Never The Brave are comprised of Kiris, a Latin Grammy-winning writer and composer, and Kingsley, a power baritone vocalist and accomplished performer. They’ve worked in the industry for over a decade separately, writing behind the scenes and also as part of a band.
We caught up with the duo ahead of their jam-packed release schedule over the coming months, whilst catching up with them about the release of their new single Painkillers.
The Beginning
Kingsley initially got introduced into the industry whilst writing with a producer called Grades. Having achieved a fair amount of success in the writing world, this propelled Kingsley into a publishing deal with Warner Chapel.
Kiris, on the other hand, had always known that music was his calling, so for the now Latin Grammy-winning writer and composer, this felt like a choice that had been made for him. However, life is a roller coaster ride, and Kiris openly admits he is no exception to this rule.
“When I got fired from a couple of 9-5 jobs when I was 21 for being “too creatively minded”, I knew that music was definitely my path in life and there was no going back! I started off just playing gigs around London then got asked to direct/ perform in backing bands for different artists and touring.”
Creating Painkillers
The band takes inspiration from themes like overcoming pain and finding hope so this was a natural subject matter for us. Kiris highlights how they have both individually been through various experiences that they’ve drawn upon where they’ve had to overcome challenges in both work and personal life, and that really shines through in their music.
For Kingsley, Painkillers as a song has taught him to be a little bit more brutally honest as an artist. The lyrics
and song was inspired by a personal experience he encountered in his life, having struggled with severe insomnia and eventually overcoming it.
As for their music, Kingsley describes their music as a hard-edged, eclectic sound, that also captures an anthemic, gospel feel, at times. We always try to maintain a striking storytelling in our music that’s really from the heart. The duo enjoy classic song writing, songs that can stand up just with an acoustic guitar and vocals as well as the full production you hear on the record. For Kingsley and Kiris, making music that is personal and timeless that takes listeners on a journey is vital part of bringing the production together.
Their favourite song to date has been “love you anyway” which was their first EP. Kiris explains “it has a bit of everything that this group represents. It’s a song that started off with just piano and vocal but developed into something exploring our cinematic sound together with pushing some of the boundaries of what we may have done before”.
For the Fans & taking Inspiration
The duo look to invoke the feeling of love, forgiveness, strength and positivity and empathy through their music. A lot of their songs centre around ideas about hope and finding a light at the end of the tunnel in the darkness, whatever they might be going through in their own lives.
For Kingsley, his parents and family have always inspired him to be ambitious. Openly admitting this stemmed from his parents decision to migrate from Ghana to the UK in search of more opportunities to reinvent themselves.
Finding people in the music industry that are a kin to the music you wish to produce can involve a lot of hard work. However for the duo, it is vitally important as whilst finding likeminded people who are on the same page musically can be challenging. However, with a harmonious team, it’s easier to get great results, as communication is understood verbally or non-verbally
Kiris highlights how finding other souls that you can click with creatively is really important.
“I like to be challenged, so I really enjoy learning about others approach to making music. For instance I’m really fascinated about how they producers recorded on tape rather than laptops back in the 60s, and all those old recording techniques where the imperfections are as important as the perfections.” – Kiris
As far as the music industry is concerned the duo feels there needs to be more diversity, understanding and empathy towards artists breaking through. Of particular note is greater recognition of the role of songwriters, and support and development of aspiring artists and music producers.
