I've been a massive fan of Kovic ever since I heard they were going to be the support act when I saw The Hunna last year. Being the music obsessive I am, I always search out the support bands and listen to their music, Kovic were something special. Very rarely do I come away from these situations as a genuine fan of the band. Kovic have managed to find that perfect medium with a soulful singer in a band, with fantastic song writing and great live performances. I had the chance to to talk to frontman Mark Kovic about songwriting struggles, acoustic songs and the High Time label.
Q. Who's your biggest musical influence?
Q. What is a song that you wish you'd written and why?
K. I wish I'd written "Burn" by Ray Lamontagne, purely because I think that is one of the most emotive 3 and half minutes of music ever made.
Q. Your music videos are fantastic. You can tell a lot of time and money has gone into the creating and production, how long do they roughly take to make?
K. They take a couple of days to make, but the concepting and deeper thought/design was starting around the last half of last year. We wanted to make something that was a little special and we're at part 3/7 of the story currently, I'm glad you appreciate them :)
K. It's just started! We've got exciting times ahead, we'll be touring lots, we have 4 singles scheduled for release and I'm finishing up the tracks for the album at the moment. I'll look forward to sharing them with you soon, thanks for taking the time for the interview. Take care!
For Fans of: The Hunna, The Neighbourhood, Mr Hudson
Q. Who's your biggest musical influence?
Mark Kovic. Ask me again in a month and it probably would have changed, but i'd say today in terms of music and songwriting, it would have to be Ryan Tedder.
Q. If you could collaborate with anyone, who would it be and why?
K. I'd probably call up Kendrick Lamar, I have a track that I've been working on that is in need for that mans talent on a mic. I'm always an advocate of crossing up genres and think the man is seriously on point.
Q. I saw you live at The Hunna concert in Birmingham, you were brilliant. Is being exceptional live something you put a lot of pressure on yourselves for?
K. You are very kind to say that! I'd definitely day it's something we strive to be good at, we spend our lives in the studio either recording or rehearsing when we're not on tour, and to be honest its the best part of the job, so we definitely have fun with it.
Q. The High Time label almost seems like a family with yourselves, Coasts and The Hunna. When you're all together does it feel like something special is happening?
K. Yeah for sure, we're all pretty similar minded about where were going and what we want to achieve. There's a tonne of exciting things happening across the board with The Hunna & Coasts so it's really great to be a part of that too.
Q. Are you planning on working with either Coasts or The Hunna at some point?
K. Of course, we have some very busy years ahead of us, we'll be working hard and undoubtedly getting writing and production sessions in among touring.
Q. Wires is your big breakthrough song that has started this momentum. Will it always hold a more significant place in your hearts than the others?
K. I'd say so, that was one of those songs that just seemed to flow out in a matter of hours and something struck a nerve with people I played it too. It will hold a significant place for sure, but I'm very excited to share some other tracks with you soon that I feel really strongly about.
Q. When going into the studio do you have a pre-conceived notion of what you're about to create or does it just flow naturally?
K. I'd say neither, writing for me has always been a struggle, and very rarely does it come out naturally, it's often just weeks in a studio banding around weird idea's untill something takes my attention and I roll with it. I have 412 demo's on my computer as I write this, so I guess that gives a good idea of how much more likely I am to suck than make something good when I hit the studio ha!
Q. I really love the acoustic version of Wires, the emotion really shines in that version, is acoustic a route you'd like to take at some point?
K. It's something we will just do throughout the project, most of these songs, in fact pretty much all of them were written at a piano or a guitar. Playing them acoustic sometimes seems alot more honest to the song and I like to share that process. I've always been a fan of seeing where songs came from before the production elements come in. Sometimes you just can't beat a stripped back version of a song to really feel the point of it.
Q. You've developed a unique band image, was that pre-determined or has that come about over time?
K. When we launched the project I just liked the idea of no one really being able to judge me based on anything apart from the music. Sometimes in a such a judgmental world it's nice to put a hood over your face and let the music talk (Also helps if you get nervous before walking out to a big stage). The image of Kovic is something me and Haris Nukem really spent a lot of time thinking through, and the message I want to share with people is locked up in the stories you see in this 7 part series. I've just seen a Reddit thread started about trying to decipher whats going on, and that definitely wasn't expected, but I like that people are already understanding that there is a deeper ideology involved.
Q. 2017 has been a big year for the band, what can we look forward to for the rest of the year?
For Fans of: The Hunna, The Neighbourhood, Mr Hudson
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