Interview with The Capollos: ‘Music is a saviour, something you can find solace in’

Aberdeen-based band The Capollos has a couple of songs in the works, the first of which, ‘Telephone’, will come out at the end of next month, according to its frontman and rhythm guitarist, Kyle McDonald.

‘My brother is on vocals this time, I told him to just go for it,’ McDonald said. ‘He wrote it and I’m doing backing vocals. The song’s about having someone in your life but feelings of doubt are creeping in. It’s about the realisation that something is coming to an end.’

The chorus is testament to that: ‘No, no, no, I don’t want your kisses anymore…cause you know we tried, I can’t find what I’m looking for, no no no, I don’t want your kisses anymore.’

The band was formed by McDonald and his twin brother Lloyd in 2014. They were later joined by Greg Adams (drums), who Kyle knew from university, and Brett Thain (lead guitar), who they found via a local music forum after their first guitarist left.

Next up will be ‘Home’, which the band is hoping to record in October for a December release date. ‘I wrote it a couple of years ago,’ McDonald said. ‘It’s a long song, I might cut a verse out! We played it at Unit 51 (a gig in Aberdeen) last year. It’s about the tail end of a night when you’ve said you’ll meet someone to get a taxi but they don’t show up. What’s going through your mind when someone doesn’t turn up to meet you?’

‘Electrify’ evolved from a jamming session

‘Electrify’ the heaviest song yet from the band, which they released in June, evolved from a jamming session, according to McDonald. ‘We were all in the practice room jamming away when Greg did a drum beat which was REALLY good, I started the guitar and that became the first note of ‘Electrify’, it was just the ‘sweet spot’ – we just went and went for 10 minutes! [laughs]’

However, the current version of ‘Electrify’ is quite different to the initial one that the band played at Unit 51 last year: ‘We’ve changed it quite a lot since then because, at the time, the words were mainly spoken,’ McDonald said.

Most of their songs, in particular ‘Electrify’ and ‘Addiction’ are about McDonald’s girlfriend, Claire. ‘I’m a hopeless romantic – all the love songs I write are about her. We’ve been together for seven years, which is longer than the band! I’m in Aberdeen with the boys, she moved to Edinburgh for uni and is still there. We don’t want to crush each other’s dreams, so we’re yo-yoing back and forth. There’s a line in ‘Addiction’ that comes from an actual chat we had about it: ‘So are you coming round or am I going down?”

Their sound has evolved since their early days, with McDonald acknowledging that they struggled to find their sound at the beginning. ‘It all changed with ‘Get Out (Out)’ (on their eponymously named EP from 2016). It was the catalyst for us to change direction.’

In the past, McDonald says he sometimes struggled to write the choruses but says that is no longer the case as their sound has evolved. ‘The chorus comes first now, which is great, it makes songwriting less stressful. Riffs evoke a certain feeling, don’t they? Sometimes it’s the lyrics that come first, other times it’s the music. Sometimes, the song is just there, it’s not planned.’

‘I loved the name, the Italian feel and it fitted with us being mod at the time‘

The name of the band also has a fascinating history: ‘My grandad took me to the graveyard and was pointing out gravestones of people he knew,’ McDonald explained. ‘My great uncle through marriage, Angelo Capollo, is buried there. He was a prisoner of war who came to Aberdeen and sold gelato out of a wheelbarrow. I loved the name, the Italian feel and it fitted with us being mod at the time. The name is very meaningful to us. The Capollos moved to Australia but I would love to meet them.’

McDonald would also ‘love to have a jam with Miles Kane and Alex Turner’. “I’ve worked with Miles before on guitar tech,’ he said. The way in which Alex writes is phenomenal, the same goes for Miles.’

The Capollos have supported artists such as The Pigeon Detectives, Primal Scream, The Sherlocks and The Snuts and also played at a ceremony held by Elton John in their home city. They have been compared to the Arctic Monkeys, Kasabian and even Oasis.

McDonald is ‘itching’ to play live music again and the band is hoping to tour next year. ‘Music is a saviour, something you can find solace in,’ he said. ‘Music doesn’t just depend on the band but on the people who go to see them. When gigs come back, the bounce back is going to be brilliant!’

(Photo: Kyle McDonald is second from right)