Purgative, ambitious & championed by the greats comes the debut album from Hastings post-punk collective Kid Kapichi. Recorded in the very depths of lockdown and loaded with social frustration, DIY work ethic and enough grit to win the hearts and minds of their audience both on the road and in the studio. There’s no doubt that Kid Kapichi are a live band, one of those that are flawless in their craft & even more ambitious on the stage than in their heads and in their element on the road. Yet there’s a wry satisfaction in the camp as the band are about to reveal a debut record that has captured the very essence of both their own unique sound and the same live energy present in person, brought to you on your listening device of choice, live and in stereo. We sat down with co-vocalist and guitarist Jack Wilson to get the inside on the new album, a quality Hastings night out and touring with Frank Carter. Related: Kid Kapichi – This Time Next Year | Album Review So when the album hits, what sort of reaction are you expecting from your fanbase? Are there any tracks in particular you might be uncertain about? Or are you prepping for an across the board success? Jack: “I think it’d be unwise to prep for an across the board success, and I think that could be a bit boring if that was the case anyway.” “We’re happy with all the tracks on the album, genuinely. If anything, the tracks we were less sure about have already come out as singles. In our opinion the best songs are still unheard and I guess the way we’re looking at it, is that we’ve not deviated away massively from the music that came out in the building of the fan base. So if you enjoy what’s out already, then you should enjoy this, even more so we hope. We’ll save the synths for album two or three I reckon.” Did you find recording during lockdown a fairly organic process, or do you feel like the pandemic bought in extra strain in some areas?? Jack: “It was weird really. Time flows differently during the pandemic as I’m sure we all agree. So in that respect the pressure was off. We felt like we’re never gonna have a period of time like this again to be creative at our own leisure. However I think maybe we got a bit too comfortable at times and having that pressure can be a good thing. There was a definite feeling of, ‘I wish this was out yesterday’. So much happened during that period, and we wrote about a lot of it, that we just wanted it out so it could stay as relevant as the day we wrote it. I guess the world is still pretty screwed up anyway so we pretty much got our wish.” Did social distancing restrictions mean that you had to record all of your parts separately? Or were you able to get together throughout most of the tracking?? Jack: “Yeah it did make things difficult most definitely.” “Myself and Ben (Beetham, guitars, vocals) formed a bubble at the start and continued to write. The other guys would send stuff over too and when it came to recording it was a one in one out situation. It wasn’t ideal but we made it work. Then it was a lot of virtual mixing and producing over millions of emails.” Talk us through the writing process for This Time Next Year – how do Kid Kapichi go about taking songs from paper to studio? Jack: “We all write differently and we all have our own strengths that combine to make the final product. For me it’s normally a lyrical thing. I find it quite hard to start a song if I don’t know what it’s going to be about. It’s all about the story for me. I normally write down weird notes on my phone of passing conversations or drunken thoughts and I’ll look through them the next day and that can be the spark needed. Just a sentence or a word.” “Obviously with This Time Next Year we had so much to write about. So much going on that we wanted to voice our views over so it almost becomes like a race to get it out your head onto paper.” “I think before we started writing the album, I wrote a list of subjects I wanted to talk about, and made up stupid place holder names for them. I don’t think we diverged too much from that original list.” It’s no secret that you guys love touring and your time on the stage. Is there anywhere in particular you’re hoping This Time Next Year might take you? Jack: “Yeah we live to play live. For us that’s the reward at the end of all the hard work. Some bands love recording and writing, and don’t get me wrong, we do enjoy that. But for us, it’s always been the live side of things where it really pays off.” “So it’s hard to say if we have any particular hopes or expectations, just due to the current situation we’re all still in. We just want it to continue to build on where we left off last year. Any stage will do for us right now.” “Our hometown is full of people succeeding, failing, overcoming adversity and succumbing to it. That’s our inspiration I’d say. Sometimes our songs are a homage to those people and sometimes it’s a fuck you to the people who put them there.” How does it feel having someone like Frank Carter being so vocal about your band? Jack: “It’s mad. The year before he asked us to tour with them, we were on tour in the UK supporting Calva Louise and Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes were on the radio and we all were saying ‘we need to be supporting these guys.’ We’ve always struggled to find bands to tour with that we click with musically so for them to ask us to join them felt like divine intervention.” “It’s been amazing, from day one he had our backs and still continues too. He’s someone I’ve looked up to from a very young age, so yeah, it’s all pretty mad and We still feel very lucky.” You’ve already spent some time on the road with some pretty impressive artists. Are there any bands that you’d love to tour with? Jack: “Queens Of The Stone Age would always be at the top of that list. Always been huge fans. Some of my friends have toured with them and the stories they’ve told have been amazing and I just wanna experience that also.” “We’re big big fans of Demob Happy as well so hopefully we’ll get to play a show with them someday post apocalypse.” Take us on a whistle stop Tour of classic Kid Kapichi night out – where’s the first place you guys are heading post Covid? Jack: “10am – Get up 11am – Have a shower 12pm- Eat something non offensive. Something big enough to keep you alive but not too big you have to spend more than necessary on drink. Times are tough. 1pm – Plan an outfit in your head. 2pm- Ask girlfriend’s/mum’s advice on planned outfit 3pm – Agree on outfit 5pm – Completely change your mind on outfit and stress till 6. 6pm – Put on the original outfit and head to pre drinks 7pm – Throw up all over outfit coz you didn’t get the food ratio right at 12pm. 7:30pm – Go home” Who would you consider to be the biggest inspiration behind your current sound? Jack: I think people would expect us to say IDLES or Slaves etc but genuinely our music is shaped by current events. It’s a really mental time, especially in the UK and our music is just a product of that. I’m sure if things chilled out then so would we. But maybe not.” “We’ve always thought that it took us a LONG time to get our sound. Some bands cough it up overnight and it’s amazing, but it definitely took us a lot longer.” “At the end of the day, we’re inspired by what we see around us every day in our everyday lives. Our hometown is full of people succeeding, failing, overcoming adversity and succumbing to it. That’s our inspiration I’d say. Sometimes our songs are a homage to those people and sometimes it’s a fuck you to the people who put them there.” Post Punk is thriving in the current scene and you guys are right up there spearheading that movement, but do you see it as a genre that has much long term longevity? Jack: “It’s an interesting question. One I don’t really know the answer to. I mean, we all hope so. We never thought, ‘this punk movement is kicking off, we should jump on board’. It just pops into existence in times like these. The best music always seems to come out of times of austerity. You’re coerced into it without even knowing. We’re angry. Our music becomes angrier.” “So I guess the answer would be that the genre will continue to grow until there are less things to be angry about. It’d be hard to write songs about how pissed off we are at free school meals, a living wage that works and free internet. . . But I don’t see that happening anytime too soon.” If you were each going to sum up your debut full length in one word – what would it be? Jack: “Theremins.” This Time Next Year is out today independently. Purchase the record here.