Cold Engines is New England's Music Award Winner for "Rock Band of The Year", and any of their tracks can easily prove it. As a unit that stays cohesively together, Cold Engines are all about crafting music that screams authentic and real. How're they able to obtain authentic and real? Well, their approach towards new-age versus old-age rock music is what will end up showcasing that quality to listeners, and this especially goes for their recent release of "Kuato Lives".
"Kuato Lives" starts itself off with a motivational rhythm, stemming from clean electric guitar strumming, as well as a persistent drumbeat that cohesively blends together to produce a specific kind of style. With the easy flow of the production combined with the electronic manipulation, "Kuato Lives" is able to adhere to both contemporary and retro-wave stylings. Admittingly, it makes for great contrast and creates a specific kind of buzz throughout the track.
Cold Engines lead a progressive track with "Kuato Lives", balancing the intensity evenly throughout the song. Creating a forward pop/rock track with "Kuato Lives", Cold Engines was successfully able to merge punchy tunes with a heroic melody. All in all, "Kuato Lives" kept us entertained to the point where we became fully aware that Cold Engines is the band to look out for this year.
Hello, Kuato Lives, and welcome to BuzzMusic. Were there any points within the writing or recording stage of "Kuato Lives" that made you feel you progressed significantly as a group?
Yes! This is our first full concept record so that notion alone allowed us to stretch out in ways we’ve never done before. Within that freedom, many new strengths from all the members of the band emerged. Being the most ambitious record in our catalog it’s surprising how fun and easy the recording was to make.
Do you often hone in on the significance of obstacles the group encounters during the creation stage?
Of course, obstacles pop up from time to time but we keep a huge emphasis on fun and creativity! We sure didn’t sign up as lifelong artists for the money HA!
What were some of the group's personal favorite components of "Kuato Lives". What were some elements that were highly focused on during the recording of the track?
We wrote the track together in the rehearsal space and started playing it live almost right away. The sheer fun of playing the song live made recording it that much easier. It’s just a song we really love. The epic quality of the track and the intricate meter changes are also components that keep it challenging and fun.
Considering the level of experience you have as a group, as well as individually, how would you describe the way this expertise aids in the crafting and manifestation of your own sound, as well as collective sound?
That’s a great question. Of course, our current creative mindset and technical ability always will translate to the final product. We look back through the years at our albums as almost journals of our lives. Everyone in the band is a journeyman player so with that level of experience comes with a lot of trust that each member will do the right thing for each song.
What are some next steps that Cold Engines is planning on executing in the near future?
Getting this rock opera out to the world is our immediate concern along with keeping creative and trying to keep our spirits up in this truly crazy time.
What has been keeping you inspired in 2020?
Lots of things have kept us inspired this year. The division in our country and the obvious inequities throughout the modern world are always sources of something to say. That's why this concept album came to be. The original movie “Total Recall” the record is based on is a tale of revolution against cooperating overlords and that notion is certainly prominent in today’s social and political climate. Beyond the direct surface-level and obvious problems we are all facing, love, loss, life, and simple day to day survival as an artist provides a wealth of inspiration at all times.