Dear readers, we are pleased to offer you in this article an interview with a Danish band that offers a mixture of Post-Rock/Metal Prog and Sludge. We welcome Kallon.
Hello, how are you?
“Hi Jacopo, we are very happy to be interviewed by The ProgJournal.”
Where does the name of your band Kallon come from and what does it mean?
“Well, we were throwing possible names, the idea was to have a short and powerful one. It was John who came with Kalon (initially just one L), which originally comes from the Greek word Kalos. It literally means “the ideal of physical and moral beauty as conceived by the philosophers of classical Greece”. It may sound presumptuous once you read the meaning, but in the end it sounds cool to us, heavy. And we are also not a band that takes themselves too seriously, so we tend to make jokes about if we would live up to the expectations the meaning can create. But we believe our music and topics in “Moment” relate til some extent with that definition, so we are not that far.”
Your music blends Prog, Post-Rock and Metal with Sludge, where does your passion for these sounds come from?
“Yeah, we really enjoy those genres. Somehow we come with a mix of backgrounds with fortunate commonalities. We grew up listening to thrash and alternative metal (from Megadeth to SOAD, or from Pantera to Tool, it depends on who you talk to). Some of us grew up listening to 70s-80s prog rock as well. Quite a mix. And then a plethora of bands that blend several of those styles came out and took us to explore new ways. We talk about Baroness, Mastodon, High on Fire, Russian Circles, The Ocean Collective, Intronaut, Opeth…so many great bands. In the end, we like heavy and catchy riffs and vocal harmonies, complex enough that we can be playful with them. And we like big sounding passages as well, so that’s why the post vibe in our sound.”
Your debut album “Moment” was released in August 2023, how would you describe this work?
“‘Moment’ shows our view of the journey of existence and life. We envision life as something beautiful. But at the same time existence is the biggest burden we can experience, all the “whys” we all face constantly. In “Moment” we explain this double sided experience mostly through metaphors and connections with the density of the universe, as it is hinted in the album’s artwork. Musically, we can summarize “Moment” on three main pillars: first, we aim for that riff or phrase that carries the heavy load, and we evolve around it. Then vocal melodies, try to put as much feeling and energy as possible in there. And the third one are the lyrics, which we believe are quite elaborate.”
Intense and energetic vocal and instrumental parts, what themes do the lyrics deal with?
“‘Moment’ is an attempt to show our reflection of what life is. And we think it is both bright and dark. We believe there is nothing better or worse, it is actually the best and the worse we can get, a constant exploration sometimes with the only goal of exploring. And because we four have a scientific or technical background, we somehow ended up using space/astronomical topics as pivotal elements, and concepts that help us express what we think and feel. While these topics are discussed in the band, Matthew is the writer of all lyrics in this album, and we are extremely happy with the result. We have songs like “Divisions”, which lyrics can be thought of as a disease spreading (Corona times had its impact on everyone), but also as the beginning of the universe from the Big Bang (directly related to the cover of our album). And we can continue with the rest, “Singularity” is a black hole, a singular point that breaks the continuum and distresses. The “Weight of the Universe” started with us thinking about the Dark Matter and how that can be linked to the heavy load that carrying a proper life means to us. And the constant exploration of human race is basically described in “A Search that never ends”. But we are also joyful, and “Ode to a Satellite” is a pure celebration, an ode to the moon, and pretty much to life. Some songs originated from personal experiences as well. “The Gale” is related to Diego’s father, working for 40 years as a fisherman and having quite a tough life. And Migration is, by obvious reasons, very much linked to us in the sense that we all come from different countries.”
Long tracks, tempo changes and a granitic sound, how does the creative process of your music take place?
“It is generally an iterative process, and each of us had some more work on some aspects of the process than in others. Initially we have an idea for a riff or verse, or a set of riffs that could make sense together. Then the musical structure is defined quite organically. But the beauty of it is that everything has to pass at some point through the filter of us getting together in the rehearsal space. Down there we basically abuse the ideas with tempo changes and layering instruments and vocal harmonies until we feel it is going somewhere meaningful. Then we take it home, polish it, come with new versions… But we do enjoy a lot taking ideas that were initiated at someones desk and play them together through hundreds of watts of power in a small room. It is just something else and definitely helps us to get the sound we get.”
Your music is powerful and elaborate at the same time, will there be a chance to hear it live?
“Definitely, that’s our will. We were really focused on polishing the album and the digital release. In mid-September we played together with the Necromancers in Copenhagen, and we consider that the perfect beginning of many concerts to come.”
You come from different countries and musical backgrounds, how did the project come about and how do you merge the different past experiences?
“Copenhagen is a very multicultural place, and many people around the world come here to study or work. Tobias and Diego studied together here in Denmark, and the project as it is Kallon started when they met John at a concert, back in 2017. It was Red Fang and Mastodon who played. We all played in the past, and wanted to do it again. Somehow that day we got the will to do that. And a bit later Matthew just made the perfect fit, bringing up that extra punch to the band, and also some good experience in the Danish metal scene, as he has been quite active in other bands, such as Rift Giant or Wokeh. Somehow it just worked very well from the beginning, it fulfilled what we were looking for.”
Music is constantly evolving, how do you see today’s scene and the future of your genre?
“Today’s scene is great, it’s so diverse and there’s so many different artists out there with their own understandings of sound that keep music alive and thriving. Music keeps evolving, and that’s what’s so cool about it. We see genres like post-metal and post-rock emerging and gaining traction. The Ocean’s latest album “Holocene” is a prime example, blending in electronic elements so smoothly. While it might not dominate the mainstream, there’s a growing appreciation for such genre mixes. With artists continuously experimenting, we’re likely to see even more of these innovative blends in the future. It’s definitely an exciting phase for the world of music. Like many bands and acts, we’re not in it for the success, but because we love what we’re doing. We’re not worried about how our music fits into today’s scene, or how it will fit into tomorrow’s, we do what we do because we want to. If others like what we’re doing, that’s just awesome, but it isn’t the main driver by any means. In Denmark there is a lot of attention on supporting the arts and various aspects of culture in general. Live music is always great, and there’s a lot of focus on making sure smaller venues can flourish alongside the big draw concerts and festivals, and there really is a place for everyone, whatever the genre.”
Do you have any other passions or artistic activities outside music?
“We all have our bunch of side hobbies, of course. John is a great mario kart driver (he won twice in a row the Danish national championship). Diego comes with an injury per month due to football…we are just a bunch of regular guys playing music.”
I thank the band for the interview and wish them all the best for the continuation of their artistic career.
Read ou Review of the album “Moment” here: [Review] Kallon – Moment
Purchase the album “Moment” on Bandcamp: https://kallonband.bandcamp.com/album/moment
