Jo: First of all, thank you so much for taking the time to answer these questions for our platforms, Sound Stories by Jo and Metalwar.gr! Your new album, Monsters We Made, is coming out this August. What is the core concept behind this title, and what made you feel that this was the perfect name for this specific chapter of the band?
Kris Barras: Thank you for having me! Well, the song “Monsters We Made” came before I named the album that, so it’s one of my favorite tracks from the album. I like the meaning of the song, so we decided to, or I decided to, name the album after it.
So, the idea behind “Monsters We Made” is about kind of being your own worst enemy. It’s about realizing and accepting that maybe some of the issues in your life, some problems that you’re facing, have resulted because of previous actions of yours. And it could be, it’s not just like a solo thing, it could be like in a relationship where, you know, little things have been nagging and they’ve been turning into bigger things.
And that’s basically what it is about. Creating a monster out of small issues that were not dealt with earlier on. Like I say, it’s one of my favorite songs from the album and I thought we’d make a cool album title, so we made it the title track.
Jo: From the very first singles like “Riot Of One”, the sound feels incredibly massive and heavy. How did you approach the songwriting and production this time to achieve this specific sonic wall?
Kris Barras: We had the idea to kind of place this album in terms of heaviness in between my last two albums. So, Death Valley Paradise was quite a big step up from the Light It Up album, since it’s a bit more into the modern hard rock world.
Then with Halo Effect we went a little bit further again, you know, kind of incorporating elements of modern metalcore in terms of the songwriting and the production.
With the Monsters We Made album, we wanted to kind of sit somewhere in between the two. So, dial it back a little bit from Halo Effect and yeah, that was the plan of it.
You know, the sound and the production, it’s all down to Josiah and the band. He runs a very, very successful studio, he’s a fantastic producer and he really took the lead on this album and did a great job.
Jo: Every album has its own unique studio stories. Which song from Monsters We Made was the hardest or most challenging to finalize, and which one came together almost effortlessly?
Kris Barras: With regards to the songwriting and things, none of my approaches change. It’s all the same kind of methods that I’d used before, sometimes starting with a chorus idea, sometimes starting with a riff.
“Riot Of One” in particular, that actually started, that was a Josiah riff that he wrote and he had an idea to try and create like a big sing-along song similar to “My Parade”.
So he wrote the riff and kind of had like the stop section in the verses. And then I worked on that for a little while to come up with the melody and the lyrics for the big sing-along thing.
And, you know, we were playing that live earlier this year on the Smith/Kotzen tour throughout Europe and the UK and we were, yeah, it went down really well the times we played it.
And yeah, it’s meant to be like a nice big sing-along song, so looking forward to doing that on tour later this year as well.
And third question, every album has its own unique studio stories, which song from Monsters We Made has been the hardest or most challenging to finalize and which one came together most effortlessly?
To be honest, I don’t think there was any either way. We’re always very prepared when we head into the studio.
We always do good quality demos and we’ve always kind of got an idea of the production. We don’t limit ourselves, so we don’t just go into the studio and replicate the demos, but we’ve already got a pretty good idea of what we’re going to do.
So actually any of the extra stuff we’re doing is just kind of fun additional bits where we get creative, so there’s definitely never any challenging moments because the songs are written, they are prepared and, like I said, we do pretty produced demos.
So, you know, there’s no discrepancy over parts or anything like that. We all know what we’re doing, so when we get in there we’re not worrying about how the song goes. We know how the song goes, we’ve got the structure, we’ve got everything there, it’s just a case of all the extra fun additional production bits.
With the Halo Effect album, Josiah and I co-produced it, so I got a lot more involved on the production side of things with ideas and stuff.
With this album, it was going to be the same, but unfortunately my mum passed away literally as we started recording, so it meant I couldn’t be in the studio as much. I had a lot to organise and sort out, so I was kind of only in the studio for my parts.
So Josiah took the lead there on all the production stuff, and yeah, so he did everything there really, and I only just came in here and there to do my parts.
