Buffalo Rising Online

Sep 20th, 8:26am By Alison Zero

Joseph Secchiaroli, guitarist & vocalist for THE REIGN OF KINDO, talks about his band’s exciting new project Rhythm, Chord & Melody, their genre-defying style, and how Buffalo’s weather inspires.
By Alison Zero, Talent Producer @ WBFO (wbfo.org/border)
Q: Your debut album, Rhythm, Chord & Melody, was just released on One Eleven Records. Has this record been in the works for some time? A: It's been almost two years. We started writing material under the moniker "The Reign of Kindo" in late 2006, almost immediately following the end of our old group, This Day & Age. We released an EP of five songs in August of 2007. Those five songs alongside some of the songs you will hear on Rhythm, Chord & Melody were originally meant to be on the same record. We couldn't finish all of the recordings in time to make the scheduled release date, so we decided to put out the first five that we finished on what is now known as "The Reign of Kindo EP". We wrote six more songs to accompany the remaining tracks that didn't make the EP and compiled Rhythm, Chord & Melody.
Q: Did you wind up incorporating material from previous projects (e.g. your former band, This Day & Age)? A: No. All the new material is fresh musical meat. We wanted to start this new group with as clean a slate as possible.
Q: What’s changed most since the band’s reincarnation?
A: This new band is desperate. We have nothing to lose. We're broke. All the success we achieved with our previous band was lost. As a result, our music is written without reservation for the critic or the elitist. It remains true to our own personal musical affinities in hopes that people of all musical tastes might find something that they like about it. If the common music listener can enjoy it with honesty, then we will feel accomplished.
Q: Your music defies categorization and deftly shifts from genre to genre. To what do you attribute your knack for appealing to a variety of musical palates? A: We all enjoy a great variety of music from a number of different genres. I believe this is true of most music lovers as well. It seems we have fused all of our different musical likings together while creating this music. I'm not sure it was intentional. We originally set out to be mostly jazz driven, but as we kept writing, our other influences inevitably emerged. At the end of the day, a good song is a good song. It could be a jazz, classical, rhythm & blues, rock, pop, country, or a hip-hop song. We hope that we are writing good songs.
Q: Has the city of Buffalo influenced your music?
A: Buffalo is indeed a muse of ours. We all endure a brutally oppressive winter each year. You can see it wearing on everyone's countenance right around the middle of March when the skies are a solid blanket of grey and the cold cuts right to the bone. A lot of the songs deal with enduring winter in hope for spring. Some are metaphorical and some are literal. Our Japanese bonus track is actually about the October storm that ravaged our trees two years ago. We were actually on tour during the storm. It was a sad sight to come home to.
Q: Do you plan to keep Buffalo as your home base?
A: We all grew up here. I'm grateful for that. I do hope to find myself settling someplace a bit warmer in the future, though. Nothing against this town. It's just too cold for me in the winter.
Q: Have you had to retool your sound to play larger venues? I know you toured with the likes of Anberlin and Mae. A: We've pretty much stuck to our guns, no matter what size the venue. We've shared the stage with "big-room" rock acts and mellow acoustic acts alike. We cross our fingers and hope that we are well received in both elements. So far so good...
Q: The Reign of Kindo certainly embraces heavier, more rollicking stuff, but is unafraid to enter mellower territories - some of my favorite songs on the new record are the slower jams. A: I think that as far as slow vs. up-tempo is concerned, most musicians will enjoy performing whatever they feel generates the most energy in a live-performance scenario. When I'm home, listening to music, I find that I mostly enjoy music in the mellow tone rather than the aggressive. When I'm driving, I might like something with a stronger beat. It depends on the mood, I suppose. While writing, we don't really set out to create a certain kind of tune, rather we just go with whatever catches our ear and suits our fancy at the time.
Q: How would you describe the sound of Rhythm, Chord & Melody?
A: Moody, piano-driven, jazz influenced progressive-pop-post-rock? Any takers?

Q: What is the tune “Hold Out” about?
A: “Hold Out” is a journey through self. It's a song of personal and spiritual inventory and is a reminder that there is more to this world than what we are constantly bombarded with. There is a bit of angst in there as well. People are always doubting you. It gets annoying, to be quite honest. It's about keeping faith and moving forward in doing what you know you ought to do.
Q: Upon the release of a new record, many bands are already onto the next, writing and arranging material for a future release. Have you been working on anything recently and, if so, what’s been inspiring you lately? A: We haven't been working on any new material as of late. We are shifting our focus towards our live show and promoting the record. It's important to us that this CD is heard and we are trying to wholly devote ourselves to any avenue that may help to get the word out about it. I'm sure that once the dust settles from the CD release chaos we will start working on new ideas. We will attempt to record a new Christmas song for the holiday season as well! I can't make any promises, though.
www.thereignofkindo.com + www.myspace.com/thereignofkindo