KEG

Words by Isis Armitage Photographs by Nicole Osrin

Two members of the seven-piece KEG, Albert and Johnny, sit lounged at home as I prepare to ask them some – deeply personal – questions. Their music they make is chaotic and somewhat un- hinged, forming a primordial soup of post-punk, jazz, art punk. Having had the pleasure of seeing them live numerous times, I was somewhat surprised by their laidback mannerisms: I realised I had expected some kind of intimidatingly frenzied energy. Rather, they were relaxed, as if their music is some kind of a release mechanism – or is it? 

What’s it like being in a band with so many people? Is there ever any tea? 

Yeah inevitably... it’s a fuckin job though really. It is hard work but that’s testament to how much we love it really. Getting seven people to decide on what food they wanna eat let alone what they want the album to look like... it’s a task. But you learn to collaborate, it is already a collaboration isn’t it? 

How long have you been a band for? 

Roughly three years, we started in the October just before lockdown. Lockdown was frustrating, but five of us lived together in Brighton with the others just over the road so we could work on stuff throughout, managing to write most of the second EP! 

With so many instruments in the band, how do you make sure the sound isn’t muddy? 

It’s all about being reserved... it’s necessary for people to just not play for parts of songs, obviously seven people being as loud as possible it’ll just end up sounding like dog shit.
If we start writing a song it’ll sound very dense at first, and then we will whittle bits down to make it sound more refined. 

Who is your least favourite artist? 

Peace and love man. 

Comparing the Brighton music scene to London music scene, how do you find them? 

Geographically, I see Brighton as an extension of London. But there are definite differences, but we always played in London anyway. Everyone supports each other, people kinda thought we were in London anyway. Good bands to come out of Brighton are Opus Kink, Lime Garden – we actually play with them a lot! 

What is your favourite TV show? 

Succession. Greg is my favourite. Tom and Greg, I watch those clips of them being... them quite often. 

What is your dream as a band? 

Having our own line of tomato sauces or something, some kind of food related thing. Sponsorship by some kind of sweet Emmental cheese. 

(following this interview they did actually post an Instagram of some MAMA KEGS botanical eggs. Whether or not these are real is unclear, but their dream may have just come true) 

Musically wise, I’d love to play with Cate Le Bone, I love everything she does. It has been our long, long dream to play with Madness, that was our early aspiration. Imagine if we went on tour with Madness, that’d be funny. 

So... Madness is an inspiration for you? 

I’d say, I think everyone else would disagree, but I just fucking love them. The others would probably have disparate inspirations – when we first started we were really into Mimic Men and 80s stuff which still shines through. But as everyone joined, the influences became a myriad of different things – Johnny and Charlie are jazz boys. I’d love to see a venn diagram of it all. There’s a strong dance music undercurrent, a lot of house music. Frank likes all the UK grime and rap. But the crossover is probably the Beastie Boys. 

Favourite London venue? 

We played at the Lafayette once and everything was all clean and nice which made a pleasant change. Not that clean and nice is the only thing we look for in a venue!! 

What do you think of IDLES? 

Nah, don’t listen to them really. I remember when their first album came out and I was kinda into them. But it has become this huge monster that is horrible. They piss me off in interviews as they seem very self-righteous. The things they say seem very tokenistic... “Racism. Is. Bad.” “I. Hate. The. Queen.”. I’m sure they are all good lads though! 

As a band what is your political leaning? 

Left leaning socialists, but to be honest it is something that just is. In general we try and stay a little neutral, obviously if there is a case we believe in it will come along through the music. We just try to be good people everyday. I don’t really become engaged in an argument if it is being shouted at me, some of the best political messages are through satire or something funny really. A direct good message tends to be what is written about really. I shout a lot in my songs, but mostly about myself.