Australia was introduced to Kisschasy in 2005, after the release of their debut record United Paper People, and the Aussie music scene was never quite the same again. The release of their sophomore album Hymns for the Nonbeliever had fans in a chokehold, and with two certified gold records under the belt, Kisschasy were on a roll.
2009 saw them release their third studio album, and things settled down for the group until they ultimately called it quits in 2015. In 2022, they appeared on the Good Things festival lineup, playing their debut album in full. Though they were back on the stage, there was no evidence that they’d been in the studio, until now. Kisschasy are back with new music for the first time in sixteen years, releasing their single “Lie To Me” in May this year. This year, they’re embarking on a national tour to celebrate 18 years of Hymns For The Nonbeliever. I got to sit down with lead singer Darren Cordeux to chat about the significance of this record as well as new music.
You guys broke up in 2015, and 2022 saw you reunite at Good Things, but right now this feels like we’re entering a new era of Kisschasy, would you agree?
Absolutely.
What’s the dynamic in the band like right now, how are you guys feeling?
We’re feeling just very, very excited. We regrouped in 2022 for Good Things and the first thing that was apparent was that the chemistry was still so strong. We’ve obviously got still a lot more to offer as a band, especially from having stepped away for so long, you kind of take some things for granted. We were apprehensive to take the next step into doing new music. And the consensus was only when the music’s good enough for us to feel like it matches, if not transcends, the stuff that we’ve already done. And so it wasn’t until late last year that everything clicked and it all started pouring out.
You’re celebrating the 18th anniversary of Hymns For The Nonbeliever soon, why 18?
Yeah, a nice round 18. It’s so funny. The same thing with United Paper People two years ago, we reissued that. And it was just because the guys at Summit Distro who put out both those albums on vinyl just reached out to us. And we’re like, ‘yeah, why not? Let’s do that. It’d be great.’ We didn’t wanna be so traditional, just to wait for the full 20 years.
I mean, 18 is a big deal in Australia, your records are finally legal.
Our records can now go to strip clubs, so that’s great.
This is obviously a huge record for you guys, you’re hitting the road to celebrate the anniversary- are you planning to play the record in full?
Yeah, look, at first we were kind of like, ‘do we want to do that?’ And then we agreed that it probably is a good idea. I’ve been going through the songs and being a songwriter, you never really want to dig back through your old stuff. It’s like reading your own diary or whatever, and so I rarely do that… It’s part of my growth as a human is to accept the cool things that we’ve done in the past. And so, yeah, I’ve been playing those songs. I’m really excited about them, I think that there’s so many great songs on that record and that we haven’t played to death, so it’s actually going to be a really fun experience. And also the shows are going to be really cool and big, the whole idea was like ‘let’s play these like really ornate venues’. It almost matches the album artwork, which is also kind of ornate. We just wanted to put on this really big show, so it’s definitely going to be a really big step up from from even the last tour. We’ve got this really cool light show planned, but we are going to play the album in its entirety and then and then some.
When you’re practicing for something like this and you’re going back and re-learning your old tracks, are you constantly critiquing your past self?
For me as a singer, there’s definitely a way I phrase certain things or certain lyrics and I prefer some things over others. There’s definitely some things I wouldn’t do or say now, but overall, and I guess again- this is part of me just kind of appreciating what we’ve done instead of kind of cowering from it. I look back and I’m like, ‘actually, that’s really cool’, especially given how old we were at the time that we recorded these things…I think we were doing things in earnest and things that we’re really proud of and making the best music we possibly could with the talents we had. I listen back to it and I’m very, very impressed with myself, if I want to be completely honest.
How do you think the music has changed since your last record?
It’s hard for me to know because as the primary songwriter in the band, when it clicked, it all started pouring out… I just had to capture that essence of what Kisschasy was about. If anything, I think this record maybe leans a little bit into a 90s sound. And when I say record, I guess I spilled the beans. There are nine other songs that aren’t “Lie To Me”. There’s a lot of these little Beatles-esque moments, even in the little bridge in the middle eight in “Lie To Me”, there’s these cool little chords and stuff like that. I just think it’s a great rock and roll record. I think if you’re going to call out contemporaries of the album, I would say it would be in good company with maybe like early Weezer or Superchunk or stuff like that. Big guitars, big choruses, we’re not afraid of a hook, but there’s no gimmicks. We didn’t even use pedals, we just had big tube amps. It’s the sound of a band with limitations, because I wrote these songs and then we booked in the studio time and obviously I live in LA, so we only had five days to get together. I sent the band these demos and then I landed in Melbourne on a Friday, we rehearsed on a Saturday, Sunday, and then we had five days, Monday to Friday, to make an album.
What inspired you guys to actually start making new music together now?
The reason why we called it a day in 2015 was because we’d written a fourth album that we shelved and it was because none of us agreed that it was us at our best. We’d been working so hard, touring so much, and I think sometimes you just need time away from something to see what its essence is. When we came back in 2022 and we started playing together, the first thing that was apparent was that we had this chemistry. Everyone was telling us we’re playing our best, we’ve got a lot to offer. And so I was like, ‘okay, well, it’d be cool to maybe do some new music to give the audience something new to say thank you for sticking around with us this long’. But also to see what we could do with our progressed musicianship and as we’ve evolved. We’re really proud of our legacy and I think that’s one of the reasons why we can come back after all this time and do these big shows is because we didn’t dilute that.
Do you think “Lie To Me” is a good indication of how the rest of the record sounds?
I think there’s some songs that are maybe a bit grungier, a bit darker, there’s some songs that are a bit more power-pop. I don’t know, it does move around a little bit. But I can’t think of a better first song to put out as the indicator, like this is our new stuff, but it’s still us, you know?
When you played Good Things in 2022, was there plans to stay together after that? If not, at what point did you decide to officially get back together?
It was just Good Things. And then even the tour that we did after that in 2023 was the same thing. It wasn’t until I’d written this new stuff. I mean, we booked in this tour for last year for Hymns, but the new music was kind of throwing everything. We were like, ‘okay, well, after this Hymns Tour, we’re not going to just keep on playing old stuff forever’. I don’t want to be one of those bands. New music was discussed as like a ‘maybe thing’, but when it actually became reality, I was like, ‘okay, wow, this is perhaps new life’. And so then we recorded it and we’ve got the record now. Everyone’s very excited. So it’s, yeah, you’re like maybe the second or third person I’ve spoken to about this, it’s a very new development, I suppose.
The Hymns For The New Believers Tour has kicked off, with shows remaining in Brisbane, Sydney, Hobart and Melbourne- you can still grab your tickets HERE.
Images supplied by the artist
