Pop-Culturalist.com

Filipino-Spanish-American artist Kyd the Band (aka Devin Guisande) has shown immense growth, maturity, and vulnerability since bursting onto the scene with Season 1: The Intro. He’s taken listeners on a journey through the triumphant and failures as he’s discovered his voice as an artist, culminating in the release of Season 4: Series Finale. Pop Culturalist was lucky enough to speak with Devin about tapping into his vulnerability, his new single “Somebody’s Song”, and what fans can expect from this final chapter.

PC: You’ve mentioned in the past that you’ve had to discover a lot of your artistry on your own. What’s had the biggest impact on your development?
Kyd the Band: It’s been the process of releasing music. There have been times when I didn’t feel a hundred percent spot on with who I was. It felt like there was more to me.

When you set out to be an artist, you’re like, “Oh, I’m going to figure out my sound and then I’m going to put out my music. That’s going to be it forever.” But for me, it’s been the opposite. I’ve been like, “Let me do something. Let me go through this process of putting out music for the first time and navigate how that feels and how I want to move forward, process, and/or evolve.”

That’s probably the biggest thing that’s influenced me: going through the process of trying, failing, learning, and having some success.

PC: You’ve also said in the past that you’ve always felt like an underdog in this industry. During those more challenging times, how were you able to persevere?
Kyd the Band: It’s a matter of realizing and remembering that this is what I’m passionate about. That’s what gets me out of bed every day. Whether people want to receive the music I make or not has nothing to do with the fact it’s still something I love.

PC: You’ve been steadily releasing music throughout the years. If you had to pick one song that best encompasses who you are as an artist, which would it be and why?
Kyd the Band: It’s the last song on this EP. It’s called “Real Problems”. It really sums up the journey for me. It took going through a lot of things that tested my faith, who I am, my resolve. It took me experiencing, for lack of a better term, real problems to become who I am today. It took me going through some stuff to realize all these things.

PC: You just released the music video for “Real Problems”. Can you tell us about that?
Kyd the Band: I’m really proud of the video. It’s probably my favorite video I’ve done yet. It portrays a time in my life that I’ve talked about in a few of my songs, specifically “Dark Thoughts.” I’d never been able to tell that story visually before. “Real Problems” felt like the right song to do it with. I’m really proud of it. I hope that it helps somebody out there who has gone through a similar thing.

PC: One of the beautiful things about music is its ability to make listeners feel seen and less alone, which your music definitely does. For you as an artist, has it always been really easy to tap into that vulnerability? What is that process like?
Kyd the Band: It felt easy for me because music is my outlet. It seems like a natural place for me to open up. That’s been really helpful on a personal level and in terms of dealing with life.

PC: When you’re working on new music, is there a moment when you’re either writing or making the song that you realize you’ve created something special?
Kyd the Band: It’s always during the writing process, actually. When I write a song, I try to approach it with the hope that this is going to be the best song I’ve ever written. It doesn’t always turn out that way. [laughs] You can’t really explain why it happens or how it comes about, but it’s that moment when you’re like, “We’ve caught something here. This feels really, really special.” By the time I’m done working on a song, I’ve listened to it so many times or I’ve tweaked so many different things that it’s easy to lose sight of what made it special to begin with. I always go back to that moment when I was first enamored with and taken by the song. That’s what I hold on to.

PC: Artists have had to adapt to the ongoing pandemic. How have you stayed creatively fulfilled? What have you learned about yourself in the past year?
Kyd the Band: There were times during the last year and a half where I felt like I didn’t have a lot to draw from creatively. I’d feel like I was living the same day over and over, like Groundhog Day. I’d get up. I’d write a song. I’d eat and then I’d go to bed. For me, it was getting into the mindset of, “I’m getting up today. I’m going to work. I’m going to write a song.” That helped me do it.

I’ve learned that I actually really miss touring and being around people. As I’ve grown, I’ve become more reclusive. As you get older, you experience the not-so-great parts of being human with respect to friends and relationships and the hurt and pain that can come from them. I feel like I’ve withdrawn more.

When I started to tour more, I felt myself withdrawing even more because you’re around all these people you don’t know. They either like you or they don’t. They either care about you or they don’t. You feel like maybe they only care about you because of your music. They don’t understand that there’s an actual human being there. If they don’t care about you, it makes you want to withdraw even more, especially if you’re on a tour and you’re the opener.

I thought this was going to be how I would always feel about being around people. But then, having that taken away from me, like everybody else, made me realize that I actually need to be around people to be healthy. That’s probably the biggest thing I’ve realized. I actually do love touring and being somewhere different every day.

PC: Great answer. You have a new single out now. Can you tell us about “Somebody’s Song” and the inspiration behind it?
Kyd the Band: The week that I wrote “Somebody’s Song”, I was listening to a lot of Elton John, which is not a normal thing for me. I was listening to “Rocket Man”. I was like, “Man, I’d really love to write a song like this: a piano ballad with a story that feels classic.” I had the line, “I always knew you’d end up somebody’s song; I just never thought that you’d be mine.” My co-writers, Jake and Louie, threw that out there and they were like, “Man, that feels great. Let’s do that.”

The song is about the times in my life where I’ve been hurt by people I never thought I was going to get hurt by. I always thought that wasn’t going to be me. For some reason, I knew they’d hurt somebody…I just didn’t think it was going to be me. That’s what the song is about.

PC: In addition to all the new music that you have, you’re dropping Season 4: Series Finale later this year. What can fans expect from this body of work, and how does it differentiate itself from the past three?
Kyd the Band: It’s the exclamation point on this whole series of EPs. Sonically, it blends the two alternative and more rhythmic sides that I’ve explored in the previous three albums. I also talk about some things I’ve gone through in my life on those first three albums. With Season 4, I’m drawing some conclusions as to what that all meant and where I feel like I’m at now.

To keep up with Kyd the Band, follow him on Twitter, Instagram, Spotify, and Apple Music.

Photo Credit: Gina Di Maio