Niagara-Based Indie Rockers, Real Kevin unveil “Sky Kiss”
Real Kevin has been creating their take on garage rock, post-punk & grunge and performing throughout southern Ontario for the last few years. In 2021 they released their double album Ninety Four, featuring eight tracks pulling from their indie rock influence on one side (Ninety Four) and eight tracks that drive toward a heavy grunge sound on the other (‘94).
The band shares on the single,
“This song is technically a cover but interestingly, we do not know who the original artist is. An uncredited snippet appears at the end of the Bob’s Burgers episode “Bob Actually” from season 7. The song is listed as “The Runs” online which is evidently a fake band name. We heard it and started playing it at shows and it fit in our set so well that we decided to record and release it.
We’ve put some of our own touches on this song but it’s mostly a cover. The band recorded and produced the song ourselves in our basement rehearsal studio and it was a lot of fun to work on. Has a bit of that “wall-of sound” guitar that gives it a shoegaze sound with a falsetto ear worm for a chorus. We also had to come up with a way to start the song and all come in together and since we are huge fans of “Be My Baby” by The Ronettes, we decided to pay a little homage to its drum intro.”
Listen to “Sky Kiss” below and learn more about Real Kevin via our Five Questions With segment.
Care to introduce yourself to our readers?
We are Real Kevin, a garage rock 3-piece from the Niagara Region.
Tell us a bit about your most recent release.
We started performing the song “Sky Kiss” after catching an episode of Bob’s Burgers in which the song’s hook plays over the end credits. We found it really catchy, and after finding a full version of the song online, we started playing it at rehearsals for fun, after which it found its way into our set, and we just liked it so much that we decided to release our version of the song hoping to bring it to more people.
Where do you tend to pull inspiration from when writing?
The 3 of us have a pretty similar tastes in music. We greatly appreciate the late 80s/ early 90s alternative sound but also love the melodies and lo-fi quality of 60s pop and try to find a balance between these inspirations to find our sweet spot.
Do you have any upcoming shows you’d like to tell us about?
We are at the Warehouse Concert Hall in St. Catharines on March 2nd, and you can also catch us at the Horseshoe Tavern on April 4th.
What’s your goal for 2023?
We’re really excited to get back into the studio and release more music to bring to a live audience. We are looking for any opportunity to grow our fan base and grow as a band.