Ahead of the Great Estate Festival which takes place at Scorrier House in Cornwall over the Jubilee Bank Holiday Queen’s extra long Coronation thingy weekend, we chatted to a band called THE KITES. We covered loads of topics including musical influences, drunken on-stage battles, their love of Led Zeppelin and new material in the pipeline, for all of this and WAY more, read on…..

Please tell me about the band, who is in it and what you do....

We’re the Kites! We consist of drummer - Ethan Bennett, front man - Joe Cocker, guitarist - George Wilson, and bassist - Ben Cooke. We’re immersed in the rockin’ musical legacy of our ancestors.

When did you start your musical journey?

Joe and George formed the band at the young ages of 16. They met Ethan and Ben at Livewire, a youth group in Saltash, who were in their own band at the time. Eventually, Ethan and Ben joined Joe and George, and The Kites were born.

You're based in Plymouth, do you have to travel in order to enjoy live music?

Plymouth is great! You’ve got The Pavilions, the Depo, The Junction and The Underground… what more do you need?!

What style of music do you play?

As said previously, we’re all enraptured by the genre-defining acts that permeated our past. We try to emulate the feeling and quality of the 60s, 70s, and 80s with a modern touch – our wide range of influences has us bouncing between genres constantly, we can definitely guarantee there’s something for everyone at a kites show .

Who would you say are the band's musical influences?

Definitely the gods of rock themselves - Led Zeppelin, naturally. We each have our own influences that construct our sound - Joe’s particularly into the Doors, and is enamoured with Jim Morrison, to the point where he dresses like him whenever possible. Ethan’s much more indie oriented, with The 1975, and Peach Pit, and those sorts of bands - you’ll hear this in the production. George is passionate about King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, who’re as interesting as they sound. Ben’s got a history with funk and Motown. These are simplified lists, but as you can see, each member has a varied taste, which come together to form a dynamic sound for our own work.

Do you know what day/time/stage you're playing at the Great Estate Festival?

You can catch us on Friday the 3rd of June, at the BBC Introducing Stage from 13:00 til 14:00. It’ll be a rager!

What can the audience expect from your live show?

We play predominately our own original music, with a few homages to our influences sprinkled within, but if it’s personality you’re looking for, you’ll find a flamboyant and eccentric frontman who captures the crowd, a thrilling and tasteful guitarist who controls his sound perfectly, thundering and intricate grooves to compliment the guitar work, and the funky confidence of a skilled bassist, locking down the low end. We each play our part, and together try our hardest to be unforgettable… even if Joe does forget the lyrics to HIS OWN SONG.

The bill is looking pretty good for this year, who else would you recommend the festival goers make a beeline for over the weekend?

Electric Six seem mad, definitely sticking around to see them. Our long time friends Colour TV are playing on the Saturday from 1315-1400, they’re insane so make sure you check them out.

There seem to be more Cornish festivals popping up all over the county these days, what is it about them that keeps people coming back year after year?

It’s got to be that mixture of gorgeous landscapes and proximity to the sea that you’ll struggle to find anywhere else in England. Cornwall is such a gorgeous place, and half of any live performance is the locale – it’s one thing to see a band on a huge stage in a field, but to have the crash of the ocean and the sweet cries of the birds as backing instruments and great vistas of ocean and coast as a backdrop, Cornwall has a magic that few other places do.

Tell me a funny story about a festival/show that you've attended in the past....

We were playing a gig in our hometown, and Joe had potentially a little too much to drink. Just as George was about to rip into a solo, Joe stumbled, and pulled out the guitar lead. Thankfully, Ethan and Ben kept the song moving until George could recover his lost lead. This isolated event would have been amusing but not too memorable had Joe not then headed over to Ben, and knocked his hand off his bass just as he was about to head into a solo of his own. Final scores? Joe two, solos nil.

Give me 3 bands or artists that you would like to headline at your own festival (you can choose ANY band/artist dead or alive)

Our worship of Led Zeppelin cannot be understated, so naturally them first and foremost. We think it can be generally agreed that to see Freddie Mercury and Queen in their heyday would be spectacular to see as well. Thirdly, it’s a safe bet to say the act that prove to us that success can be found in the South West, Muse, would be ideal.

Please tell me about any new music that you have in the pipeline and when can we expect to hear it?

We have plenty in the pipeline, and plenty recorded – it’s just perfecting it before release, and getting the production to a standard we are happy with that has held us up. We’re finishing work on a song called ‘Something In The Water’, a deeply personal song that’s also a real rocker. We hope to have it out in the next few months, after which we plan to release a song called ‘The Many Moons (Of Jupiter)’, a song which sums up our sound in three minutes or so. Ultimately we hope to release an EP within the year.

Lastly, tell me your top three festival survival tips?

STAY HYDRATED, bring more portable chargers than you know you’ll need, and definitely more alcohol than the amount you’d consider too much. If you’re performing, it also helps if you actually remember your drum sticks…..

We’d like to thank the band for sparing the time to chat to us and we wish them all the very best for their appearance at The Great Estate Festival and other forthcoming musical ventures. To keep up to date with their exploits, click on the link below.

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