Kunvuk Biography - (mis)Information and Other Theories on our Genesis

biography | architects

BIOGRAPHY

Kunvuk – (pronounced KUHN-vuhk) –
1. The energy of a life under attack esp. in the context of notional contradiction and dichotomy.
2. To act in an explosive manner with great irrationality and wisdom; alt. to connect with undeserved malice and obsessive care.
3. The process of applying extreme and rigorous testing to the questioning mind.

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Sydney-based band Kunvuk was formed in 2002 with the intent to create honest, confounding and unpredictably unique heavy music. Combining a fiercely independent spirit with the intensity of the vision created by David Hart (lead guitar, vocals), Simon Edwards (rhythm guitar, vocals), Luis Barra (bass) and Trina Tuffy (drums) the result is a breed of unhinged metal that is exploding with colour, illness and energy. With musical comparisons to System of a Down, Pantera, Lamb of God and Mr Bungle, they tackle complex themes that revolve around the insanity and desperation of our everyday struggles and the unfolding complications of the human condition.

In 2010 the band released their long-awaited debut album “Immute: Jackals”. Completely self-funded, the album was recorded over a two year period in the band’s own Shadow Mekanik Studios. Taking on the role of engineer and producer, “Immute: Jackals” was recorded and mixed by founding member Hart. As he explains, “We had to create this record on our own terms and completely independently. Who else would exercise this much patience and care to make this record everything it needed to be? We tore everything apart and rebuilt sounds over and over again, fording disaster after disaster. This record is a witness to our unbreakable will and years of hard work.” Once the band were finally satisfied with the album mastering duties were handled by the legendary Rick O’Neil (FAITH NO MORE, GRINSPOON, BOB DYLAN) of Turtlerock Mastering who took the album above and beyond the band’s expectations. “It was extremely important for us to make bold and terrifying claims on this record and Rick really crystallised our sound and translated it incredibly into something we are truly proud of,” says Hart.

The peculiar album title, conjuring up archaic language and wild scavengers, is bound up in the central philosophy of the band. “Immute means to alter or change,” says Hart. “It refers to a question we are posing in relation to ourselves as sentient beings. Do we have the capacity to change our own fundamental behaviour or are we imprisoned by our genes and the environment that we are thrown in to. We want to lay bare the emotional and intellectual damage that results from any attempt to break from what is encoded in our flesh.” So how does the Jackal reflect the concept of Immute? “On the other side of this questioning of potential and its ramifications is the Jackal. A jackal can be someone who does not have the ability to question their nature, realise its consequence or potentially act out to immute their existence. Due to this ignorance or lack of will, the Jackal will feed, manipulating and living through each person it comes in contact with, trying to create a reality where that questioning does not exist. A reality in which original thought dies and the incapable person becomes obsessed by their own irrelevance.” A drastic and all-encompassing scope for an album and band to approach to say the least.

Released in a deluxe, DVD-sized digipack with a massive 24 page booklet, the album “Immute: Jackals” was released as a two disc set. The first disc “Immute” is an LP that contains the band’s most diverse material yet; demonstrating Kunvuk’s ability to bound off in all manner of musical excursion and yet keep the song at the forefront of the listener’s mind. “The most important thing for this band is always the song” explains Hart. “We are always asking ourselves what is going to make this song explode more in this direction, how is this section going to die more, where are we going to pull this thought back into the mix and switch the perception of the listener to enhance confusion and generate mistrust.” Whether it be through hyperventilating thrash (“...And No One Will Return My Calls”), bursts of lonely jazz breaks and unwelcome calm (“Jackals Feeding Children Feeding Buildings”, “Immure”), foot-breaking monolithic structures (“We Are The Virus”) or spastic and destructive walls of groove (“Hypochondriac”, “Osiris”) the album pumps and breathes in some of the most unexpected, energetic and captivating ways.

If the tornado of sounds, colours and concepts wrought across the first disc weren’t enough to bring the unsuspecting listener to their knees then the second disc would surely see them trampled and begging for their job back. “Jackals” is a reconstructed, rerecorded and remixed version of the band's demo EP, "The Gone Mekanik Anticipation Demonstration" with two extra tracks that expand the EP into a more evolved statement. It sees the band jerking off in to newer territory still. As cofounder Edwards explains - “Since we recorded the original demo, a few years ago now, David's skills in the studio have really developed to a high standard and we couldn't pass up the opportunity to give these three songs the production values they deserved. Couple that with the extended sound poems that really push a listener's buttons. And we wanna play these ones live too.” Leading with a startling attack from the fringes of society, “Jackals” is littered with fragments of the Kunvuk philosophy, creating moments of extreme aggressive reflectivity, augmented with squalls of black noise that scatter like a dirty bomb dropped into a crowded mall. A resounding pulse and anxious response to the roots of Kunvuk. A completely essential addition to the complex statement that is “Immute: Jackals”.

Following this long period of gestation, Kunvuk will be heading into their attack phase – taking their incredibly energetic and frenetic live show across the country and spreading their album to some of the most far-flung corners of the country. In addition to treading paths that they have previously worn through major cities they will also be taking their show out to regional areas, dragging their music kicking and screaming to parts of Australian where no other band will go. “We aren’t just trying to create new ground with our music. We are pushing in all directions to advance – writing, art, music, technology, geography – we are pushing to reach people everywhere, to give them an experience that is real, complex and enthralling. An experience that only a band like Kunvuk can deliver.”