Kava Kava
- turbo charged rocked out and funked up live rock/dance act from the UK featuring the soulful vocals of singer Pat Fulgoni with Matt Bond guitar, Martin Chung bass, Chris Corrigan drums, Steve Davies and Ian Bailey horn section ... vocals, guitars, electronica, brass, strings and beats. Kava Kava's music has been featured in popular TV series such as DIRT, JOHN FROM CINCINNATI, WEEDS etc, films including BOYS & GIRLS GUIDE TO GETTING DOWN, new XBOX snowboarding game STOKED and they have played clubs and festivals all over EUROPE, in the STATES and in CHINA “should be on every funk and disco playlist, period!.....Love it!" (DJ Magazine)
Kava Kava Digital Singles
Digital singles: Don't Stop The Music, Bank Job and Tic (Jon Kennedy Remix) via our shop and sites like ITUNES JUNO and with loads of new mixes/remixes
KAVA KAVA are based in Huddersfield - that's in Yorkshire, UK originally starting out as a 4 piece live psychedelic funk outfit with heavy George Clinton influences. They started out on the underground festival/party scene, had a few independent record deals out there. The NME has described Kava Kava as "gorgeous new psychedelic funk" and they had a No 1 in their CLUB GUIDE CHART. Recently expanded into a six/seven piece they have been punting self produced products on the CHOCOLATE FIREGUARD label.
Getting a load of radio and press here and there including a feature in BILLBOARD MAGAZINE. Talking of the States, radio spins include Nic Harcourt's show 'MORNING BECOMES ECLECTIC' on KCRW and Sat Bisla's PASSPORT APPROVED radio show .... Kava Kava's music is featured in cult Golden Globe winning US Showtime TV series WEEDS featuring Mary Louise Parker - 'Don't Stop The Music' was featured heavily in the very first episode. Other TV/film slots include LA RIDING CLUB, JOHN FROM CINCINNATI ('Tic' is in that one), Hollywood movie BOYS AND GIRLS GUIDE TO GETTING DOWN (Sicfuck, Bank Job, Terrorists etc) and FX series DIRT featuring Courtney Cox (NFA, Tic) ....
Sneaky bootleg China footage: here
Kava Kava have been profiled as one of THE bands from the Yorkshire area of the UK to look out for via the New Yorkshire project (Yorkshire? think Corrine Bailey Rae/Kaiser Chiefs/Arctic Monkeys etc), track 'Bank Job' being featured on the Music Week magazine (MIDEM edition) cover mount CD with a glowing write up on the band http://www.newyorkshire.net
Played clubs and festivals in the US, China and right across Europe too .... from France, Holland, Belgium, Hungary, Switzerland and the Czech Republic, to Austria, Germany, Poland and Italy. In the UK played Glastonbury Festival a few times. Other Festival slots include SXSW, Texas, Beijing Midi Festival, Trutnov Festival in the Czech Republic. Along the way they have played with all kinds of bands from Asian Dub Foundation, Gil Scott Heron, Embrace, The Damned, Zion Train, Surreal Madrid, Fingathing, Freestylers, The Bays, Vadim's Oneself etc etc........ Style wise, guess Kava Kava are either a rock band or cutting edge live dance act, depending where you are coming from.....they like to mix old school psychedelic and soul influences with bleeps, rocked out live funk, big beats and horns. Its been referred to as Disco Funk Rock, Space Funk and Nu School Big Beat.
Kava Kava Myspace, Videos and a new remix
Visit Kava Kava's MYSPACE! and follow the blog to see an ace new video of gig favourite Bank Job. It's a great piece of work, organised by Blink Media and directed by Licorice Films - who have worked with Portishead, Goldfrapp etc) We've also streamed an exclusive preview of an amazing Jon Kennedy remix + a raunchy clip from that naughty Hollywood independent film 'Boys and Girls Guide To Getting Down' featuring Kava Kava's music (the soundtrack also features Goldfrapp, Dirty Vegas and Stanley Clarke) and showing in Europe for the first time at Raindance (7th October)
KAVA KAVA PRESS :
BILLBOARD MAGAZINE (US) Despite a hard rock appearance, Kava Kava creates party-worthy music by combining rock, funk, dance and soul.......Kava Kava has already been heard on Showtime series "Weeds" and has been spun by Nic Harcourt on noncommercial KCRW Los Angeles
MUSIC WEEK MAGAZINE (UK) "quietly pricking the ears of the international music community with their rollicking psychedelic dance....look out!"
