Buttressed by the dynamic sibling duo of Pete and Chris Biggiani, New Jersey-based quartet Kodiak is in the process of reminding audiences that rock music is supposed to be about having a good time, is supposed to be engaging, entertaining and a thrill a minute roller coaster ride at every concert.
The youthful exuberance of the pair (drummer Pete is 21, while guitarist Chris is closing in on 18), is reinforced with a self-possession and confidence that is based on talent, work ethic and skill, not just youthful hubris and bluster. When you listen to the music of Kodiak, you have no idea of the precocious age of those who have created it, you just party on and enjoy the experience.
Along for the rock and roll ride is vocalist/lyricist Eric Dalton and holding down the bottom end is TJ Haefner on bass. Guitar, bass, drums and voice – those are the essential elements comprising Kodiak, which is stylistically and philosophically a throwback to a bygone era where real instrumentation, unaffected by technical sleight of hand, dominated music.
“Me and Chris started playing when we were pretty young. I am 21 and Chris is 17 now and when I was two my mom and dad started me into playing the drums, because my dad was a drummer. A little while later, when Chris was around four or five, he picked up a guitar and mom and dad encouraged him to do that. We were always big fans of classic rock and that’s the music we always jammed to around the house and when we started writing, that’s the kind of music we made,” said Pete.
Thus far, Kodiak has released two infectiously hard rockin’ and highly memorable songs – Alone and Goodbye. They epitomize the group’s sound, which is an effective blend of the best of the melodic hard rock of the 1970s with the bombast and showmanship of the 1980s, wrapped up in a modern production sensibility. In short, it about as straight forward hard rock and roll you can get, meaning there is the potential for mass appeal across many of the hyphenated rock and metal styles.
“Some people have compared us to Van Halen, because of it being centred on two brothers one who plays guitar one who plays drums, like Eddie and Alex Van Halen. It’s powerful and fun music that both girls and guys are into. We have softer stuff for the girls that want to listen to the softer stuff, and the power ballads. And then we have the hard rockin’ stuff for the guys. But, in all honesty, we have music for everybody who wants to rock out and have a good time. Our fans, they ranger from 10 to 60 or 70. You can’t really put an age limit on what our band is about and who it appeals to,” said Pete Biggiani.
“It’s not super heavy, but its not lightweight either. It’s right in the middle. It’s not Nickelback and its not Blink 182. It’s not like those narrow genres where only certain people are into the music. Our live shows are super high energy. It’s never guys on a stool with a plaid t-shirt playing an acoustic guitar. It’s not like that, with Kodiak, you’re going to get a show. We’re all about the musicianship, great songs, along with a great visual experience. We want you to be excited about what you’re listening to and what you are seeing. That’s what makes for a good show.”
Alone and Goodbye have been released to gauge the market, in anticipation of a possible full album release down the road. But the Biggiani brothers are being patient, and taking a wait and see approach, before plunging full into the time and resource intensive prospect of composing, recording and releasing a full record.
“We are actually back in the studio right now, demoing up some new stuff. We have more songs that are due to release soon as singles. The whole goal is to release music and see how it does, and if it’s doing well, we will release more. We’re also going on tour, which will help get our name out there. So, were always working on releasing new music and always giving our fans what they want, but we’re out on the road too. That’s what we really need to do,” said Chris.
“It’s important to release an album, but not in the way that everybody thinks. You don’t need to go out and work on 12 songs and then say, ‘here’s everything at once.’ It’s not like that anymore. You work on songs and then you pick the best two you have done, and start with those and you really promote them, with social media being a big thing now. If you don’t do your promotions and you don’t do stuff like what we’re doing now with media and social media, you’re wasting your time. If you don’t go out there and promote yourself, even if you have great music, no one is going to hear it or hear you. That’s just the fact of the matter,” added Pete.
Kodiak’s music is being produced by rock legend Carmine Appice (Ozzy Osbourne, Rod Steward, Cactus, Vanilla Fudge.) Using his extraordinary level of experience and expertise as a musician, recording artist and producer for the past 50 years, he is also acting as a mentor and songwriting collaborator for the Biggiani brothers, who are the primary songwriters in Kodiak.