So it was a little bit different experience for me. Like I said, my mum passed away, we weren’t expecting it literally the day before we were supposed to go into the studio, so it was a bit of a tricky time.
Jo: Your previous record, Halo Effect, hit No. 1 on the UK Rock & Metal Charts. Did that massive success bring any creative pressure when you sat down to write the new material?
Kris Barras: No, no. I think when I get into songwriting mode, I’m happy, I enjoy it. I enjoy the process, I don’t feel any pressure.
I mean, it’s never anything we can control. Right now, all I can do is, the only thing I can control is writing songs that I think are good. That’s all I can control.
I can’t control what anyone else in the world thinks about my songs, my music. It doesn’t, I have no control over that, so it’s not anything I worry about.
You know, you always hope that people are going to like what you do, and you hope you have the same level of success, but at the end of the day, as I said, I can’t control what people think.
So I just do my best to create music that I like, and then hopefully other people like too.
Jo: Over the years, your sound has beautifully evolved from pure blues-rock to a very powerful, modern hard rock beast. Was this heavy direction a natural progression, or a conscious decision to match the energy you wanted to bring on stage?
Kris Barras: So, you know, obviously I started off doing the more like bluesy, blues rock thing. I think it helps to understand when you see it, like, when you understand a bit more about me.
So I have played blues stuff since a very early age, I’ve also played rock and metal from an early age. In my teens I was in metal bands.
So, you know, although I was doing the blues thing, that isn’t necessarily me to a T. Like, you know, there’s blues artists out there that all they do and all they can do is play blues, and they might do it extremely well, but that’s all they do.
I’m not one of those people. I can play blues stuff, I love it, but I also love rock music, and I also love metal music. I also love jazz music, I’ve played in jazz bands over the years, I’ve done lots of different styles of music.
So I think it was inevitable it was going to come out sometime.
The other thing to bear in mind is, I never set out to be doing what I’m doing now. When I started the Kris Barras Band, I never dreamed that it would end up being this kind of thing.
It was always just going to be a little bit of a hobby, a thing I did on the side, whilst I was still involved in the fight world. And the band was just supposed to be something I did for fun on the weekends.
So just doing a bit of blues music, doing a few blues albums, that’s just what it was supposed to be. I wasn’t signing up to do blues music for the rest of my life, because I like lots of other things and lots of other styles, and, you know, I think I’m good at other styles of music.
So I think it was just natural it was going to come out at some point.
I think gradually the albums did get a bit more heavy with each one. You know, Light It Up is much more of like an almost classic rock kind of album when compared to like Divine And Dirty and Lucky 13.
So yeah, that’s what I’m doing now, I’m enjoying it. I still get to do the blues thing when I get to play with Supersonic Blues Machine, or my own side project band Hollow Souls.
And so I haven’t said goodbye to the blues world, but Kris Barras Band is going to stay firmly in the heavier rock world.
Jo: You are widely praised for your stellar guitar work and heavy riffs. When you are creating a new riff, how do you balance technical skill with making sure the song remains catchy for the arenas?
Kris Barras: Yeah, well, again, I just kind of do what I do. This is like the kind of music I write, is music that I like to listen to.
I like songs that have catchy choruses, sing-along things. That’s what naturally my ear gets drawn towards.
You know, on this album I did want to showcase more of my guitar work, particularly in the sense of like the solos and things.
I kind of went back to my teens and drew some inspiration from guys that I used to listen to and people like that, some more of the shreddy guitar guys.
So it was nice to bust out some of my older licks that I used to do when I was younger.
That was one thing that I wanted to do on this album, was like not hold back on solos. Halo Effect album has less guitar solos than I have had previously, just kind of the nature of, I think, trying to have a modern sound.
But with this one, you know, I didn’t care. I wanted to do some nice solos. Whether guitar solos are cool or not, I wanted to get them in there.
Jo: The current lineup of the Kris Barras Band feels tighter and more explosive than ever. How much did the chemistry of the current members influence the final arrangements of the new tracks?