DJ MAGAZINE (UK) should be on every funk and disco playlist, period!.....Love it!" (4.5/5)
BLUES AND SOUL (UK) "It's not often that a debut artist album grips me on first listening but the organic vibe, inspired songwriting and impeccable production of "Maui" is a jaw-dropping phenomenon" (5/5)
M8 MAGAZINE (UK) "A bit of an undiscovered gem, this album has a glut of deep soulful grooves and funk-driven songs with a vinyl album sampler to suit many different moods..........check this out for your more laid back gatherings and some essential summer listening." (M7/M8)
FUTURE MUSIC (UK) "the future of dance .......... you can hear why they are an essential live experience...."
ALT.CULTURE.GUIDE (US) "Kava Kava has created a musical chimera that is equal parts P-Funk and Roxy Music, as indebted to Stax soul and the Philly sound as it is to the Manchester beat and Brian Eno. Maui is a strong antidote to the bland, lifeless music you'll hear on the radio, an energetic blend of heart and soul that will have you shuffling your feet in spite of your bad self"
COSMIK DEBRIS (US) "What sets Kava Kava apart from other trancey, vibey electronica is the vocals of Pat Fulgoni. He's got a soulful, powerful voice that is also pretty hypnotic on its own"
STYLUS (US) Every song in this collection has a nice clean club sound that is distinct and different from anything else on the market. Definitely the hottest dance album in quite some time"
SPLENDID (US) If you're in the mood for social commentary or introspection, keep searching. But if you dig on pretty sounds and funky beats (and I think you do), look no further.
NEUFUTUR (US) ...intense dance-music (intense as in Junior-Senior, not the 300bpm dance marathon tracks)...rich instrumentation and solid production ensure for a tremendous experience"
HYBRID MAGAZINE (US) Cool grooves, phat beats, funky sounds. Awesome feel-good music...Funky, heavy synth, Brit R&B Hip-Hop dance vibe.
1340 MAG (US) ...a funky, soulful, bluesy feel with a dance house (almost break beat) rhythm. Kava Kava really raises the bar on dance music with Maui. The energy level is through the roof.
PICCADILLY RECORDS, MANCHESTER (UK - retail) Brit house - funk band, combining daft house and epic sounds in a tremendous live melting pot of soul, jazz funk and beats
LIVE REACTION:
BBC Raw Talent gig was voted gig of the year by BBC Radio Raw Talent listeners!!
Live review Moles Club, Bath:
"A superb live presence"
Live review Bull & Gate venue, London:
"Soulful war-esque dark funk, draped in a deep pile velvety psychedelia with the sort of effortless classic rock vocal that shiny stars are surely made of!"
Glastonbury Festival website and programme:
"Mixing classic soul and blues grooves with funky bleeps and dirty beats, Kava Kava blend deliriously funky brass with cutting-edge grooves"
Live review of Scarborough Beached Festival / BBC.CO.UK:
"Kava Kava is another mixed bag not afraid to experiment in what they do. They are a concoction of electric soul, funk, blues and rock. On this evidence you can tell why they’ve been round Europe, played Glastonbury and been praised by DJ magazines worldwide. The Huddersfield group are the most eclectic band of the weekend for me, which is why I liked them so much. The fact one minute they would dabble in bleeps, big beats and even horns and the next brass and strings were apparent, left the audience guessing all day long. Each song has about a zillion different phases in and these rare oddities do sound like nothing I’ve heard before"
Live review of SXSW Festival, Texas / The Philadelphia Inquirer:
"From there, after the Englishwomen in the Pipettes, and a taste of New York jagged funksters the Rapture (who are gamely bringing the saxophone back to indie rock), it was off to see Kava Kava, a band I knew nothing except that adult alternative guru Nic Harcourt had allegedly said they were groovy. (This is how a buzz begins.) Turned out they were big burly guys from Huddersfield in Yorkshire in the north of England, where love for American soul music has always been ardent. Lead singer (and trumpeter!) looked like Pierre Robert crossed with David Clayton Thomas, and was unafraid to bellow out the words "Oh Lawdy Mama!" at the top of his lungs. Excellent guitarist doing strange things wiith foot pedals a la Jonny Greenwood of Radiohead, but otherwise it's a staggering (and blessedly) unhip band, with a hard-blowing horn section that reminded me of Tower of Power" - Dan DeLuca (The Philadelphia Inquirer)
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