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Last week, we posted that The Kissaway Trail is set to release Sleep Mountain, the band’s second full-length album on April 6, 2010. Now, we’re excited to present the first in a series of Speakers in Code interviews with artists we absolutely adore. The guys in The Kissaway Trail talk about the band’s unique moniker, Neil Young, and favorite movies.
So, every time I type “The Kissaway Trail” on my computer, my automatic spellcheck tells me that “Kissaway” isn’t a real word. How did you guys come up with the band’s name?
We needed to change our band name in 2006, so we asked our friends for help and the guy who has done our artwork came up with The Kissaway Trail. We thought it sounded and looked cool. It’s romantic, pompous, dark, and beautiful at the same time. Matched our music and personalities. That’s the short version.
I read that you had an entirely different album almost complete before you trashed it to start over and create what is now Sleep Mountain. Why the do-over?
We weren’t satisfied. Everything about the recording sessions and the time before that felt wrong. We had lost the spark and almost decided to stop as a band. Before it all went downhill, we managed to find out what the problem was… [Then], we went back to our hometown and recorded the album in two weeks. We lost a lot of money and had to stop working with some of our business partners. But we’ve become a much stronger and happier band.
Sleep Mountain features 11 originals and a cover of Neil Young’s “Philadelphia” from the ’93 film. How did you select this song?
Thomas: It’s a song that I forgot, and it suddenly appeared to me while writing songs for the album. I had a girlfriend when I was fourteen. She lived on a little island called Langeland. She had this soundtrack with this song that just made me feel happy and sad at the same time. In 2008, I watched the movie and found out it was Neil Young. The song still touched me in a way I can’t explain. When I talked to Neil Young fans, they never heard of the song, and I decided to make my own version and crossed my fingers that it would make it on to the album ’cause the song deserves to be heard.
Speaking of movies, if you could write an original song for any film in existence, what would it be and why?
Thomas: I’m inspired by the music in Edward Scissorhands and Cal. The soundtrack for Cal was a record my dad was playing frequently when I was a child. So I think it would be Cal. I’ve always wanted to make music for movies, so I hope it would be a reality in the near future.
Søren: For me it would be Twin Peaks…there is just something about it. It’s so mysterious and dark. A lot of the soundtrack touches me deep inside, and I really like to listen to melancholy music. It’s my passion in music. My girlfriend has it on vinyl, and I often enjoy listening to it. I really like when I can hear the dust particles through the quiet parts of the soundtrack…it makes it even more mysterious…
SXSW marks your return to the States. What bands are you most looking forward to seeing at the festival?