WITH a new album fresh out in stores and online, the Kabeedies (pronounced Kah-bee-deez) have been on a whirlwind of interviews and promotion.
Taking a minute to catch his breath, singer and bassist Rory Hill chatted to the County Times about working with Microsoft, and their grass-roots record label, Fierce Panda.
“I’m sitting in Pret A Manger with a coffee,” said Rory on a windy Friday in January.
“I seem to have been sitting in coffee shops talking to regional newspapers for weeks.”
The band are heading to Cardiff on February 9 on their demanding 20-date UK tour, promoting album number two, ‘Soap’.
“We’ve played 10 Feet Tall and Buffalo Bar before, I really like Cardiff,” Rory said.
“We’ve been playing shows for a while now and it becomes a lifestyle, it’s a weird thing to get used to.”
Speaking about one of their older numbers ‘Come On’ being used on an XBox Kinect advert, Rory said: “We’ve had songs pitched before for adverts and every time it got to the final stage and didn’t happen. Then this one did.
“It’s surreal, it’s one of our oldest songs. But nevertheless a great opportunity.
"It’s also the most Microsoft had spent on adverts and they went for indie songs for each ad, it’s quite interesting that they’d gone down that route.”
The current line-up - featuring Fab on drums, Katie on vocals and Evan on vocals and guitar - has been in place for four and a half years, but the band started differently.
“It didn’t really go anywhere. It wasn’t really a serious project before I joined,” said Rory.
“I was in a band from age 11 to 15, playing bass, Radiohead and Muse type stuff, thinking person’s music.
“There’s definitely a shift with this album,” said Rory, switching back to the Kabeedies.
“It was about growing up and taking time to sit down and write an album. The first album was just a collection of songs, it was odd.
“A lot more thought went into this. Lyrically it’s quite personal. Musically we were very influenced by Vampire Weekend who had just released their second album, as well as Paul Simon’s Graceland.”
The band are signed up to Fierce Panda, a start-up label for bands in the 90s, said Rory.
“They released the first single of bands like Ash, Coldplay and Keane. There were thoughts of releasing our first album with them which didn’t happen, but this came along at the right time. They’re a great indie label.”
‘Soap’ is out now and the Kabeedies will be appearing at Cardiff’s 10 Feet Tall on February 9.
For information visit www.myspace.com/thekabeedies