Kutless

It’s been an interesting journey for the young men from Portland, OR. Growing up in front of the world and enduring their fair share of lineup changes hasn’t been easy, but Kutless has consistently rebounded, maintained their direction, and always kept their faith on their shirtsleeves.

We recently sat down with guitarist Nick DePartee, one of the newest additions to the band, to discuss the band’s new album To Know That You’re Alive , the band’s continued strong stance of faith, and what it’s like to lay down tracks in a bathroom.

SA: Well, if we could, let’s start out by talking about the new album. So the first question I’ve got is, what precipitated the choice of Pete Kipley as producer?

Nick DePartee: Well, the first thing was just that we’ve had a ton of things, just all different sorts of changes, lineup-wise and everything. I joined the band last April so I’ve been in the band a little over a year now. And basically, as you probably know, the band’s used Aaron Sprinkle for all their other records up to this point and that’s obviously gone super-well. There was nothing weird between us and Aaron Sprinkle or anything but there was just a general consensus of the band to just try to do as much different, and just change up the mix of everything as much as possible on this new record.

So, one of those options of what to do to really spice up the new record would be to try a new producer, really, just for the sake of changing it up. And we just started writing and met a few different producers and had a meeting with Pete Kipley, and kind of just jammed with him a little bit, and it was just really obvious that we all clicked with him really well.

It’s kind of random because he’s not a ‘rock producer’ as far as what he’s known for. But everything worked really well and we just sort of met up with him and I think it was just God, definitely, setting that up. So it was a good mix in the end and we’re all super-stoked about how everything turned out. I think it was a good call. (Laughs)

SA: So what was his true contribution to the project? How’d he change things up and challenge you guys to push in a new direction?

Nick: I think the main thing, and I can’t speak for the other guys because I never worked with Aaron Sprinkle, as far as contrasting the two, but what I felt that Pete really brought to the table was, number one, just the ability to completely encourage everybody while at the same time really stretching us. As musicians, as friends, as Christians, all across the board, he’s just a super-encouraging, total stretching ability kind of person. And he’s got this kind of ability to really push us all far beyond our comfort levels, especially musically, but at the same time it’s not like he’s talking down to you. He’s just got a very godly, very encouraging way of going about it and it just made all of us want to be better and better.

I think that’s really reflected into the music, especially just everybody getting out of their comfort zones and trying things they normally wouldn’t; just really experimenting a lot more. With this record, I’ve been stoked on it and I’m even more stoked about the next couple of records. I feel like this album gave us a ton of new tools and new ways of thinking to help set us up for the next few records honestly.

SA: Now the recording process itself seems like it was literally everywhere. From what I understand you guys recorded this everywhere from studios to hotel rooms to Abbey Road in London. What can you share with us about that adventure?

Nick: (Laughs) Yeah, it was crazy. Well, half of it was planned and half of it was like, “Well, crap, we’re getting down to crunch time and we still have a lot more stuff to record.” But we started the first half of the record in Portland, the band’s based out of Portland, OR, and we really wanted to have some home time basically. Really like a more grassroots type approach and stuff. So we did the first half of the record in December in a studio in Oregon City, just outside of Portland, and then we took a week or so off at Christmas.

And then we recorded most of the second half down in San Diego which is where our producer’s from. And the whole Portland vibe was just kind of eerie, out in the forest, kind of creepy almost (laughs). And then we go down to San Diego and its super sunny and we’re all hanging out and tanning on breaks (laughs). So that was a fun contrast and I think that even in the music, if you were to know which songs were recorded where, you’d totally hear the difference. Even in just how we were inspired to write, even.

Then as we finished those songs there was still a lot of work to be done, extra guitar parts, vocals, all the more final touches. And we were basically leaving for our acoustic tour at that point so we ended up, Pete would come out for a couple weeks at a time on the tour, and there we’d be like, in hotel rooms doing vocals. I recorded on of our singles, I did a bunch of guitar parts on it in the bathroom of our dressing room at a hockey arena in Pennsylvania or something (laughs). So it was just kind of basically us trying to wrap up the record and get it all finished up.

And we actually did all the strings in London with the London Symphony Orchestra at Abbey Road. That was just insane. It was a planned event, obviously.

SA: How cool was that for a music fan? I mean, the Beatles; that place has such history!

Nick: Yeah, I definitely kissed the floor when we walked in. (Laughs) I was like, “Why are we here, man? We’re just Kutless.” So many good bands have been here and done such great things so it’s just a blessing, obviously. Just a huge, awesome experience that I never even dreamed I would be able to be a part of. So, God is definitely good.

SA: So what’s the collaborative process like for Kutless, as far as songwriting goes?

Nick: Well, there again, I can only speak as far as this record for the band, but we definitely all contributed a bunch of different demos and whatnot. We started writing probably, I’d say, last June, we started beginning the demoing process. It’s kind of a year-long process for us to release this thing.

We came into the studio in December with about 70 demos between all of us. So basically when we’d be home, or even out on tour and on the road, I’d have some ideas for some songs and I’d just record them into the computer and our keyboard player would be working on some crazy programming, digital stuff, getting that stuff together. So everybody just kind of, in their own time, just put their ideas down and we’d get together every month or so and work out new songs.

