Chicago – One of the joys of music festivals is discovering new bands. This year Riot Fest introduced Best New Bands to dozens of new acts, including the rock ‘n’ roll five-piece The Unlikely Candidates. At the heart of this Texas band are long-time friends and Fort Worth natives Kyle Morris (lead vocals) and Cole Male (guitar), who bonded over their love of garage rock while in juvie. The two formed The Unlikely Candidates in 2008, and after jetting off to Europe for some life-changing adventures in 2010, Morris returned to The States ready to dive head first into making music and expand the band with the addition of drummer Kevin Goddard, lead guitarist Brenton Carney, and bassist Jared Hornbeek. While touring the West Coast and hitting up SXSW, The Unlikely Candidates started to become known for their amazing songs and energetic stage performance, which caught the attention of Atlantic Records.
Last fall the guys released the EP Follow My Feet, and this summer they made the rounds at various music festivals, including Bonnaroo and Firefly. While at Riot Fest in Chicago, Morris and Hornbeek took some time to chat with Best New Bands about the making of the band, writing music, books, and Vespas.
Sarah Hess: Kyle, you met Cole under some interesting circumstances. Tell us about it!
Kyle: (We) met back in our youngin’ days. In a spat of trouble, we met in a Juvenile facility and ended up going to the same high school and then joined the same cross-country team, which was really cool. Basically both of us had been in the music scene but had never really thought to do a band thing because Cole couldn’t really play guitar very well, and I had never sang. We both tried it one day we were like, “Wow this is not absolutely awful!” For some little bit of insanity, we ended up where we are now.
SH: How did the rest of the band come together?
Jared: Kevin joined the band about four years back. Brent about two years back, I think. They’re all from Fort Worth, so they all knew each other. I’m from California. These guys would come over and live at my parents’ house. My old band manager is our manager now: Lauren. We were the couch surfing house! Everyone came over. We all partied in the garage, got really drunk, and hung out. And then they needed a bass player! (laughs)
SH: Kyle, you dropped out of college to trek through Europe. How did that experience shape you as a person and a musician?
Kyle: Anytime that you’re able to step away from a certain perspective, rather intensely, it can make you see things you’ve never seen before. I got to look at America in a whole new way and just the world and my opportunities as a human being, as a wanderer, in a whole new way! It got me in touch with a lot of my folk roots or whatever. I was in and around Scotland and Ireland. I was all over the place, really. It was cool.
SH: Did coming home to Texas and rediscovering country music inspire the song “Home” or was it something else altogether?
Kyle: That’s my generational love letter basically. What I feel like we should do more of to get to a better place, aka home. It’s like verse by verse, um, I’ve never actually told anyone this! Verse by verse, is kind of like the things that we’ve encountered is the first verse, the second verse is I guess how we’ve grown into those, and then the third is what we should do to get to that place.
SH: What inspired “Follow My Feet?”
Kyle: I just basically hit a point in my life where I was questioning the legitimacy of morality in general. I saw a lot of people who did pretty horrible, manipulative things, like some people that I knew first hand, and it seemed like they would get ahead undisturbed. Then I saw a lot of really good people, who were generally really giving, and [they] were dealt some pretty bad hands. I got to this existential point where I was like, “What’s the point of being a good person at all?” And basically the conclusion to the song is to trust yourself, follow your feet, and your good intentions will lead you to the right place, hopefully!
SH: Kyle, I read that you’re an avid reader. What are you reading right now?
Kyle: I’m reading Taipei by um, I’m not going to remember his name.* They say he’s like the new incarnation of Hemingway, I guess. I’m also reading a Smiths biography and Morrissey’s autobiography.
*Note: the author’s name is Tao Lin.
SH: Do you have certain books that are “must haves” while on tour?
Kyle: I travel with a library…
Jared: He has books everywhere! You open his closet and books fall out. In his toiletry bag he has a book! (everyone laughs)
Kyle: It’s really pretentious because I barely read any of them, but I always bring John Keats’ Collected Works with me.
SH: So Kyle loves books, Jared, what do you love? What’s a hobby of yours or favorite thing to do?
Jared: My favorite thing to do is sleep! (laughs) I like to ride my bike around. I have a Vespa. I like to get away, you know. Get me on that, and I don’t have to think about anything. It’s good.
SH: You recently signed with Atlantic. Does that mean you’ll soon be releasing an album?
Jared: We’ve been writing a lot of songs, for sure! (laughs)
SH: Will you be playing any new material at Riot Fest?
Kyle: We’re going to play one new song.
Jared: It’s called “Magic.”
SH: And what is “Magic” about?
Kyle: It’s about realizing that actual love doesn’t really exist. You kind of have to make it yourself, but you have to keep that little bit of romanticism in the back of your head and let that grow. Otherwise life just becomes boring and pointless.
What’s not boring and pointless: The Unlikely Candidates. Stay up to date about the band by following The Unlikely Candidates on facebook. Follow My Feet is available for purchase on iTunes.
Photo by Tessa Barton
Sarah Hess
After attending The School of the Art Institute in Chicago, Sarah went on to study education at Dominican University, earning a degree in history. When not teaching, writing, or taking in a show, she is most likely to be found with a camera to her eye or hanging out in a darkroom.
You can follow Sarah Hess on twitter at @Sarahhasanh and view her music photography on her website: smhimaging.com.
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