Kurt Travis interview done by Mike De Man.
When I think of the name Kurt Travis, so many different things come to mind, ranging from songs, to bands, to sounds, and lyrics. As someone who has done so much over the course of your career in music, you’re easily an inspiration to your listeners. What was it that first made you fall in love with music?
I would say that the people that I grew up with, my family, my friends, surrounded me with all sorts of different music. From singing songs by the campfire when we went camping, to going to church on Sundays, to just being in the car with my mom on long drives. I found that I could write down my frustrations, my loves, and my sorrows, and found music to be therapeutic in a way.
Since we’re in the realm of early beginnings, when you were writing Sunday Night Service and Vampires Show No Compassion in the years of Five Minute Ride twelve years ago, did you have any thoughts that you’d be writing the kind of music you are now?
I started out as a singer songwriter and have always loved old 90’s bands like Counting Crows, Elliot Smith, and Heat Miser, so to see myself twelve years into the future playing as an acoustic artist or as a singer songwriter doesn’t surprise me, because bands like that were what made me want to do what I do in the first place.
Over your time songwriting, what was your favorite act that you took part in?
Aw man, thats not fair! I have a love for everything that I have been a part of. Each one has been so different from the last, that I can’t really compare them to each other. If I absolutely had to pick…it would be my solo music simply because I have the freedom to do whatever I want with it and make it my own.
Recently there was a post circulating around the internet that you were hanging around Thomas Erak. Are there any possibilities of a collaboration between the two of you either currently or in the near future?
I am currently jamming with Thomas, and we have some music that we are in the process of fine-tuning. Other than that, that’s all I can really reveal at this time.
One of your most well known endeavors was with Dance Gavin Dance. Did you have a better time recording the self titled with them or Happiness?
Both albums were excruciatingly difficult. Recording for me is never really something that is fun. The fun part is being done, listening to the final product, and being able to tour on that finished product. During the process of every record that I’ve ever made, it has been a journey of sorts, that has been difficult, but at the end very satisfying and rewarding.
What was it like working with Kris Crummett on both of those releases?
Kris and I have a great relationship. I consider him both a colleague and a long time friend. His ear is one of the best that I’ve ever worked with and his meticulous nature only gets the very best takes out of everybody, which can be very frustrating at times, but beyond worth it in the end.
Was it working with Dance Gavin Dance’s Will Swan on those two albums that led to you signing to Blue Swan Records?
Yes and no. The reason I chose to release “Everything Is Beautiful” on Blue Swan Records, was because I wanted to help out my friends and the music scene that A Lot Like Birds, Dance Gavin Dance, and the rest of the Blue Swan artists are creating. I’m very thankful to be a part of the Blue Swan roster, and am excited to see the growth and success of the label, as well as the bands we have all affiliated ourselves with.
Moving forward into your time with A Lot Like Birds, your current homestead, what was it originally that made you join them for their adventures?
One of my good friends had bought me a ticket to see La Dispute, Touche Amore, Loma Prieta and A Lot Like Birds, at Luigi’s in Downtown Sacramento. I had heard of A Lot Like Birds before, but never got to see them live before this show, and was absolutely blown away. I loved their epic big build-ups and chaotic converge-esque vocals. At the time they were also playing with a horn section, which I also thought was very impressive. It was just a band that had immense chemistry that I wanted to be a part of.
When first dealing with Doghouse Records and writing the Tantrum demo to give to them before Conversation Piece was fully the works, what was going through your mind?
After the demo had leaked, the band received an email from Doghouse Records, expressing their interest in putting out a full length for us. When we received that email, I got in touch with Eric Rushing, and we all decided to sign with Doghouse. In my mind, I was thinking “here we go again!” I didn’t think that I was going to get signed and go out on tour again after Dance Gavin Dance. So it was like a “phew” relieving feeling because I knew that I still had a career in the one thing I love most – music. With the help of Artery and Doghouse, we were able to create the first A Lot Like Birds full length album that I was a part of.
A Lot Like Birds has been set up on crazy tours over the past few years, for example the 2014 Vans Warped Tour, and exceptional tours featuring Enter Shikari, I The Mighty, and Just Like Vinyl. What was the best tour memory you have while on the road with ALLB?
I have a lot of amazing memories with my fellow bandmates in A Lot Like Birds. One that sticks out in my mind is from the headlining “No Place” tour with HRVRD, Night Verses, and My Iron Lung. My Iron Lung’s van had been totaled, so they rode with us to complete the tour. We had a blast sharing our van space with them, and we still have fun with the abundance of inside jokes to this day.
Aside from all the time you’ve been spending with your bands, you’ve also not only had the time to work on solo stuff, but also feature on a ton of great songs. What was your best experience working with a band while being a featured vocalist?
It’s a three way tie. I had a great time recording with one of my best friends Zachary Garren and his band Strawberry Girls on a song called “Visual Therapy”. Another was when I worked with Stolas when they recorded their first record, “Living Creatures” with Josh Benton. I had the privilege of singing a part on one of their singles “Medusa”. Lastly, I was featured on a Killing The Dream song called “Testimony”…I always love working with DJ Rogers. They’re all special to me in their own ways, but those are definitely the best experiences I have had.
To focus on solo stuff for a moment, you have dropped three amazing releases. Between “Wha Happened?”, the self titled, and “Everything is Beautiful”, what was one experience while working on these that was the most surreal to you?
Definitely on the self titled album, on a song called “Angband”. It is a song written about a ghost, and literally we don’t know how a certain sound happened right after I say “…the window sill”. I have no idea how it got to be there, and my theory is that it’s literally a ghost. Totally creepy and bizarre.
On Everything Is Beautiful, each track really captures specific moments on your spectrum of musical endeavors, for example how Casting Dreams has a very Dance Gavin Dance-esque essence. How has your solo work made you grow as a musician in addition to the work you’ve done otherwise?
I think every musician strives to refine their music or art. So I try to learn things from my old music that I can improve upon or progress with, while also keeping the sound and integrity of who I am as an artist. So “Casting Dreams” has a Dance Gavin Dance feel because Zachary and I wanted to make a funky dance-y song, and when I get funky, that’s what my voice sounds like. When I sing that way, I want to sound like The Rapture or !!!.
Also on Everything Is Beautiful, there are two songs that are interestingly placed. The album opens with the title track and then the tenth track is quite the opposite, being entitled Everything Is Horrible. Was that done on purpose?
I think in everyones life, theres a spectrum of the light and the dark, and each song respectively represents the best and worst of my life over the years. So, yes, it was indeed on purpose.
Before I finish bending your ear, I have one more question for you. While on the road, writing music, or just sitting back taking it all in, have you ever wondered how you got where you are today? What is your advice to young, aspiring singers and musicians that dream to be where you are right now?
Don’t lose sight of what is important, which is having fun and doing what you love to do. That is when the truest and best form of your art can come forth. It’s tremendously easy to lose sight of what you love about music, so don’t forget why you started in the first place.
