A couple of months back, my wife was sat in a bar in Totnes chatting with some friends and one of them introduced her niece’s partner and mentioned that he was in a band. To make things even stranger, he lived in Nuneaton which also happens to be my birth town. After a few drinks, she finally fell through the door and told me all about her chance encounter. After a few days, I made contact with Joseph Ellis and had a good chat with him on the telephone and we agreed to do an interview for the site. Well, I’m glad to say that we managed to get it together so please read on to see how we got on….

Your band is called KASINA and you’re based in the West Midlands, please tell me how the band formed, who’s in the band, what instruments do they play and maybe tell me a fascinating fact about the band or a band member.

The band has been through a few different variations, actually. We started out as a three piece playing in my home town of Nuneaton when we were pretty young - around sixteen. After we all went our different ways for uni, the band kind of went on hiatus and we all did our own thing whilst there. After that we started playing again in Birmingham and our second guitarist Ben joined the band after working with me for a while. As well as Ben the band is comprised of myself on vocals and rhythm guitar, Adam on bass and Ryan on Drums. A fascinating fact might be that I dislocated my knee in a mosh pit on my eighteenth birthday dancing to ‘Smells like teen spirit’ and had to spend all night in A&E - so you know I was destined for greatness from that moment onwards.

Have you picked up any weird and wonderful hobbies or pastimes during the lockdown period? If so, please share!

Unfortunately nothing too weird - just a lot of Netflix and band zoom calls.

I see that you’re playing a live show on November 1st with Paradise Circus at The Dark Horse in Moseley (Birmingham), firstly how did this come about and how did you feel when it was confirmed?

We had been in contact with the promoter for a while discussing the possibility of playing live again soon, however with the constantly evolving situation it had proven difficult to tie anything down. As soon as we would confirm something, things would change and we would have to abandon it just as quickly - so for this gig recently to be properly confirmed was a great feeling. We all just hope that it goes ahead and we get the chance to play live again as it has been far too long and we are definitely feeling the strain of not playing.

I guess it’ll have to be a seated gig which I guess won’t be quite the same as before but at least you’re playing a live show!

Exactly. Were trying to look at it as an opportunity to try something a bit different with our set - obviously we want to keep the energy that we bring as a live force, but we feel like some of the more abrasive elements of our performance will have to be altered for a seated audience - and I’m quite interested to see how we will end up doing that!

What can your fans expect from you on the night? Will you be showcasing any new material or will the setlist be chock full of your previous material to keep the punters happy?

As mentioned before we will definitely try and showcase some of our new material as we feel the tone especially suits the environment of this gig. However since we haven’t actually played live since the release of our debut record the set will definitely feature some tracks from that.

How have you spent your time during lockdown? Any new music in the pipeline as a result?

I think like most people lockdown has been difficult for us and I think one of the few escapes that we had during that time was music; being able to write and record really helped me stay sane. So in answer to the question yes there is some new stuff on the way and I’m really excited to share it.

Would you say that anything you have written during lockdown sounds any different to what you may have written had we NOT been in lockdown?

I think that an interesting question and I think the answer is yes for sure. I think the isolation and the occasional existential dread really infected the music that I’ve working on. There’s a paranoia in the lyrics of some of the new stuff that I wasn’t really conscious of being there when I wrote the lyrics and looking back on it I think maybe the times were getting to me more than I realised.

I know that you’re influenced by a lot of 80’s bands which is strange given that you’re a handsome young man who probably wasn’t around in the 80’s, what is it about the music of that era that has stuck with you so much? Which bands in particular would you say have made a mark on the music that you are putting out today?

Thanks for the complement…. I think for me the 80’s is certainly the era that really defined the music I love to listen to and create. I think thats because it’s an era for me where you had the decadence pop scene juxtaposed with left field acts that were actually in many ways referencing each other. Theres a kind of constant thread that runs through the production of some of the greatest albums of that decade that really connects with me whether it be something as popular as ‘Songs From The Big Chair’ to more risk taking records such as ‘The Spirit Of Eden’. Despite this there was also room for acts to completely abandon a lot of those tropes and still achieve underground stardom, like with R.E.M’s debut ‘Murmur.’ All of the bands responsible for the music listed before are a massive influence on me, but in particular Prefab Sprout are a band that we sometimes get compared to and I love the idea of that.

What or who made you want to pick up an instrument in the early days and start to create your own music?

I was always into music from a young age but I think what really got me started was when one of my dad’s friends gave me a guitar. I started thinking that it would be really cool to play some of the stuff that I was listening too and it really just went from there I suppose.

You released Die Doing What You Love at the end of May and having given it a couple of listens, I think it is an immense body of work. From the full on, fast paced ‘All Again’ to the rich guitar lines on ‘Graceless’ and the sublime samples featured on ‘Die Doing What You Love’, it covers all bases and there really is something there to suit every mood and taste, was this something that you planned when writing the tracks?

