INTERVIEW: Kung Fu Hippies

rjovine 5 months ago

Hi Kung Fu Hippies, welcome to Tune Flickers! How has Life been treating you so for?

Thank you! No complaints here. We’re excited to finally be releasing our new studio album, morale is high, and we’re firing on all cylinders!

So after five years of various setbacks, you have finally got to put out a new album. Life always serves as a great source of inspiration – how has this been the case for you guys?

Yes, there have been some challenges and setbacks, unfortunately. We’ve had band members who have fought (and fortunately, beat,) a bout with cancer, a pretty severe motorcycle accident, stints in addiction rehab, and divorce. The band had two drummers since 2012, but unfortunately, one of them left the band just as we were finishing the record. We’ve decided to just stick with just one drummer. We’ve adjusted and have been playing some of our best shows recently. Despite all these setbacks, however, we’ve persevered, and I think you can hear that on the album. As of today, I’m happy to report that we’re all doing great!

The new record goes by the title of North – what’s the story behind it?

We’ve discovered partway through recording the album that there were a lot of Northern Minnesota themes weaved into it, hence the title. Northwoods Boy was written by Brad, about his childhood farm in Barrett, Minnesota. Ely Town, written by Chad, is a folky song about working the mines on the Iron Range. We tentatively have plans to name our next album ‘South,’ but we will cross that bridge once we get to it!

How was the recording and writing process for the album?

Well, first of all, there are three lead vocalists and four songwriters in the band, so there are many moving parts! All the songs on the album were written before we started the recording process. Some of the songs were picked by the band, and some choices were suggested by our producer, Jon Herchert. Two of the songs (Northwoods Boy and Brutus) were recorded before the 2020 pandemic, and the rest afterwards. Surprisingly, the songs on the album all hang together quite well, despite being recorded at different times.

With 25 years in the scene – is it easier to record and write new material?

Yes and no. I would say that for me personally, I seem to write less as I get older, but when I do, I put more time into it to try and get it right… So overall I feel more satisfied with the final product than I used to. We’re lucky to have many great songwriters in one band, and it makes for a healthy competition to write better songs. We all love what others bring to the table, and we give each other lots of encouragement. It’s a very positive atmosphere within the band when it comes to songwriting.

What role does Minneapolis play in your music?

Minneapolis is one of the best cities to be a musician. It’s big enough that you can witness world-class talent almost any night of the week, but also small enough whereas it still feels like a tight-knit community. If we weren’t based in Minneapolis, who knows if we would have been able to keep playing all these years later. We consider ourselves very lucky!

Where else did you find inspiration for this record?

Again, with all these songwriters, it’s kind of all over the board. The songs on the album deal with love, divorce, folk themes, betrayal, running from the law, and longing for home. All of which reflect the struggles and changes we’ve been through over the last five years or more. It’s about as real of an album as we could possibly make, and we’re all very proud of it.

What else is there in store for you guys?

For now, we’re just going to keep playing shows and plugging the new album. We’ve also started learning and rehearsing new songs for our next album. We’re looking forward to the summer and playing some outdoor shows, which is one of our favorite things to do. In addition to playing our original music, we always look forward to our annual Grateful Dead tribute show at the Parkway Theater in Minneapolis to warm your bones during the winter months. No slowing down for KFH!