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Kaleido Interview on Their Writing Process, New Album ‘Experience’, Alien Ant Farm and Seether, Tattoos and More

We checked in with Detroit, MI’s female-fronted band Kaleido to chat about their writing process, new album Experience, Alien Ant Farm and Seether, tattoos, and more!

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Detroit, MI-based rock group Kaleido released their debut full-length recording, Experience, on May 19th after the female-fronted act spent time recording it at Plymouth, MI’s The Pipeyard Studio. With a ton of momentum and even more upcoming tour dates, we checked in with the band to chat about their writing process, Experience, Alien Ant Farm and Seether, tattoos, and much more!

For those not familiar with Kaleido – can you tell us a little bit about yourselves?
Christina Chriss: We’re a 5 piece, Detroit incarnation of Rock N’ Roll. Christina Chriss (vocals), Joey Fava (drums), Ronnie Rosolino (rhythm guitar), Cody Morales (bass) and Zach Bolling (lead guitar). We like to party, play shows, write music and meet people.

Your new LP Experience was recently released. Now that it is out – how do you feel about it, and what has been the response so far?
Christina Chriss: We worked on Experience for about 2 years and its gratifying to finally have it out and available to our fans. The response has been incredible, we’ve received tons of great reviews, made the Billboard “Heetseekers” and Rock Album charts, and it was the #2 most sold album in Detroit on its first week out. We are so grateful!

What is your writing process like?
Christina Chriss: We all contribute – it’s a collaborative writing process. Sometimes the lyrics come first, other times it’s a riff or melody. It’s always organic and never forced.

When you write do you do so with the live setting in mind or do you write a song just for the song’s sake?
Cody Morales: We write for the song’s sake and the live show is born of that.

What’s the story behind the name of the band?
Christina Chriss: We live in a kaleidoscopic world, and life resembles a Kaleidoscope – ever changing, intricate and beautiful. We wanted the name to reflect who we are as a band.

What is the story behind the name of the Experience LP?
Cody Morales: The songs came one at a time, but as we listened back they all seemed to fit together in an ”order”. A concept was formulated and we created the interludes to tie everything together. In essence the completion and the album itself was, and is – an experience.

You have toured the U.S. It there anywhere you would like to go that you have not been, especially outside the U.S.?
Christina Chriss: We would love to travel the entire world eventually! Eastern Asia is definitely up there on the list, places with inspiring scenery we can soak in, as well as anywhere tropical!

What’s the Rock scene like in Detroit? Do you receive a lot of support from your local scene and fans in general?
Christina Chriss: It’s cool. There is a lot of great talent coming out of Detroit. Our fan group “The KaleidoFam” formed in Detroit, so we have a bunch of awesome support and love at home.

Do you have any rituals before you hit the stage? If so, what are they?
Cody Morales: No real rituals, mostly just routine… Drink water or beverage of your choice, stretch a little bit, get in the zone. Get our heads right, and then go do it!

You’ve just gotten back from a tour with Seether. Do you have any other touring plans in the works to support Experience?
Cody Morales: There are a few irons in the fire at the moment. Make sure to connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram & our website KaleidoBand.com for the upcoming tour announcements.

What is the strangest thing that has happened to you on tour, or at one of your shows?
Christina Chriss: On this last tour we played a venue that was supposedly haunted, and after the show there was a guided tour that we went on with the Seether guys. Let’s just say things got weird, I felt possessed by a spirit named Mary and we got the hell out of there. Alcohol definitely had NOTHING to do with it. ;o)

What has been the most memorable moment of your career so far?
Christina Chriss: There have been many, and our career as a whole has been extremely rewarding and exciting. We’ve shared stages across the country with some of our idols, played all over the United Kingdom with Alien Ant Farm (who have become family), witnessed the beauty of many places that had it not been for music, we probably would have never visited. Our love for Rock & Roll and each other, our passion, has opened so many doors and has helped make us into the people we are today. We’ve met thousands of people, and touched so many lives with our music. It’s truly unforgettable and we look forward to making more memories and doing it for a long, long time.

When, where and what was your first tattoo? Do any of your tattoos have a particularly special meaning behind them? If so, do share please! Do you have a specific Tattoo shop or artist that you frequent (insert shameless plug time!)?
Christina Chriss: Right when I turned 18 I got “Jane” tattooed on my left arm. It has a lot of special meaning to me because she’s my “alter ego” and one of the very first Kaleido songs is called “Jane” and is about her. My last 2 tattoos (an hour glass and a watercolor heart) were done by my friend Sara Pegg!

Joey Fava: I got my first tattoo when I turned 18. It is artwork from the band “AFI” that my friend Adam drew up. I got it on my calf of my right leg. All of my tattoos are special to me because I associate each one with the time period in which I got it done. Every time I look at them it reminds me of where I was, what I was going through, and that specific time in my life. All of my tattoos have been done by my friend Larry Shelby at Empire Tattoo in Redford, MI.

Zach Bolling: My first tattoo was done at Division Tattoo in Madison Heights, Michigan when I was 18. My tattoos are a mix between Iron Maiden and Led Zeppelin, bands that I love. It’s been quite a while since I’ve been in to visit, but John Andres did my work. I’d love to go back sometime soon!

Ronnie Rosolino: Before we even called ourselves Kaleido, Christina was invited to open for Mickey Avalon at The Roxy on Sunset Blvd in West Hollywood, CA. We were in the beginning stages of putting the band together so we went out, performed under the name Christina Chriss (because we had yet to name ourselves) and played the show. On my way to the airport to fly back to Detroit I stopped and got my first tattoo, which was a little guitar on my shoulder. That tattoo has a lot of meaning to me because it marks the beginning of Kaleido and our first show together. Since then I have worked that guitar tattoo into a sleeve done by Joey’s friend Larry Shelby.

Check out the video for the band’s song “Trouble in Paradise”

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