An Interview with Kai Rand of Old Coyote Club

Old Coyote Club, a four-piece UK folk-punk band, is getting ready to release their second EP, The Serotonin Hustle. The six tracks on this recording start with “City Foxes,” a gritty acoustic punk offering, and then move on through “The Wild Things,” “It Ain’t Easy Having Pals,” “Kids with Rocks,” “Digits,” and closes with “Atom Bomb.” Sound-wise, these Norfolk boys play their own take on raw, driving punk songs which combine acoustic and electric exceedingly well and refuse to limit themselves to a single genre or subgenre. As far as the vocals, Rand’s voice is somewhere between Jose Prieto (Sad and French), Wil Wagner (The Smith Street Band) and Billy Liar. These are definitely the sort of songs that would appeal to fans of the defunct Philly folk-punk band Fistful of Dynamite, as well as Lucero, early Against Me!, and Get Dead.

Recently, I had the chance to ask vocalist, guitarist and songwriter Kai Rand some questions about the Old Coyote Club and the new EP. This is what he had to say:    

James G. Carlson: How about a little introduction to Old Coyote Club?

Kai Rand: Bonjour. Kai here.

OCC started about a year and a half ago initially as a solo project but then I started letting everyone else take credit for all my hard work. We play some kind of folk/punk/indie music. It’s pretty fun. 

Old Coyote Club is still a fairly new project. How has the band been received so far?

Pretty well. It’s the first time any of our parents have actually liked any of our bands. That’s positive, right? Maybe we’ll start doing Neil Diamond covers.

You have a new EP, The Serotonin Hustle, the follow-up to 2014’s The Clubhouse Sessions. Can you speak about the songwriting and recording process, and your thoughts regarding the finished material? 

Writing this EP was a lot different to the first. There was a definite learning curve involved. We enlisted a new member for this EP and have electric guitar in all the tracks, which inadvertently took away from the folk aspects of our previous work. That being said, we’re all really happy with how it sounds. We’re confident it’s going to hit the No.1 spot.

Old Coyote Club has a sound that is decidedly heavier on the punk side than the folk side, raw yet tight, pretty organic yet dirty, with none of that cutesy acousti-slop that has been popping up quite a bit lately. What inspired you to embrace such a sound? And was that the sound you were aiming for from the start?

I think our writing style’s reactionary to the last piece of work we produced. I can’t see us staying still with a sound or style. As we’re still in the early stages of OCC, we’re all looking forwards to how we can change and progress. Give it a year and we’ll probably be playing post-hardcore at teen weddings. 

There seems to be an underlying theme throughout the songs on the new EP, which movie junkies, like myself, will recognize as from the 1998 Western film Young Guns. Interesting choice. What about the film inspired you?

I’m glad you noticed. Young Guns is one of our favorite movies. It has ‘80s synth-rock and cowboys. I fully respect the dichotomy. 

Speaking of themes, there seems to be somewhat of a canine thing surrounding your band? What is that all about?

Every band needs a selling point. Ours is the love of all woodland critters.

What are some of the bands and singer-songwriters that have influenced you the most over the years?

There’s quite a broad spectrum of music we’re influenced by as a band. The Clash, Stiff Little Fingers, Rancid were some of my favorites as a teenager, but now we listen to just as much pop, hip-hop and indie. 

What have been some of your most memorable gig moments so far?

Any show where I don’t forget the lyrics is counted as a blessing.

Do you have any shows lined up to showcase the new songs from the Serotonin Hustle EP?

Not at the minute. We’ve been busy writing our third EP over the last couple of months so gigs had to go on the back burner. Also, we like to hibernate during the winter. But when the sun comes back you’ll see us hanging around your local venues.

Anything else of note coming up for Old Coyote Club, or any plans? Tours, collaborations, work on a full-length, etc?

We’re going to be heading back to the studio soon to record our next EP, which we’ve just about finished writing. It’s very good. Then we’re going to start focusing on a full-length. I’m sure there will be a degree of touring coming up, but we want to try and focus on writing as much as we can for the foreseeable future.

Lastly, if there is anything I failed to cover, or if there is anything you would like to add, please feel free to do so now.

You can check us out at:
www.oldcoyoteclub.bandcamp.com
www.facebook.com/oldcoyoteclub
www.twitter.com/oldcoyoteclub