Roll of the Dice: 10 questions with Sammy Kay of The Kilograms

Features, Interviews, Roll of the Dice

Roll of the Dice is a short interview format with a variable amount of questions. A pair of dice is rolled and the total, between 2 and 12, is the amount of questions we can ask. All questions are given to the interviewee(s) at once, and no follow-ups are allowed. The interview may be lightly edited for content and clarity.

If you are a big fan of folk punk then you may have already been familiar with before formed last year. But if you only dabble in the folk punk genre you may have said to yourself,  who is this powerful raspy voice singing with Joe Gittleman? We wanted to know more about Sammy and this new music project called The Kilograms, so we rolled the dice and got a 10, bon jov!

I'll start with the most important question, is bon jov catching on? For those that don't know you've been trying to make “bon jov” a new catch word. And if I'm correct it's not just for a greeting but can be used as an adverb or an adjective or really any bon jov thing you want. Do people think you are trying to say bonjour or Bon Jovi and try to correct you?

My girlfriends 10 year old came into our office and said “bon jov”, and made the most shocked face and ran away yesterday, so I'll take that as the whole world is catching on! Last year I was on the road and eating at my favorite little diner in jersey (Franks in Asbury Park) and some guy came in shouting “Bon Jovi! That means hello!” And it became a van joke, and now I'm just…. Trying. It'll never take, but it's a solid joke for me and my buds. Appreciate you fighting the good fight with us…. Me. Fighting the hood fight with me.

Your solo work seems to be more punk and folk punk, what is your background in ska/reggae before starting The Kilograms?

Yeah, I cut my teeth playing/working in the ska and reggae world. I've been grateful for that. I started playing this heartland punk thing when I was 25. 

I was in a bunch of ska bands in high school, but nothing was touring or “known”. I was in a band called The Forthrights for a while, I played organ for The Hub City Stompers for a minute, guitar for Dave Hillyard and the Rocksteady 7, and guitar for The Pietasters for a few years. I worked for The Slackers, Westbound Train, The Skatalites and Leftover Crack as well. And the Sammy Band started as a ska band, and the core members of that band (Tim, Ben, and Chris) are all currently taking over the world in their band Catbite.

I have heard the story of how The Kilograms was “accidently” started but for our readers that don't know the story, how did the band get started and who else is in the band?

The band started pretty much cause me and Joe ran outta time on a deadline. Our friend Michelle lost everything in the Maui fires, and we were helping some buds organize a comp for them. Joe called on a Sunday and asked if I had a song, and he didn't have a finished thing, and asked if I wanted to finish up his with him.

I went to Jay Duckworth's place here in northern Kentucky, we tracked some stuff on Joe's idea, and pretty much by the end of the day, Joe was like let's do another, and that was the birth of The Kilograms.

I had saw that Michael McDermott posted online that he was looking for some session work to keep busy on his off months with Joan Jett & The Blackhearts, and just wrote him and said “join our band!”. He was in, and then I roped Jay into it! Jay and I have been working for a few years together, and he's got a solid ear, great guitar player, and a solid knowledge of the ska punk thing.

Really stoked. Really grateful.

The band released its first EP and if the line up wasn't great enough, you got some super ska punk elite cameos from Brittany Luna of Catbite, who lays down some amazing vocals, the touring keyboard player for like every other ska band, Esteban “Junior” Flores, Todd Farrell Jr. adding some pedal steel guitar, and Jeff Rickels with some additional percussion and a theremin! How did this all come about and how are you going to top that?

Man, who said it? We get by with a little help from our friends. That's it. We're so stoked they were all able to show up and rip killer parts for the record. 

I'm not too sure how to top it. Maybe Jon Bon Jovi on a chorus? Who knows…

The group's members bring in some different musical styles that sets this sound apart from anything I've heard from the band musicians before. Who writes the songs and how do they come together?

It's a wacky process. To be 100 percent honest, we've never been in the same room. Jay has never shaken McDermott or Joe's Hand. 

It starts with an idea. A couple lines, and me and Joe usually go back and forth until the song structure and lyrics are there. 

We do a scratch demo of guitar and vocals, with some little noodles to show the groove or feel, then down to Florida to Derm, then up to New England to Joe for bass, and then it comes back to us in Kentucky, and me and Jay just build it up. 

Then vocals get passed around, then back to Florida for percussion and whatnot.

It's been wild. We pretty much send an idea out on Monday, and by the following Monday it's essentially got the basic tracks.  We've been doing this for a few months and just seeing what's there.

I heard you talk about both you and Gittleman's approach to song creation in an “On The Upbeat” podcast and you kept mentioning that both of you have the same outlook of, do everything for the sake of the song. Can you expand on what that means to you?

The sake of the song… it's pretty simple… when we're tracking guitars and organ and what not, if it isn't fitting; don't do it. Don't force a part that doesn't fit. 

Right… Simon and Garfunkel, the sound of silence… if Stevie Wonder played that session, would he do a wild flanged out keyboard solo? Or just a pretty piano part that sits where it needs to sit?

The sake of the song in my head, is letting the words and melody breathe, and pair parts around the skeleton. If there's an aggressive line, a golden dagger right? The line that makes you think or feel… that needs to breathe and live. You can't stack a bunch of stuff on it. Let it be the moment. 

Another thing you mentioned is the phrase, “What would (Joe) Strummer do?” Who are some of your or the band's other influences?

I honestly have no idea. We never really talked about it, Me and Jay just listen to what Joe and McDermott do, and just build off that. If I had to say anything…A lot of punky reggae and two tone, and a lot of new wave, single note guitar stuff… The Cure ya know?  

Are there any bands currently on your radar that our readers may not have heard of but you think they should check out?

New Junk City, Motorbike, Slutbomb, The Montvales, Skinhead, Big Star, Kiss, The Clash. 

 That's a solid start.

The Kilograms have been playing some shows lately and have been added to the Supernova Ska Festival lineup (which I just looked up and holy shit it has a banger lineup already). Is this now a full time gig and not a side project for the band members?

KGs could never be a full time band. I'm not sure any of us want that. Hell, I'm not sure any of us wanna even be in a van for more than ten days. Hahaha.

This is just a bunch of buds creating. At least in my eyes. If there's shows, cool. If there isn't, cool. 

I'm the youngest in the band, and I've been chasing the road for just about 20 years. I don't have to prove anything anymore, neither does anyone else in the project.  We just wanna do cool shit. That's it.

Of course, I have to ask, when are we getting some more new songs, or a full LP?

When the time is right, they'll be right on time.

Thanks and bon jov!