New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Kyd the Band isn't looking for shortcuts and certainly has no fear going against the grain. While most artists flock to the city of Los Angeles to pursue their dreams, KTB's Devin Guisande left California to hone in on his craft in Nashville, TN. The move wasn't easy at first - a starving artist in true form, Guisande was sleeping on the floor of a room he shared with his ex-bandmate and brother following his dissent from the Pentecostal church at 18. Against the odds, the multi-instrumentalist, producer, and songwriter clocked in +40 hours a week while working on music each hour he had left to spare. After toughing it out and paying his dues, Devin landed cuts with Bone Thugs-N-Harmony,
Robin Schulz, gnash, NF, and ROZES to name a few. It was his time in the studio as a songwriter that shaped his solo career and later gave way for his support slot on tour with NF under the Kyd the Band moniker. Fast forward 2 years, KTB's debut single "American Dreamer" has amassed over 2.5 million streams on Spotify while his first major label release "
Human" was featured on Apple Music's 'Best of the Week' and 'The A-List: Pop' playlists.
Today, Kyd the Band reveals his new single "Easy" with RCA's Elley Duhé plus the official music video directed by Patrick Tohill (NF, Nina Nesbitt). Written alongside Duhé in one of his very first writing sessions, the track is particularly special in its arrival almost 3 years later.
"'Easy' started as something for Kyd the Band but originally there weren't any plans to pitch it. Then the demo got to NF and he loved it, and wanted part of it. At the time there wasn't really anything going on so it made sense to let go of part of the song. The story behind 'Easy' is such a big part of my own story that I knew we had to write more and have it come out at some point as a KTB track." In an interview with Spindle Magazine, he states "I hope listeners hear some of their own story and I hope they feel inspired to keep going. But I also hope it's a reminder for them, that life is more than the things we pursue and to not lose sight of that. 'Easy' is the reminder I wanted to give myself (and continually give myself) to not lose myself in the game with everything I'm chasing. I feel like I've already had to make a lot of sacrifices in my life up to this point, and I'm still a long way from where I want to be. If the day ever comes where I feel like I've arrived, I wonder if I'll be able to look back and say 'yeah, that was totally worth it.' But there's equally this part of me that wants to make something great of my life, and in order to do that, you can't ever stop and you have to know it comes with costs. That's just part of the game but I feel like this internal tug of war thing doesn't ever stop."
On the video, Kyd the Band tells Substream Magazine: "To understand the story of 'Easy' I really have to talk about my last release 'Human' first. That's what this new season of videos starts with. In the video for 'Human,' we start the story off with two young boys who are best friends but end up having a falling out. We don't show what caused the falling out exactly, but you know that it was serious because several years pass by before they ever see each other again. 'Easy' is the second video in this collection and it's actually a prequel to 'Human.' You see the same young boy from 'Human' and you see him at home with his parents. You start to see some of the things that begin to form and mold who he becomes.' He adds: 'I don't want to dive into what these videos represent in my own life, but I just want to show how powerful those 'marker' type life experiences are in shaping who we become. And if a viewer really dives into all my videos, the Easter eggs will start to show up, and that's part of the fun of doing videos this way."
Kyd the Band isn't tied to one genre - the message behind his lyrics is what he hopes fans can learn from or relate to. It's no surprise his collection thus far has fans drawing comparisons to
Twenty One Pilots or The Neighborhood."This next wave of music is definitely less indie leaning, but I'd argue that no matter what KTB song comes out you're always going to hear a consistent thread in the lyrics and in the grittiness of the music. I think artists should have the right to evolve, and that they shouldn't pass up the opportunity to evolve." Offering a sound that is fresh, unique, and compelling, Kyd the Band is guaranteed to elicit excitement and enthusiasm across a diverse array of audiences.
