A Dirty Dozen with AUSTIN DURRY of COYOTE KID – July 2019

According to a recent press release: “Minnesota based, cinematic rock band COYOTE KID has released the darkly film noir music video for their new single, “Femme Fatale,” the first single off of their upcoming album, The Skeleton Man. “Femme Fatale” was directed by Christopher Behnen and Dena Winter. The band has launched a Kickstarter Campaign to help fund The Skeleton Man, a full-length, cinematic alt-rock concept album, telling the post-apocalyptic, western tale of The Coyote Kid.” We get Austin to discuss new music, influences, and much more…

1. Tell us a little about your latest release.  What might a fan or listener not grab the first or second time they listen through?  Are there any hidden nuggets the band put in the material or that only diehard fans might find?

We put a lot of time and meticulous detail into our albums. Since they’re story albums, every song needs to be exactly right to fit into the plot and characters we’re simultaneously establishing in other songs. The song “Femme Fatale” was written to be an introduction to two of the main characters. The Coyote Kid, and the Medicine Crow. The song is a duet style western rock’n roll tune, that depicts lost love and violent instability between these two characters. This song also introduces us to the Coyote Kid’s character motif, which will show up throughout the album when he’s present in the story.

2. What got you into music, and can you tell us about the moment you realized you wanted to be a musician?

Growing up I actually wanted to be a comic book writer. I was always fascinated with stories, and character development. But when my dad taught me guitar I discovered I had a knack for performing and writing music. Now my two passions growing up and essentially merged into one, and we get to create these fantastical worlds and characters, and mold it into the music to fit the scenes and paint the bigger picture.

3. Building on that, is there a specific song, album, performer, or live show that guided your musical taste?

I was heavily inspired by bands like My Chemical Romance, and Murder By Death. Both have very strong themes and storytelling in their songs, and a knack for theatricality. I took a lot of inspiration from them.

4. Who would be your main five musical influences?

Murder by Death, My Chemical Romance, As Cities Burn, Brand New, and Pup.

5. If you could call in any one collaborator to do a song with, who would it be, and why?

Definitely Adam from Murder By Death. I feel like he would have a really good grasp on our music, and what we’re trying to achieve.

6. How would you describe your music to someone who’d never listened to you before? What is the one comparison a reviewer or fan has made that made you cringe or you disagreed with?

I usually call it “Cinematic Alt-rock” or something along those lines. Anything to try and portray the story elements as well as the darkness of the music. Usually when I mention trombone oriented, metal inspired music people get interested. The worst comparison I’ve ever gotten has got to be Creed. They meant it as a compliment, but it was a tough pill to swallow.

7. What’s the best thing about being a musician?

Honestly it’s the fans that make it worthwhile. I know that sounds corny as hell, but it’s true! The fans are why we do this. Their passion for this music is just unbelievable.

8. When the band are all hanging out together, who cooks; who gets the drinks in; and who is first to crack out the acoustic guitars for a singalong?

I’ll be honest, that has literally never happened. We may be the least rock’n roll band on the planet. We play a LOT of nerdy board games on the road. Between that, driving, loading, performing, writing. We’re pretty much always working on something.

9. When was the last time you were star struck and who was it?

Gah this whole interview is turning into a fangirl write up. We played with Murder By Death last year. It was incredible. We were able to chat with some of my musical heroes and I got so awkward. It was real rough.

10. If you weren’t a musician, what would be your dream job?

Some kind of story teller probably. Comic books. Maybe video games. Something like that.

11. Looking back over your career, is there a single moment or situation you feel was a misstep or you would like to have a “do over”, even if it didn’t change your current situation?

I have to pick only 1? We’ve pretty much run the gambit of stupid decisions over the years. We started with a name we didn’t like, that was completely unmemorable and hard to understand. It took us 9 years to finally change it. We’re fond of the memories we associate with the name, but we’re glad to be able to mix it up now. The other big one was signing onto a really shady record label. They seemed air tight from the outside, but once we were in it, it was beyond a toxic environment. Hard to say if we’d do it again or not. They did a lot of good things for our career. But they were an absolute nightmare to work with.

12. If you could magically go back in time and be a part of the recording sessions for any one record in history, which would you choose – and what does that record mean to you?

Ooo time travel. I’m down. I think I’d go with My Chemical Romance recording The Black Parade. That album is just a masterpiece. In storytelling, musicality, and theatricality. Not only that but they made it something that could be main stream popular. They brought punk and emo culture into the limelight and represented millions of hurting kids along the way. I can’t even imagine that happening nowadays. That record shows you can find a balance between punk and pop, and still have depth and story elements. It’s a true masterpiece.

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Category: Interviews