Kin Ship

The Kinobe story started over twenty years ago. Mark Blackburn has known Julius Walters almost all his life.

We grew up in the street next to each other and went to primary school together, he recalls. Then Julius moved to Australia when he was thirteen for eight and a half years.
It was while down under that the music bug first bit Julius: Australia has a very low key live scene. There are only seventeen million people and limited musical tastes. Pub rock is dominant and I played in quite a few bands. But what I had really wanted to do was get a studio-based band together.
That didn t happen until Julius returned to the UK, on New Year s Day 1998 in fact, at the flat he shared with his childhood mate, on Goldhawk Road in London. Mark had been working in illustration and design he still spends at least some of his time as part of The Light Surgeons but the duo decided to form Kinobe after finding their musical aspirations were quite similar, and working together proved incredibly easy.
Because we know each other so well we often know what the other is thinking, explains Julius. Mark eventually moved out to make room for the studio, and before long the pair had popped an eleven-track demo in the post to Jive, home of one of their favourite acts, A Tribe Called Quest. We couldn t decide on our favourite tunes so we decided to send them all.
It wasn t long before Jive s dance subsidiary Pepper had signed Kinobe, and in 1999 they unleashed two limited edition EPs that showcased their charming, stoned blend of downtempo beats, cinematic acoustics and nifty vocals. Mark says that they had no set aims regarding how they wanted to sound. We had no great ideas. We were just having fun knocking out tunes left, right and centre. His love of hip-hop proved influential though. I m really into listening to breakbeats and hip-hop. I d been to lots of hip-hop gigs and then hung out in the rave and free party scenes before exploring early jungle.
Julius is surprised at how the dance media has welcomed them with open arms. I wouldn t compare our album to dance music. A couple of tunes have pretty fast beats, but that s all. However, I suppose these days DJs in clubs and bars tend to put together more eclectic sets and maybe that s how we fit in. I think, generally speaking though, we appeal to an across the board audience.
Recording the album, Soundphiles, didn t take long but it was frustrating waiting six months to get it out and five tracks from their original demo ended up on it. Both are happy with the overall result: there is a connection between all of our tracks and we re well on the way to having our own recognisable sound.
With over fifty tracks now written, Julius is keen to take things to the next level. Long-term plans include working with a strong American rapper like Q-Tip or Mos Def , but for now they just want to get out on stage. Their first gig is at the Prestatyn weekender in Wales in November.
We can t wait to get out there, playing as live as we possibly can. I want to emulate what Beck does, although maybe not on that scale. We ll be bringing in other musicians, like a DJ, drummer, a bassist and a vocalist.
If they can gel as quickly in the live arena as they did in the studio, my guess is that the Kinobe story is only just beginning.