Pop punk, passionate, Philadelphia. Those are the three things that come to mind when I think about the über cool, ready-to-take-over-the-charts band, Kissing the Klepto. They also just so happen to start with the letter P — a coincidence, truly. They are a quartet of young men who are taking the DIY effort and truly putting it to work. Their first EP, Why Bother?, was released on April 20 and they’ve continued putting on their signature high energy, rowdy, and out of control (in the best ways) shows all over Northern Philly — except now with an EP of their very own under their belts. Setbacks and mishaps along the way may have brought a couple black clouds over the recording process, but in due time, the sun came out — as did their record. We caught up with KTK and got a glimpse of that extra-long process and what life has been like since Why Bother? was released.
How long have you been a band and how did you get started?
The idea for the band came around about two years ago. Our friends were hosting a show that the headlining band dropped off of last minute, so we decided to throw together a couple pop-punk songs and hopped on the bill. It was supposed to be our first and only show, but we had so much fun and it was received so well that our friends demanded more shows. So we decided to pick it up and take things more seriously.
How would you describe your music to someone who has never heard you before?
It’s a weird mixed bag of classic pop punk mixed with Toto and sprinklings of George Clinton’s Parliament Funkadelic. Our homie Al Blum actually described us with that sentence exactly.
What was your latest release of music and can you talk about that a bit?
We just put our very first EP called Why Bother?. We’d like to think it perfectly captures the countless hours we just shamelessly wasted in the tail end of 2016 kicking around at beat up houses, being let down by everyone we know, getting kicked out of stupid bars, and vaping ourselves into absolute oblivion.
What is your writing and recording process like?
We typically sit at Nate’s house and complain about people we don’t like until one of us either has an aneurysm or we laugh ourselves to tears. Then we kinda just yell things at each other until one of us goes, “Do that one again,” and then we make voice memos on our phones and put music behind it.
What are current projects you are working on?
We definitely want to get some more music out into the world, but right now we’re a little more focused on keeping Baja Blast Mountain Dew in-stores forever. Getting it on the shelves back in April was huge and music is cool and all, but it’s really important to us that the world knows we’re not going quietly into the night on that one.
Is there any significance behind your band name?
If anyone asks you can tell them it has something to do with like romanticizing your vices or whatever, something deep. But it totally doesn’t mean that.
What is your favorite memory as a band?
We played in West Chester one time before we had released any music so nobody really knew the songs. This kid we had never ever seen before showed up and somehow knew all the words to every single song, like better than we did. This dude went b a n a n a s the whole set and then was like super soft-spoken and reserved when we talked to him after. Still not positive he wasn’t an alien.
What are your goals for the future as a band?
We’re hoping to put something new in your ears ASAP, the EP has been a ton of fun to bop with everyone on but now that we’re in the swing of things we’ve fallen into new release withdrawal real bad. Keep your eyes open for sure.
What are your plans for the rest of 2018?
Melt some faces, see some places, crush some cases?
Where can readers find your music?
We’re just about everywhere currently. Why Bother? is available on Spotify, Apple Music, Youtube, even Tidal and those TouchTunes Jukeboxes. Or come rip with us in real life, we’re always around.
