Published: February 14, 2009 10:06 PM EST
By: Isaac Davis Jr., MBA (Juniorscave.com)
New Music Spotlight March 2009 Edition
Kotadama
Kotadama
Brothers Evan and Chris Brown have been influenced by such musical talents as U2, Coldplay, and Crowded House. Now the brothers have formed their own band, Kotadama, with their own musical agenda. In this recent online spotlight, I had the pleasure to speak with the bothers about their music. Enjoy the interview.
Isaac: Hi Guys. Welcome to your interview with Junior's Cave. Now that 2008 has officially ended, what are your reflections of the year 2008 for Kotadama?
Kotadama: 2008 was a year during which Kotadama really solidified, gaining inspiration to compose and produce a multitude of songs. We had several experiences at three different studios, mixing and mastering our first three songs. We came away thinking something was still missing, but could not afford repeated visits. It was at this point that we decided to transform one of the sheds on our farm into our recording studio. It has since been a huge learning curve but the payoff is that we can spend weeks recording and mixing the one song if required. We have almost finished the songs for our first album "What does it mean?"
Isaac: How did the two of you decide that you wanted to create a group?
Kotadama: Towards the end of HSC, I decided to learn the guitar, (to avoid studying). This soon became an obsession and my brother, Evan taught himself the drums. We then began playing U2 covers and soon after, began putting chords together and creating our own music. Our next biggest challenge was to think of a name for the band.
Isaac: What is the concept behind the band name Kotadama?
Kotadama: The meaning of the word Kotadama is "spirit of words". It basically means that every word and its intention has energy about it and impacts its immediate environment. We try to incorporate this concept into our music.
Isaac: What is the biggest reward and challenge with working in a group since you are brothers?
Kotadama: As brothers growing up together, we have learned to support each other, tolerate each other, as well as be bluntly honest with each other. This is quite an advantage when creating our music. We were fortunate to have travelled quite extensively during our teenage years, this experience has given us the opportunity to know each other well and examine the world from a different and more unbiased perspective. The only difference at the moment is where we spend much of our time....our recording studio (shed).
Isaac: Elaborate a little about whom were your biggest influences in the music industry and why?
Kotadama: Our main influence has been U2, due to their long standing quality of music that resonates on many plains ( U2 was in fact the main reason I began to play and compose music).
Our other main influence in the music industry has been Peter Blyton. We met him in July, 2008, at a music manager meeting held at Studio 301, Sydney. After hearing our first demo, he really liked our sound and really wanted to help us. He visited several times to our farm and helped get us going in regards to producing our songs. He is a very busy man and we very much appreciated his time.
Isaac: Let's talk about what you feel Kotadama will bring to the music industry?
Kotadama: Kotadama wants to create songs, describing the human condition, stories of love, loss, inspiration, life and the delicate ongoing relationship between man and earth. In a world where hate, anger, and jealousy dominate, we want to bring a powerful essence of truth and inspiration to people everywhere. We want to create music that has a melody and a message that is relevant to people everywhere.
Isaac: If you had an opportunity to work with one artist or group, who would it be and why?
Kotadama: We would definitely choose U2 to work with, because of their major influence and inspiration.
Isaac: How would you describe your music to others?
Kotadama: Our music always has a definite melodic theme, usually backed up by the presence of strings and keyboards. The music is perhaps most influenced by U2, but it will always describe an emotion that relates to people or our precarious relationship with our world.
Isaac: What can fans expect from your first CD you are working on currently? What is the inspiration behind the CD?
Kotadama: The first album is a mix of songs about life, love, and the world we live in. Many of the songs were inspired by recent world events, the earth's sustainability as well as the human spirit and human emotion.
Isaac: Where can fans locate you at online?
Kotadama: We have two websites www.kotadama.com you can get more details about what has been happening and hear six of our songs from our album...plus check out the links. The other is www.myspace.com/kotadama
Isaac: What can fans expect from Kotadama in 2009?
Kotadama: We hope to do a world tour in conjunction with releasing our first album......continue to challenge and inspire ourselves to write music that matters.
Isaac: Time for some shout outs to your family, friends, and fans…
Kotadama: A special thanks to all those people who believed in us before we did! Especially to our family members who gave us so much support, courage and guidance as we were finding our feet. Also, our older sisters who amidst keeping our heads level always managed to be there at every moment that counted.
Isaac: Final words from Kotadama…
Kotadama: Watch out for us, we're coming and we're going to rock the world with truth and inspiration through our music!
