our own PA). It still trips me out hearing old phone recording demos of these songs which in the grand scheme of things weren’t that long ago, but feel like a lifetime ago. We’ve been writing music as Kandalini since 2017, ‘Nectarine’ and ‘Alright, Alright’ are definitely that old. And I wrote ‘Alright, Alright’ as an exercise because I thought my songwriting tank was empty then ALREADY.

 We’ve been with this material a long time, we recorded this stuff a long time ago, we’ve been working on this EP for years. We have recorded two more EP’s and an album since then. This EP means we have started, it’s our statement of intent, we are a thriving musical entity, and we have so many songs and ideas that we want to share. It’s naïve, it’s dumb at times, it’s sentimental and vulnerable, but it’s a picture of where our band was two years ago, at least. We’ve grown so much as a result of this project, and our recent undertakings. We love playing these songs, and of all our music we still feel these 5 songs are the perfect opening statement for Kandalini.

Are there any inspirations you look to beyond music when writing or performing?

I’m sure there are, it’s so hard to decant them into something coherent. Our band name comes from my misinterpretation of a character from the original Mad Max. Movies and other pop culture infiltrates everyone’s thoughts and psyche, we’re no exception. I personally have a lot of musical inspiration from bands I’m intensely into, and I find it hard to pinpoint other inspirations in a way that directly relates to Kandalini’s musical output. Despite our typical pop-rock formula, I view most of our songs as being riff based, and their individual identity is stamped in my mind by their musical hooks or mainly guitar-based ideas/techniques, unique to that piece in our catalogue, even if it’s something esoteric that only I notice.  

However, the track ‘Wire Mother’ was inspired by the Vsauce video ‘Why Do We Kiss?’ where Michael Stevens talks about the infamous experiment of the same name by Harry Harlow. ‘It’s OK to Change Your Mind’ was inspired heavily by the wildly varied responses to the pandemic but rooted in my own experience with cognitive dissonance, bias, and prejudice.  

Name the five songs that have informed your song-writing more than any others.

 Only 5? Fuck. It’s always changing but thinking back to the songs on the EP, in no particular order:

Behind Closed Doors by Rise Against
I Shaved My Legs For You by Clowns
Right Now by Babes in Toyland
Stay Inside by Grenadiers
Song for the Dead by Queens of the Stone Age
Ain’t it the Life and Aurora by Foo Fighters (I couldn’t decide out of the two, so both.)

 Basically, all the rock stuff that has heaps of parts, variation and dynamic shifts.

 What Australian bands are you listening to at the moment?

 Our favourite, and the best band in Australia, Unscored, especially their latest single ‘Mould Killer’. Clowns, Scud, Queenie, Baz Ravish, Patrick Wilson, Split System, Psuedo Mind Hive, Harmony, Hoodlum Shouts, Milly Strange, El Tee, Blake Scott, The Peep Tempel, Palm Springs, Dr Sure’s Unusual Practice, Horror My Friend, Carla Geneve, Warumpi Band, Tropical Fuck Storm, Bad//Dreems, Caitlin Harnett and the Pony Boys, West Thebarton, Mod Con, The Belair Lip Bombs, King Stingray, Pagan, Stella Donnely, Shadow Tussle. I actually unironically listened to Thirsty Merc today after taking a brisk swim under the Melbourne sun so it’d be criminal and a flat out lie not to include them. Sorry in advance to myself for forgetting to include some of my favourites that I’ll kick myself for later.

 Johnny personally adds: Unscored, Starve, Clowns, Thornhill, Violent Soho, and Scud
and Adam: Speed, Unscored, Polaris, Tame Impala

Scott is in the states to witness the lead-up to the US election and was frankly too busy eating burgers and drinking energy drinks and beer to come back with a response.

How do you hope your music might connect with listeners?
I just hope people can listen to it and enjoy it. Whether that’s as a casual listener supporting local music or as a die-hard rock music fan. I hope people hear our nods to the inspiration behind what we do, but that it doesn’t cloud our own unique stamp on the genre. It would be amazing for even one person to form a genuine connection with our music, the way that we have with the bands we love, and that it excites them and inspires them to share it with others.