It must have been a couple of years ago when we first started looking at the debut album recording for Herts based Grunge Rocker Matt Kidr, A.K.A. Kidr X.... And it's now finally hit the streaming platforms!
Originally from Stoke On Trent, we first met Matt when he began using the studios with his full band, Auto Pilot Go. Auto Pilot Go, was Matt's UK Heavy Rock/Punk/Grunge band formed in 2009 still only consisting of himself on guitar and vocals with Jake Eaton (also of Herts based Jackals Backbone) on drums for the Live set. Though I never got to see the band live I really enjoyed the music and when Matt started talking about a solo project I was keen to get involved.
From the beginning this seemed to be not too dissimilar from the Autopilot Go sound pallet but with more emphasis on the songwriting and melodies making a crossbreed album with something for everyone, covering sounds from the heavy grunge 90's Nirvana sound, the all out Punk Rock era elements and singer/songwriter rocky tracks. At the time of starting recording for this album Matt had been taking a break from Autopilot and other commitments and drafted in a session drummer for the album, Clint Henderson. Clint, formerly of well known indie band The Runners, had also been in some successful 90's grunge bands and seemed a good fit for the album. The 8 tracks were laid down in a couple of recording sessions with all drums being set to guide guitars and then we layered all of the other instrumentation and vocals, Matt playing everything himself, this really was a true solo project.
A lot of time was spent with Matt in the mixing process with him sitting in for sessions to make sure the sound was exactly what he wanted, the whole process a very enjoyable one, though it did open the wormhole for time consuming sessions with a lot of changes being made over the duration of the mixing process... but the end result was exactly what he wanted... and we loved it. A super hard hitting grunge/punk/rock album with ear shattering aggressive guitar hooks, a mixture of pop rock to punk vocal deliveries and ferocious straight up drum grooves to keep it in check, a real joyride from start to finish.
We are excited to see what KIDR X puts out next.... if anything, or whether he makes another Autopilot record... who knows, but either way we want to be involved! Check out the album 'Are You Into Demons' NOW on all digital platforms, Spotify playlist below 😎