Kink Ador hits national stage

Kink Ador hits
national stage
by Tim Brouk, Journal and Courier 6-11-2010

Lafayette native Sharon Koltick and her rock band Kink Ador continue their climb to national prominence.

The trio played the Verge Music Festival last weekend in Milwaukee, which was headlined by Weezer, The Raveonettes, She & Him, Three Days Grace, AFI and Eagles of Death Metal.

Aside from the festival, Kink Ador also is playing many dates in support of the new release "The Shape of Life."

See http://kinkador.com and www.vergemusicfestival.com

Kink Ador Record Release feat. The Vespers & Keegan DeWitt

Kink Ador Record Release feat. The Vespers & Keegan DeWitt
When: Thu., May 27, 9 p.m. 2010
Price: Free

by Seth Graves, Nashville Scene, published May 27, 2010

Kink Ador fans recently fueled the band’s Kickstarter.com account to completion, allowing them to self-release their latest, The Shape of Life. Kink Ador rewarded this generosity handsomely with a 10-cut disc of sonically rich and categorically diverse rock ’n’ roll just in time for those in need of summer jams. Sure, it’s silly, but I like to imagine this record was written inside a ragtop Camaro driven at top speed through outer space, searching for a wormhole back to 1977 with singer/bassist Sharon Koltik’s sultry howl serving as the metaphorical rocket fuel. Most of these tracks kick off with a deep and fuzzy 420-friendly groove, finding a comfy pocket somewhere between Queens of the Stone Age and early Heart. But they soon eschew the constraints of gravity with elements of jazz and ’60s psychedelia — which really make those previous references to space travel appropriate, right? Kink Ador celebrates their new release tonight at Mercy Lounge.
— Seth Graves

Kink Ador at Mercy Lounge by EastNashvilleBlog.com

Kink Ador at Mercy Lounge by EastNashvilleBlog.com by Lindsey Boise

I recently got a call from my brother Corey, a drummer in town, telling me he was going to sit in for a song with a band called Kink Ador down at Mercy Lounge. Most, if not all, of Kink Ador call East Nashville home, and I always love checking out the local cheese.

My wife Ginger and I met up with Corey and his wife Jen across the river at the Mercy Lounge. The room was spaciously empty, and since I’m such a rebel, that made me happy. We were there early though, which allowed ample time for the place to fill up just enough to make you feel the energy of other people without having to fight for basic survival resources like oxygen, points of escape and elbow room at the bar.

Another reason the audience had a chance to grow was because the band got started a little late, creating a buzz of annoyance/anticipation that seems to be a prerequisite for any decent show these days.

East Nashville's own Kink Ador (Photo: Ray + Wendy)

Once the sound of the crowd murmuring became a sufficient hum, Kink Ador appeared from backstage. I was surprised to see that they are a trio. I guess I expected a troupe playing keyboards, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, a washtub bass, synthesizers, xylophones, a harmonica, a laptop, their iPhones and whatever other noisemakers people pile onto a stage these days. No, Kink Ador do it simply. They are a drummer, a guitarist and a bassist/singer. The guitarist and the bassist also played trumpets from time to time. Really cool.

Guitarist Andrew Sovine had a few tricks up his sleeve and seemed to play mostly textural riffs and patterns which allowed the guitar to have its own voice, ornamenting the rhythm section rather than sitting all over it and being just another thump in the beat. There were occasional, tastefully done guitar solos which followed melodic themes from the song. He played some beautiful sounding vintage instruments, though I can’t tell you what they are offhand. In addition to the electric guitar, he also played a lap slide. Whatever the instrument, Sovine was adept and capable on his instruments and knew how to translate his skill into emotive playing.

Sharon Koltick on trumpet (Photo: Ray + Wendy)

As far as the vocals go, it was pretty hard for me to hear what vocalist Sharon Koltick was saying. Whether it was due to the house mix, her pronunciation or our position in the room is something I don’t know. From what I could hear, there was a girlish poppiness in the melody, vocal delivery and stage presence. Koltick’s vocals sat in the rhythms well, danced above them when appropriate and supplied a unifying thread for the audience to lock onto. Every so often, Sovine would sing backup. Their voices might have blended well together in other circumstances, but in this case his voice was mixed louder and sounded clearer than hers, creating a feeling of insubordination and imbalance when he chimed in.

Koltick’s duties also included the bass guitar. I am always impressed by that feat – it’s like simultaneously being rain on the roof and a brontosaurus. The bass lines were a punky throb which clung pretty closely to the songs’ chordal triads and orbited the kick drum relatively tightly. There was some more melodic movement present in the riffish licks she threw in here and there.

The solidly pounding tempo, subtle accents and dynamics, and advanced cymbal technique left me impressed with Brad Naylor’s drumming throughout the set. His beats were designed to make us move and delivered with a restrained, focused intensity that made me wonder half-excitedly and half-fearfully what would happen if he were to let absolutely loose.

One of the benefits of being a trio is there is room to bring in other people for collaboration, and Kink Ador used that to their advantage. They brought up two unique female vocalists for a song each and my brother joined their drummer on the penultimate song to create an explosively percussive piece.

All in all, I would recommend seeing Kink Ador – their music was well played, and the mood was assertive yet fun. Not only will you be showing support for a talented group of Eastsiders, but you also might be pleasantly surprised. They definitely surprised me.