The diversity of genre on the record was really at the forefront of my mind when we were creating it, as I wanted our first properly released record to kind of throw everything at the listener and try to make a bit of a statement. I think I probably let it get a bit too indulgent in parts, but I think is showcases well how we really don’t want to just make one very particular genre of music. I think there are so many great bands that do just that, but I kind of knew that we aren’t one of those and I didn’t want to set us up as that from the start. Having said that, now that we’ve got it out and I think the message has been transferred, the next record is shaping up to be much more focused and concise.

Which is your favourite track from the album?

What a difficult question. I think I would probably have to say lovers, simply because it’s one of the oldest and one that I love to play live. Its also a record that I’m particularly proud of as it went through a lot of rewrites and was one of our first to incorporate all these synths and electronic textures. More than that, its just got this vibe that I love and I think represents our band well.

Do you think that with the lack of live music at the moment, the younger generation are less likely to get out there and form a band (knowing that there are very limited places to play at the moment?)

Personally playing live is one of the greatest joys in my life and one of the reasons that I started playing at all. The idea of starting a band with the intention to play out in the world in a climate like this is makes me very sad for the younger generation just starting right now.

It’s a question you probably get asked all the time but if you were to pigeonhole yourself into a genre, what would that genre be? I was thinking ‘indie pop’ but there are so many more underlying styles in your sound, I don’t know if that would really do your sound the justice it deserves….

I think in all honesty that it is somewhat difficult to define our sound, but I always say Alternative Pop. I think that covers many of the bases as our sound definitely incorporates a lot of pop elements, but somewhat presented in an alternative way?? If that doesn’t sound too ridiculous. Hopefully this will be a lot easier with the release of our new records that I think are bit more straightforward aha.

I see festival posters popping up on social media for 2021 events that I can’t help thinking will not be going ahead but haven’t the heart to raise my voice as I’d be shot down in flames and told that I am being negative, do you honestly think that large scale events such as Glasto Festival will be happening next June?

I think that it’s almost impossible to tell at this stage, especially with things changing at such a rapid pace. I try to remain positive about the possibility of these events going ahead but at the same time I hope that those in positions of power are planning for what will happen if they don’t - Its scary to think what all those people which rely on that industry for there livelihoods will do if we have another year of no events. 

Talking of festivals, let’s pretend that you have been asked to come up with the 3 headline acts at a future mega festival where you can choose bands or artists that are alive or dead, which 3 bands or artists would you choose as the headliners and why?

This question is too much fun I could be here all day! Honestly for me it would firstly have to be Prince - just because I love him so much and would’ve loved the chance to see him play live. As for the second act I think a more electronic act would complement the line up nicely, maybe Aphex Twin or someone equally out there. As for the last act I think in all honesty I would go for R.E.M, for similar reasons as Prince. Now would that work as a lineup? Almost certainly not but I would love it!

If you could save only 3 albums from your collection, which 3 would they be and why?

Again what a wonderfully difficult question. Similar to the previous answer I think that I would have to save ‘Sign o’ The Times’ by Prince as it really is as close to perfect as an album can get. After that I think that I would have to take my copy of the Velvet Underground’s debut album, just as its an early one that took me a long time to find and has a special place in my heart. Finally I would make to sure to grab another more obscure record, ‘Tracing Back The Radiance’ by Jefre Cantu-Ledesma as its a great ambient piece that is essentially one 20 minute painkiller - perfect for a post gig hangover.

Theatres, live music, festivals and large gatherings have all really suffered over the past 6 months, how do you see the new ‘future normal’ for these style events?

As I alluded to earlier, I’m really not sure and to be honest it’s very scary. Some of the innovative solutions that these businesses have come up with are really so impressive but in the long term I’m just really not sure what they are going to do - I think that if its the case that they can’t open even at restricted capacity like they used to last year then we are all going to have to think very seriously about how we consume art and compensate creators going forward.

There are a million and one acts out there right now, which current bands are you into at the moment?

I think bands like The 1975 have really inspired a generation of young artists that they don’t have to be defined by one sound anymore and I think thats really exciting. I also love the current influx of female fronted bands that have risen in popularity recently. Soccer Mommy, Snail Mail, Julia Holter, the list goes on and each have had a significant impact on D.D.W.Y.L and our future work.

What plans do you have up until Christmas, any live streams, releases, shows etc?

Aside from the gig which will hopefully go ahead in early November, we’ve been working on a lot of new material that we are hoping to get recorded very soon. Other than that we’ve got some other interesting ideas in the pipeline which you will have to stay posted for…

Lastly, how can fans help bands and artists during these very trying times?

I think the feature that Spotify added to allow fans to donate directly to their favourite artist is a great idea. Other than that engaging with the music and buying merch in particular can really help artists through this trying time.

We’d like to thank Joseph for sparing the time to chat t us and we wish him and the band every success for their forthcoming show on November 1st and whatever else the future holds in store for them. Learn more about them by visiting the sites below.

Die Doing What You Love is available to stream NOW on Spotify

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Interview by Steve Muscutt