Jon Micah and Pete did a lot lyrically on the album but everyone, even in that process, we all would get to contribute and generate ideas. The whole record as a whole was definitely a major group effort, everybody just contributing. We’re all very different musically, which can be really frustrating sometimes, but by the end of the day it’s definitely a plus side of things because it allows us all to be creative and unique.

SA: It’s interesting that you mention that musical diversity within the group because the album seems to reflect that. There are a few tracks that seem to hearken back to the Kutless of old while others walk more of the melodic direction that band seems to have opted for more recently as well as some more experimental stuff. Is that a result of the diversity?

Nick: Yeah, I think that’s definitely a…Number one, like I said earlier, it just kind of shows the, as far as the experimental stuff, I think that just really reflects what I was saying about Pete and allowing the guys to just be really creative and do stuff we wouldn’t normally feel like we could expand and try to do. But there was a definite focus on, let’s not try to be that band that just comes out with this random album that’s just way out in left field compared to what fans have come to know and enjoy in previous albums. So I think it was definitely a reflection of our just trying new things but still desiring to keep the Kutless sound there. We just wanted to take what the band has done in previous records and really just expand on it, try new things, and kind of just see what works, you know, see what we really enjoy writing.

And I think how the album ended up was just kind of a little smorgasbord of all of our random ideas and demos and everything that just got thrown out there. And God definitely chose the songs that we feel led to actually put on the album. I don’t know, man. I think some fans will be like, “This is kind of weird.” (Laughs) And some people might really get it and that’s definitely a reflection of everything we’ve wanted to do and wanted to try. So we’ll see what people think. (Laughs)

SA: Yeah, it seems as though the one knock, if any, I’ve heard over the years about Kutless is that while they started out hard with the self-titled album, things have almost tended more toward the more melodic and, in some ways, more radio-friendly sounds. But this album seems to take a step back, in a good way, sort of renewing the edge while maintaining some of the melodies.

Nick: Yeah, I think our goal, especially with those first few tracks, I think those are some of the heaviest songs that Kutless has ever done are on this record. Even tuning; it’s like the lowest tuning we have ever used on other albums is like C-sharp and we have like half the record in drop-C tuning on this one which just adds a whole element that’s almost metal sounding.

But I think we did want to do a focus on rock on this album and just really, like you’re saying, bringing it back to some of the roots. And a lot of the people, not that we lost the AC side or anything but we felt like the rock fans, that are fans of Kutless and that have hung by our side this whole time, kind of deserve some rock in their lives. (Laughs) So obviously, we have our AC songs that are on there.

I’ve already heard some comments that are like, “Of course they’re going to put those songs on there; they just want to sell records.” But honestly, Jon Micah’s heart, and all of us, we really wanted to have a few worship-type songs on this album. As we go with this rock sound, we want people to really understand that we are a rock band, that is what we love to write. But at the same time, there’s a reason why we’re even able to do this as a career; it’s only by God’s grace. So we wanted to have a few songs that were just worshipful-type songs. Like “You” and “I Do Not Belong” and there’s a few songs on the album that are definitely on the softer AC side. But I think it’s a good balance overall.

SA: So with the lines tending to blur these days between the CCM world and the mainstream, are you guys in the place that you want to be? While there may be an ambiguous track or two on a Kutless album you don’t shy away from blatantly Christian lyrics. Is that just a reflection of the band’s heart and, if so, is the Christian industry where you want to continue to call home?

Nick: Yeah! I mean, we got questioned fairly often like, “Are you guys going to try and go mainstream at all” and “Why don’t you get out of the Christian market a little bit?” Honestly, I know Jon Micah, as our leader, his heart is definitely basically, ‘We’re going to sing about Jesus and tell people about His love, and more importantly, be examples of His love.’ Offstage is our heart so much more than onstage, if that makes sense. And we’re open completely to any doors that may open for us as far as the secular market, if that’s something that comes up, but it’s not something we’re forcefully pursuing, I guess.

But our heart as a band is definitely to be blatant. And we’re a Christian rock band, you know, we’re going to sing about Jesus. Our number one goal as a band is to just reflect Christ’s love as it has been in our lives. And as cliché as that even sounds it really is just the driving force behind everything. So we don’t necessarily want to be categorized as a ‘Jesus band’ or whatever; everyone’s always going to have their opinions. But I think we’re definitely just stoked at what God’s been doing already and we’re super-happy about the record. We’re just going to keep on truckin’ and see what God brings and what doors He opens and we’re pretty much open to anything. We’ll see what happens. (Laughs)

SA: So tangibly, what’s happening around the record? Is there a tour in the works? What’s going on there?

Nick: This fall we’re actually doing Creation Festival. They’re doing an actual tour; you’ve probably heard about it. So we’re headlining that. And there’s a few other bands, Thousand Foot Krutch, Pillar, Fireflight, and there’s a bunch of other opening bands. And that’s going to be a super-sweet tour and that kicks off, I think, the first of October.

So all summer we’ll be doing festivals and we’re headlining some of them and we’ve got lots of new material to take to the festivals with the new album out, playing like five or six new songs in the set this summer. And we’ve got all that going and I think we’re going to be planning a headlining tour in the spring. That is the current plan. (Laughs)

• www.kutless.com
• www.myspace.com/kutless

↓ One comment

#1 dg on June 25th, 2008 at 2:52 am

i can def hear the diversity in these songs….some of their ideas meshed well, others not so much. this is a transitional record and i’m pretty stoked to see where this album will take the band and what the next cd will sound like. nick rules! :]

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