Dublin duo Kid Karate are poised to be one of Irish music's biggest breakout acts of this year. Kevin Breen (guitar/vox) and Steven Gannon (drums) first came to the public eye on the short-lived RTÉ series Fade Street, a show which was sold to them as being a "documentary on Irish youth culture" - a sentence which does not describe the finished product one little bit. With that firmly in their rear-view mirror, Kid Karate have emerged the other side as one of the most promising rock bands in Europe. An EP and a handful of videos earmarked them as ones to watch but a succession of tours in Europe with Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and in the US with Breton has seen the duo play to audiences in their thousands.
Kid Karate return to Dublin for their first hometown show in a many a moon at this weekend's Forbidden Fruit. We caught up with drummer Steven Gannon for a quick pre-gig chat.
You can buy tickets to this weekend's Forbidden Fruit right here!
The last time we talked was at the tail end of 2013, when you said that you were looking forward to an even busier 2014 than you had in 2013. Has that proved to be the case so far?
We started off with Eurosonic in January then opened up for Black Rebel Motorcycle Club on a 12-date French tour in February, headed to SXSW in March, had a week or so off then went back to the States in April/May to tour with Breton. We got home on Tuesday morning. So far, it’s been a little busier.
I was at the show you played in Rennes, France to around 5,000 people. Is that still one of the most memorable shows you've played to date?
I don’t think we’ll ever forget that show. Walking out onto a stage and seeing that many people was one of the strangest experiences we’ve had to date. That show also had a good impact for us in France. When we went back to open for BRMC people who had been at Transmusicales came to the shows to see us play. That was such a compliment.
January saw you head over to the Eurosonic festival in the Netherlands as one of the Irish representatives. What was that experience like?
Eurosonic was a great vibe, particularly for Irish acts. People were heaping praise on shows that had been played by Daithi, Le Galaxie and Girl Band to name a few. We also had one of our best shows that weekend too. We played in frat house/squat type building that was about to be demolished and the place was rammed when we went on. As a general rule, the worse a venue smells, the better the gig will be. The cherry on the cake was hanging out with Gugai for the first time in an age. I fucking love that man.
You're currently coming to the end of a US tour alongside English band Breton. I can't think of many better ways to see the United States - how have those shows gone?
The US tour was pretty incredible. We started in LA on the 29th of April and when it ended I wanted to go again straight away. This was the first time we toured extensively in the States and the response really blew us away. Breton are also a joy to hang out with and to watch perform live. They’re good lads.
And there was also the small matter of the Black Rebel Motorcycle Club French tour in February! How did that go?
Part of me still thinks it didn’t happen as it was a dream come true. Kev was obsessed with ‘Howl’ when it came out and oddly enough the first cover we ever did in a set was ‘Spread Your Love’. We got to open for them then watch them play every night. What more could you want?
You have been confirmed as playing this year's Forbidden Fruit festival. Having garnered such great experience playing big tours abroad, do you return home with a renewed sense of vigour?
We’re very excited for the FF show. We played the first one in 2011 and haven’t missed one since it started. Every year is a little different but always as much fun. This will be the first show in Ireland since May 2013 so we want to make it a good one!
Do you reckon 2014 is the year we get a full length Kid Karate record?
We will know for sure what the release plans are by the end of June. We’re hoping for a September release for the album but nothing is set in stone. On the positive side we’re waiting on the masters of two final songs and that will be the album completely finished.
I know you have Download festival on the horizon too - what else have you planned for the year, anything you can let us in on?
We’ve got about ten festivals booked in Europe and some in the States over the summer too. We go back to America in July so will hopefully play some more shows there then come back for another run of festivals in Aug/Sept. Aside from that, we’ll be releasing new music very soon and hopefully playing again in Ireland before the year is out.
Catch Kid Karate at Forbidden Fruit when they play the Lighthouse Stage at 7.15pm on Saturday at the Royal Hospital in Kilmainham.