Kink Ador will play two benefit shows later this month: Light One Up for Kenya at The Basement on April 17, and the release party for the We Will Not Ignore EP to benefit Haiti at Exit/In on April 22. In the meantime, follow them on Twitter, check out their music on Myspace or connect with them on Facebook.

Kink Ador in the Studio

http://16ton.com/kink-ador-in-the-studio/

Hello all, your friends at 16 Ton Recording Studios, here, back in action in the New Year!  Kink Ador is in the studio right now laying down some incredible Rock n Roll! If you aren’t yet familiar with Kink Ador, you probably soon will be.  They are one of the most dynamic, creative, purely visceral rock bands on the Nashville scene (and beyond) right now.  Their songs are filled with laser-sharp guitar tones shredding catchy licks, tribally-fused energetic pop-rock rhythms, and funky/sweet bass lines, all encompassing the charismatic female lead vocalist who could bleed souls with her vocal tone! And their live shows are NOT to be missed! 16 Ton’s Mike Esser has collaborated with this hot band for many projects, and we are always excited to have them around!  You can check them out for yourselves at kinkador.com, or buy their albums on itunes, including their  latest EP ‘I Am Animal’.  Kink Ador is another prime example of the many fantastic bands who choose 16 Ton Recording Studios to deliver their musical vision.  Stay tuned to hear the latest on the Nashville recording scene via 16ton.com, and as always keep in touch!

Q + A with Kink Ador on Style Defined Blog NYC

A little Q + A with Kink Ador

Katya - You guys are based in Nashville.

Sharon - The move to Nashville happened because I knew I wanted to make music and Nashville is a place I could afford to do it. And there’s a lot of rock bands doing really well being based out of Nashville.
Brad - And everyone who goes there is…they’re dreaming so hard and so there’s this dome of hope over the city because we’re all working so hard to make something happen so it’s just an awesomely inspiring city.
Sharon - And if you go by city mottos – they call it music city!

Katya - Who are some of your inspirations – musically or otherwise?

Sharon - Well you mentioned one before we began the interview which is Prince. Not so much stylistically but as an amazing performer who puts on a killer show every single night no matter what and that’s something we love to do and are inspired by. And The Red Hot Chili Peppers…The Yeah, Yeah Yeahs…
Brad - I think the spoken word: writers, poets and those who just want to do there thing and give it back.
Katya - What about writing the songs? How does that work?

Sharon – I come up with the structure, the lyrics, the melody and then I bring it to the guys. I have to have it as a complete thought or idea that I can defend and then let them hack away at it and then we polish it and it becomes a song. It really is collaborative but I start by steering it in a certain direction.
Brad - and then we steer her in another direction!

Katya - Are your songs based on your own life?

Sharon - We base them on a lot of things
Andrew - Class struggles of the Russian Oligarchy!
Sharon - Our song Animal is inspired by Toni Morrison’s book Beloved. The idea of freedom and finding your own path.

Katya - So you’re currently touring. How do you like it?

Andrew - We love it. We’ve all had day jobs and this is the best one so far.
Brad - When you go to a show and you feel that and are gone from your reality…and you leave and feel better…that positive energy that comes from being a part of that –that performance- that is what it’s about.
Katya - Do you feel like people in different areas have distinct energies or are the audiences kind of the same everywhere?

Andrew - I think everywhere we’ve played people have slightly different expectations. We’re sometimes playing with what seems like very random acts so you don’t know what the audience is expecting. But we’ve found that the more we play the more we realize that whether or not people have an idea about us by the end of the set we’ve won them over. Like we were in Chicago a few weeks ago and there was this man…this giant tree of a man that could break you in half and we thought whoa this is gonna be a tough crowd but by halfway in the set he was dancing his ass off. And that’s just an example…it’s not anything we know how to do, it’s just there’s this connection between the 3 of us that people are drawn to –they see how much fun we have and they can’t help but smile.

Katya - It’s infectious!

Andrew - Yeah, like swine flu! (laughter)
Brad - It’s fun! Somebody said to me you know I don’t know what it is about it – I don’t know what I’m gonna hear but I know I’m gonna have fun.

Katya - So you have an album out called Animal. How would you describe it?

Sharon - The EP "I Am Animal" is a collection of songs that really define the Kink Ador sound. Especially the song ' Animal.' The grit of the guitar sounds, the primal rawness of the bass and drums, and the journey that is happening in the lyrics create a unique tension that defines the sound of the band. We tried to go for fresh sounding rock and roll on the record, and i think we have achieved that.

Katya - And where can people get it?

Sharon - Get it off of iTunes or directly from us on the Kink Ador website.

Katya - Okay, that's it. Thanks guys!

Andrew, Brad and Sharon rocking out!

Kink Ador on Style Defined blog NYC

http://styledefined.blogspot.com/search/label/Listen

Listen: Kink Ador

Andrew Sovine, Sharon Koltick and Brad Naylor

I had the chance to catch this Nashville based band at a private show at The Delancey tonight. They're great performers with a fun and infectious energy. You can check out their recent video here. But, even better you can see them LIVE this Thursday night - as in TONIGHT- at Webster Hall at 9pm along with Ten Feet Deep, Glenton Davis and Cass Dillon. ...and read my Q+A with them in the Musings section.