Interview with the Band KALIMUR

Today I have the honor of sharing an interview with the amazing band Kalimur! I first heard their music when they sent me a song on Twitter and I knew immediately that they were the real thing. Their song Thieves of the Night has become one of my all-time favorites! Their sound is smooth but strong, romantic and emotional! I'm over the moon to share them with you...

Brett - Brett Steinberg is a singer/songwriter who has pursued music for over six years. For Brett it really is all about the music...and also the occasional scarf from H&M. He keeps his friend close, his conversations deep and his outlook positive. He pours his heart and soul into every song he writes and aspires to connect with listeners around the world.

Tyler - Tyler Berkich has been playing the bass since his elementary school years where his band instructor always told him he was being too loud. However Tyler continued cranking his amps and now is able to do what he loves without restraint. He enjoys piña coladas and getting caught in the rain. When he's not creating music Tyler can usually be found capturing the world through a lens, working out and occasionally (but hardly ever...seriously) watching romantic comedies.

Alex - What do you get when you add majestic hair and mind-blowing guitar shredding abilities? Alex Trouern-Trend. His musical journey began at a young age when his uncle gifted him his first guitar. From that moment on Alex and the instrument were virtually inseparable. When he isn't laying down licks for Kalimur he can be found (yes, with his guitar) in nature soaking in the serenity and watching birds with a trusty guidebook by his side.

Jonah - Drumming on anything and everything in sight including his siblings and the dinner table, Jonah's parents finally bought him a drum set when he was 9 years old. Self taught he has spent the next 10 years mastering his skills. Influenced by Led Zeppelin, Streetlight Manifesto and Cage the Elephant Jonah's drumming is eclectic mixture of rock, funk and blues. His musical appetite have led him to learn guitar for the purpose of song writing. In the brief moments when he is not drumming, Jonah can be found living his second life within the amazing world of Pokemon.

How did you all meet and what inspired you to become a band?

Brett and I met our freshman year at college, when I heard this awesome piano playing through the walls of my room. I went over and introduced myself and we chatted about music for awhile. We started playing open mic’s together with me accompanying him and then the idea of forming a band started to plant itself in our mind because we both realized how much we loved what we were doing. We met Alex at a friend of ours graduation party – we did the usual small talk and then didn’t speak for months. Until he saw Brett and I playing a show at our school, and was like “holy crap”. Then we proceeded to jam together and the chemistry was just there. Jonah saved our asses – he has known Alex for a very long time, and we had trouble finding a drummer and we had a big live show coming up. Jonah learned our songs in about a week and clicked with us really well. We killed the show, and the rest was history. As for our inspiration, there is something magical not just about music and what it can do, but creating music with other people. Where ideas are combined to form beautiful pieces. You push each other to your limits as a musician and grow from it. Music is our passion, and on top of that we are all good friends so there is no one I personally would rather be pursuing this with. -Tyler

What musicians do you guys admire? 

I myself admire Jeff Slicer, Josh Ramsay, Benjamin Burnley, and Adam Gontier. -Tyler

Please describe your musical journey so far.

Our musical journey has been a crazy one. As Kalimur, we have traveled through snow storms to make practices; been yelled at for playing too loud in dorm rooms; played to empty teen centers; driven hours across the north east to play as many shows as we could. But we released a full length album, and also put together a headlining show
and had a huge crowd come. It really has been a long journey so far but this is just the beginning. -Tyler

Do you have any funny anecdotes?

When recording our first record we recorded it in my bedroom. Around a week into tracking, the power on the wall that we plugged the computer, equipment, etc. into gave out. We ended up recording most of the record in the corner of my room where there was power. It was hilarious, claustrophobic, annoying and memorable, but it really helped us bond as a band. We would sing gang vocals together in this little nook in my room and would laugh about the absurdity of the situation after recording. -Brett

Do you have any favorite songs that you enjoy listening to on repeat, singing in the shower or covering? Or is there a song that has impacted the band more than any other?

The beauty of this day and age is you can find new music everywhere everyday, so I always have a new favorite song I'm singing in the shower! We just started covering "Love Song" by Sara Bareilles and that's been stuck in my head for a while - great song. Personally "Fix You" by Coldplay has always taken the number one spot when it comes to inspiration. The raw emotion and beauty within the simplicity has directed me as an artist - especially when starting out. As a band, the song "It's Time" by Imagine Dragons has always followed us through the good and the bad times. -Brett

What is the best piece of advise you've been given?

It's between "less is more" and "everything in moderation." Both are pretty common sayings and I'm not sure who specifically passed it down to me, but they are definitely good words to live by both as a musician and, more
importantly, as a person. -Brett

What advice would you give others?

I think that the majority of humanity is inspired by art in some form. Music is one of those artistic mediums that have a way of reaching our souls. My advice is that it’s never too late to become an artist. Many people seem to carry the notion that music becomes more and more out of reach as you age if you’ve yet to aspire towards learning how to create it. For those of you daydreaming about being able to play your favorite song, thinking, ‘I wish I could do that’, a change of mindset and a little perseverance is all that it takes to begin working towards an
incredibly rewarding skill. You can do it. -Alex

What are you currently working on?

Oh, we’ve been working… We headlined a show at a local music venue called The Space on August 8th and debuted a new song of ours, We can’t wait for you guys to hear it! -Alex

How would you describe your music to people?

Although our sound has evolved over the past few months, at the core is vocal-centric pop/rock lightly coated in blues and with deeply emotional and personal lyrics. This generalization represents the basics of the sound we introduced with our debut album “Ghosts We Used to Know”. Individually the songs stretch out to fill different dimensions of music, some even becoming seemingly polar opposites of each other. Take “Cards are Dealt Tonight”, a hard rock anthem with screaming guitars and desolate in emotion, and compare it with the consequent song on the album, “Second Guessing Games” a hushed and melodic piece that’s all about ‘the feels’.  In short, we play bluesy pop/rock. -Alex

Where can we find you and your music?

We’ve just about plastered our name all over the web.

Social Media

Website: http://www.kalimurband.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/KalimurBand

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kalimurband

Instagram: https://instagram.com/kalimurband/

On the website there is a ‘Tour’ page that lists all of our future
shows. We’d love to see you guys in the near future!

[Photo credit: Paula Araujo]