The relationship with Appice began when Pete was a mere 11 years old but was already displaying a precocious talent behind the kit, something that would assuredly attract the attention of the legendary skin basher.
“When I was 11, I entered a contest in Modern Drummer magazine where you get a chance to star in Carmine’s Realistic Rock for Kids DVD and be called his Next Drum Prodigy and I ended up winning. After I shot the video our family stayed in touch with Carmine and he would invite us to shows and things like that. And I also went to work for Carmine’s brother Vinnie with his band Last in Line. And when I was out on tour working for them, I met Eric, who is now our singer and we clicked right away. I also knew TJ from around the local band scene. Growing up we were in different bands and Chris and I would play shows at skate parks or warehouses and so did his band. So, I knew him for about five years already,” said Pete.
“We all began working on stuff together and me and Carmine were texting back and forth, so I sent him some songs and he said, ‘what do you guys think about reworking some songs with me as producer and really getting this thing going.’ This was all last summer. So, we came up with the name Kodiak and worked on our branding and our onstage image and also got the songs together. Carmine got his friend Wayne Wyatt to come in as our manager, and that all happened a little less than a year ago. And here we are. Carmine is sort of involved in the overall aspect of the band. If we have anything that we need to talk about regarding music or image or stuff like that, we know we can ask him. Our image is really important to us. It’s something Carmine talks about: we don’t want to go out there looking like guys who just walked in off the street. That’s always been lame to us. I never want to just look like the ordinary guy. Who the hell wants to pay to go see a band that just looks like normal dudes? With us, we’re more than just a band, we’re a show, and that’s something that Carmine really reinforces with us.
“So, we talk about that kind of stuff with him. We will video our shows and send them to him and ask if we are moving around correctly, if the instruments sound good, that our vocal harmonies are tight. He advises us on anything and everything. We’re in the process of doing a tour in the next couple of months, so this will be the first time any of us will be flying to do a show, which means we need to figure out how to manage all that with our gear. That’s one of Carmine’s ways of really getting us into the business, you know.”
Appice is there as a resource but is not hanging over the shoulders of Kodiak. He lets their talent manifest on its own, and only comes in to add the benefits of his wisdom and experience, especially towards the end of the songwriting process.
“Songwriting basically works like this: Chris and I sit in our studio, with me on drums and him on guitar and we just play. Chris will come up with a riff and I will throw something rhythmic onto it and then we will build on that riff. So, Chris will start with something that’s really cool and we will build the whole thing up from there. We will then demo it and once we are done with that, we send it next to Eric and he writes the vocal part and the main melody, and while he is working on that, we will also send it to TJ for him to work on his bass line,” Pete explained.
“Once all that is together, we send it to Carmine who will make any changes he feels need to be made and sends it back to me and Chris to rework the basic bed tracks, and then Eric and TJ will tweak their parts. We then send it back to Carmine for a final look over and then it goes off to our mixing and mastering guy.”
This is basically how the two songs released already came together, with Goodbye being a prototypical break-up song and Alone being an anthem for hopeful self reliance.
“Goodbye started in late 2017. We had this riff that we were working on and then we built up the rest of the song, going back and forth with Carmine. I would say it really is a break-up song. It’s something that everybody goes through. No one doesn’t go through what that song is about, and if you say you don’t, they you’re lying,” said Chris with a chuckle.
“Alone actually came a little bit before Goodbye. That was one of the first ones we worked on. It was the same process involving Carmine and Eric came up with some great lyrics and vocal performances for this song. It’s basically a song that says everybody goes through hard times, and everybody thinks that its them only when they are going through problems and have issues. You don’t think anybody really understands what you are going through, but actually everybody goes through it at some point in their lives. So, it’s saying you’re never really alone; you always have your friends and you always have your family. You will always have somebody and there is always somebody you can reach out to.”
Tour dates for later in 2019 are being firmed up at the moment. To find out when Kodiak is playing near you, or for updates on new music releases and other information, visit their social media pages, or https://kodiakband.com.
- Jim Barber is a veteran award-winning journalist and author based in Napanee, ON, who has been writing about music and musicians for a quarter of a century. Besides his journalistic endeavours, he now works as a communications and marketing specialist. Contact him at jimbarberwritingservices@gmail.com.
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