Interview: Kat Milk Blu
Photo by Tommy Petroni
Kat Milk Blu is a five-piece band of musicians/artists based out of Los Angeles and Nashville. Playing together for 9 years, they have released one studio album called Breakfast, and are set to start the release of their next EP, Brunch, beginning December 30th, 2022.
Any meaning behind the name Kat Milk Blu?
When we all met, the fellas were in an instrumental group called Studio Blu. I (Chloe) was playing as Chloe Kat. We knew we all liked Kat and Blu in the name as we joined forces. It didn’t take us long to find the missing link, Milk. It can carry many meanings, but we all agree that it represents the mother’s milk of humanity. Hoping our music & lyrics can nurture and feed the people.
What led to the formation of Kat Milk Blu?
The formation of Kat Milk Blu came naturally for us; Nate and Chloe met at a music school in Nashville. Aspene and Brandon grew up together, and Isaiah moved over from the Memphis music scene to tap into the gigs in Nashville. Brandon and Nate met as teens at Grammy camp in LA. We all connected one night when Studio Blu and Chloe Kat shared a bill at The End. Soon after, we all played music together at a party, and the chemistry was undeniable. Here we are, almost 10 years later.
Photo by Tommy Petroni
How do your musical backgrounds influence the band’s sound/who are your biggest musical influences?
Our biggest musical influences have probably been each other as artists. We all connect on funk, rock, and soul music. Playing music together for almost ten years, you get to know each other’s tastes, and we each have an extensive range of genres we enjoy. We all help one another learn about different music and the history of genres/artists we enjoy. It’s nice to be able to share our similarities and also our differences as artists. This band has a vast perspective on music as a unit. We also carry strong mutual respect for the musical legends and pioneers who paved the way for us as artists.
What was it like to write and record music during a worldwide pandemic?
We had been writing and making demos remotely and were ready to record our EP, Brunch, right as the lockdown hit. It was all very surprising for everyone, and once we realized it would be a long-term obstacle, we still tried to bring the music to life. Early on, there weren’t any studios that would allow 6-7 people at a time. After a few months of readjusting/organizing, we found a fantastic studio in Highland Park, 64 Sound. They paired us with an excellent engineer, Hope Brush. Nate had worked with her before, so we knew we were in good hands. Everyone had to wear masks throughout the recording (unless they sang into a mic). We also had to test frequently, and the studio time depended on maintaining everyone’s health. We knew we had to find a film crew to capture us recording music during this crazy time in human history. We were lucky to hire two incredible women to help us film, document, and edit the process for our media release: Sam Hunter and Bridget Rodriguez, also known as Source Films.
Photo by Tommy Petroni
What have been some of the most significant challenges of your career?
We have faced so many challenges as a band, it’s really wild how we’ve managed to keep this thing going over the years. We have learned how to communicate, write, and function from a distance and that has been the most significant challenge. We all met as kids from different socioeconomic backgrounds and different cities. What connected us was the music and our faith. It has often been difficult to come to a consensus with 5 brilliant minds working at all times, but we always find our way.
Which of your songs/eps or albums is your favorite?
We have only released one album, Breakfast, which was a 12 song summarization of the years we spent playing rock n’ roll shows at house parties and venues all around Nashville. Although we loved that time of our lives, the EP we are about to share, Brunch, is one we all worked on writing together with more of a focus and serious goals in mind. It carries more pop elements than our first album and we believe it will speak to a much wider audience. We are older and have only gotten better with time as musicians. We all like different songs more than others, so there’s not one specific favorite since there are 5 people involved. We would love to hear about the people’s favorites after the Brunch is fully released.
Your first single, Transformation, dropped today. What was the writing and recording process like for that song specifically?
The song began in Nate’s bedroom studio with him laying down the guitar pattern if I’m not mistaken, then we all added onto it with our parts one by one. Lyrically the song became a reflection of the times culturally and the shift we were feeling internally and within humanity. We recorded the song full band, live at 64 sound with the engineering expertise of Hope Brush. We then proceeded to do overdubs and add some additional textures for good measure. 64 sound had wonderful equipment to use and we got to borrow a killer drum set from Tears For Fears thanks to our friends, Gooch Ibarra and Jamie Wollam. We ended up re-recording the vocals and doing more overdubs at the legendary Sunset Sound in studio 3, where Prince used to make his records. Transformation is the first of 5 singles we will be releasing monthly, so please follow us to keep up with the new releases!
What are you most excited to bring to your fans in the next year?
We are most excited to release our 5 song EP, Brunch. We hope to play more shows and tour in 2023. We have also been working on writing our next album for when the time comes to record again. We have had some fans who have been keeping up with us for many years, so we are most excited to give them something new to dance with and to also make some new lifelong fans in the process.
How can your fans best support you right now?
Our fans can best support us by streaming and buying our new single, Transformation, from any musical platform. Keep up with us on our socials and help us keep the hype as we start releasing these songs monthly. Engage with our pages and come to our shows this year. We can’t wait to share all of this music with ya’ll and get back to performing live.
Photo by Tommy Petroni
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