Words and Interview by Kyra Jade
This is NOT a drill. Karnivool has gifted us a new album - In Verses - after a cool 13 years carefully curating each song. Spoiler alert, it’s every bit as magical as you are imaging! Just like Karnivool I’m from Perth myself and have always carried this sense of pride and connection to the band through their music. Sometimes it feels like you are isolated away from the rest of the world in W.A so to see a band from there successfully take on the rest of Australia and then the world is nothing short of amazing.
Now, nothing really gets me more excited than a message from my boss Kris at HEAVY MAG that says ‘You’re a big Karnivool fan, right?’. Whatever it is, yes count me in. Before I knew it, I was locked in for an interview on my lunch break from my work ute the following Monday. The makings of a true interviewer I've since been told… thus starting the first of my His-Vis interview series.
Monday rolls around and it's time to dig in and see what’s been going on in the Karnivool camp! What was the moment they decided it was ‘time’ to put it all together and release the music that’s been burning a hole in their pocket for so long? I'll take the chance to fire away all the questions that have been burning a hole in my pockets for years too! Lucky for me the man with all the answers, frontman Ian Kenny, just entered my Zoom and I couldn't be more excited to hear what he has to say.
We took a walk down memory lane and reflected on releasing their 2001 debut EP Persona. Mostly I was curious to know if they would, or have, played it live cover-to-cover and Ian's reaction was pretty much 'Shut it down' 😂 - deeming it an 'interesting conversation' at most'. Does this mean Persona has become the ugly step kid put in the corner? Fade off the EP was my gateway drug to Karnivool and as far as debuts go, they smashed onto the scene with songs that were humbly created in their parent's back shed without the young lads realising that they have just started to build the foundations on which they stand on today.
Karnivool's lyrics are deep and I wanted to take the opportunity to peak into the creative process and what it looks like building a song. Has the formula changed from their last album? Ian's answer was a great insight into harnessing his creativity to navigate his wonderful & intellectually complex mind. He confessed 'I find writing challenging because the music is so obscure I get lost and have to pull myself out again‘. I couldn’t help but think to myself, ‘Well, that’s fitting, because when I listen to Karnivool I find myself in an almost trans like state - lost in the music too.'
Although sometimes the lyrics that came through didn't exactly make sense to Ian at the time, as the years went by he began to resonate and connect with their intended meanings. Music is such a powerful tool and for musicians, it's pretty much being their diary. It's a beautiful journey of discovery that I can only imagine would feel like a gift from the 'past you' patiently waiting to reveal it's true meaning when the time is right.
‘Trying to find pure flow state where you would unearth things from your subconscious and some of that shits important because you don’t know what it means most the time and then after the fact it really comes to how you are living or what are you doing, and you think... how does that line up now?’
This interview was so much fun. I can’t thank Ian Kenny enough for having a good laugh with me and being open to sharing his personal experiences and stories from over the years. You always hope that your hero's are everything you want them to be in 'real life' and I feel so lucky on this occasion to be greeted by a friendly face that seamlessly gave way to a conversation I wish could have gone for hours.
Hope you enjoy the full interview. Until next time, legends!
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