Kris Barras: Yeah, I mean, this lineup, KBB, we’ve been together for a good few years now. It’s my favorite lineup.
The guys are absolutely amazing: Billy Hammett on drums, Fraser Kerslake on bass and Josiah J. Manon on guitar and keys. All absolutely outstanding musicians and really great guys.
We’re all good friends and we have so much fun when we’re together. We have a good laugh, so I definitely think that helps.
Typically Josiah and I write the songs and the parts. Some of the parts will be, you know, kind of obvious to the song, maybe a specific drum part or specific bass line that is kind of needed to be there.
But to be honest, like when we get in the studio, we let Fraser and Billy kind of do their own thing and put their own stamp on it.
They’re such great players, they never overplay. We just encourage them to do their own thing and put their own stamp on it and they are great at that.
So yeah, both amazing guys.
Jo: Looking back at your entire discography so far, which song do you feel defines the absolute identity of the Kris Barras Band to someone who has never heard your music before?
Kris Barras: That’s quite a good question. It’s tricky, I suppose, isn’t it?
It’d be really, really hard, wouldn’t it? Because obviously if you sent them towards The Divine And Dirty, they’d get one kind of impression. Send them towards Halo Effect, they’d get the complete opposite.
So yeah, I’m not sure. It’s quite tricky to answer that one.
I mean, I would probably just steer them towards the latest album, because that’s always going to be the one that, you know, it’s the latest thing, it’s the one that I’m wanting to do currently.
So I think it would be what I would steer people towards, because that’s what the current sound is.
Jo: You have a big headline tour coming up this October to support the new album. How are you planning to structure the setlist? Is it tough to balance the new tracks with the older fan favorites?
Kris Barras: Yeah, well, I mean, the hard thing is choosing which songs you’re going to do. You know, I’ve got five albums now, it’s a lot of songs to pick from.
I’ve been very fortunate to have, you know, a good number of singles each album that have done well, so it gets hard to narrow it down.
I don’t tend to do anything from Lucky 13 anymore, and not much from Divine And Dirty other than “Hail Mary”, mainly because if any of those songs were brought in the set, it would probably feel quite disjointed.
But Divine And Dirty we still do “Watching Over Me” and we do “Hail Mary”. So that’s one of my bigger singles, it’s one of those songs that a lot of my fans will be very familiar with and they know the words and sing along to, so that won’t ever get dropped from the set, I don’t think.
And then, yes, there’s a balance between mainly like the last three albums, I guess now it will be, with Death Valley Paradise, Halo Effect and Monsters We Made.
It’s tricky. I’ve not really thought about what we’re going to do for October yet. I’ve got some ideas but I’ve not put anything in there, I think, for definite.
There are a few songs that, like I said, have to be in there. “My Parade” has to be in there, “Dead Horses”, “Who Needs Enemies” — these are songs that from those albums are unbreakable.
From Halo Effect, there were songs that were some of the bigger songs from those.
And then for Monsters We Made we’ve got quite a few singles on that. “Riot Of One” is gonna have to be in there, obviously the title track “Monsters We Made” will have to be in there.
And then we’re gonna have to work it out with everything else, but it’s nice to have options. I think we’re gonna be able to make a pretty cool set there.
Jo: You’ve shared the stage with massive acts like Black Stone Cherry and The Darkness, and played iconic venues. What is the most valuable lesson you’ve learned from touring alongside these rock giants?
Kris Barras: Yeah, I’ve been very fortunate to play with some amazing bands and, yeah, lots of lessons learned along the way.
Both the guys in The Darkness and the guys in Black Stone Cherry are all amazing guys, really, really nice, got on very well, but a fantastic set of people.
I think one thing maybe as well is the people that I’ve got to play with in the American band that I’ve played in, Supersonic Blues Machine, and got to do a couple of tours with Billy Gibbons from ZZ Top playing in the band.
I definitely learned a lot from that guy. You know, he’s been in the industry at the top of the game for over 50 years, which is absolutely incredible.
I think one of the best lessons I’ve ever learned in the music industry was from Billy himself.
We were on tour in Europe one time and it was a pretty crazy schedule. We were finishing a show, quick charge back to the hotel, shower and then having to drive through the night to an airport and then fly and then sound check and do a show.
There wasn’t much time for any proper sleep. It was quite tough and I remember one time for a show I said that I was feeling tired. I was like, “Oh, I feel really tired.” And it was just a bit like, “I’m not sure I’m going to be able to do this.”
And Billy just said, “Remember, Kris, we don’t have to do this, we get to do this.”
And I thought that was amazing. It’s like, you know, you don’t have to do this, it’s an absolute honor that you get to do this.
And I thought that was just great. You know, there’s me there, you know, half Billy’s age, who was tired and struggling, and he’d done the same journey as me and was raring to go, you know, whilst being 70 years old.
So yeah, that was a nice lesson for me. And I think, you know, we are only human and we do have to do some tough things sometimes.
It’s not all sunshine and rainbows and whenever it is a little bit tougher, I always remind myself that I’m fortunate that I get to do this.
I’m very lucky, and so I do use that to remind myself a few times if I start feeling a bit grumpy or stressed.
So yeah, learned that from the man himself, Billy F. Gibbons.
Jo: When you are on a long tour, what are the essential routines or habits that keep you physically and mentally focused to deliver a high-energy show night after night?
Kris Barras: Yeah, so on longer tours I’m very good at being disciplined.
I won’t be staying up late if they are all partying on the tour bus after. I’m always the first into bed.
Strict warm-up routine for my voice. That’s the main concern when I’m on tour, is just looking after my voice, so I always have a strict warm-up routine that starts one hour before the show.
I mean, I don’t drink alcohol anymore, but when I was drinking alcohol I wouldn’t drink much on a long tour. If it was a shorter tour maybe, but on longer tours, especially if I could feel that maybe there was, you know, a risk of my voice going at any point, I was pretty good at being disciplined and not drinking.
Getting to bed early and, you know, all kind of stuff, steaming and things like that.
So yeah, that’s the main thing. I do like to try and get some training in when I’m on tour as well.
I still do a lot of physical activity. I do a lot of Brazilian jiu-jitsu still, I train every day and my drummer Billy does too.
So we’ve got a kind of a thing where we try to visit gyms when we are on tour and get some training in.
So I like to do that and keep on top of my fitness and help keep me sane.
Jo: Aside from the upcoming album release and the UK/European tour, are there any other milestones or specific professional goals you want to achieve with the band in the near future?
Kris Barras: To be honest, I’ve already achieved everything. Well, I’ve achieved more than I ever thought I would with this whole thing.
I said earlier this was never my plan really. I never thought, you know, music would end up becoming my life and, you know, kind of take over.
That wasn’t really the plan to start off with. It just kind of snowballed and I went with it and I’ve been very, very grateful for the journey.
So I don’t really have any more goals now. I just go with the flow and, yeah, as long as there’s people out there that want to hear me play my music, then yeah, I’ll be out there playing.
And that’s it really, that’s my goal. Keep people wanting to hear it and I’ll keep playing it.
Jo: 12+1: The Greek rock and metal audience is deeply passionate and loves heavy, groovy guitar music. Are there any plans or discussions to bring the Monsters We Made Tour over to Greece?
Kris Barras: Well, I mean, I would love to for sure. That would be amazing.
I’ve only ever got to visit Greece or Greece mainland once and that was just a fleeting visit as we were getting onto the cruise ship for the Joe Bonamassa blues cruise that he does.
We did that a few years ago. That was great fun.
Yeah, so I would love to. I don’t know about any touring plans, I don’t really get involved in that stuff, leave that up to management and booking agents.
But yeah, if there was ever an opportunity to go to Greece, I would absolutely love to.
Interview – Text: Joanna Gonas
