In a relative sense, Kid Radio are on top of the world. They’ve just released their long-awaited debut record and are set to head out on tour for the biggest shows of their career. Speaking down a phone line from an inner city street, guitarist and synth player Marcus Ross is both excited and nervous to share the self-titled album with fans around the country, starting with a hometown gig at Melbourne’s Shebeen.

“I’ve never played at Shebeen before, so I am definitely looking forward to that,” he says. “It’s a bit of a pinch yourself moment that I get to go from being a punter to being the artist up onstage. Being a studio band and not having too many live shows under our belt thus far, we have been really busy trying to get an awesome visual show happening. I think this show at Shebeen is going to be off the scale.”

Following a familiar narrative, Kid Radio formed after the dissolution of Ross and vocalist Dylan Smith’s former band Direct Influence. Ross reminisces fondly about the pair’s early musical creations after meeting in high school and the bond they’ve developed over the last ten years.

“Dylan moved over here from New Zealand when he was around 14,” Ross says. “He was never trained in music or anything, but at that time I was playing in numerous bands. He got up as a rapper with us once in one of my teen projects and I spotted his talent and musicality straight away. From there we formed Direct Influence and played both here and internationally. We got a bit sick of the reggae rock stuff though, and that’s when we turned to the dark side of synths and drum pads.”

Teaming up with Count Bounce of Australian hip hop crew TZU, Kid Radio spent the best part of two years crafting their debut record. Along the way, both Ross and Smith encountered some severe personal issues, which threatened to overthrow the album entirely.

“Dylan’s father passed away and I was going through a really bad break-up,” Ross says. “He nearly moved back to New Zealand and was considering throwing in the towel on music altogether. I think that there is definitely a therapeutic power in music, and despite all this crazy stuff going on in our lives, we channelled those emotions into song, and you can hear that on tracks like ‘My Universe’ and ‘Young Heart’.”

Kid Radio’s tracks usually begin with ideas Ross and Smith compose on acoustic guitar and piano. They then gradually transpose the songs onto synthesisers and electric guitars. It’s a method Ross adopted after taking inspiration from Justin Timberlake, of all people.

“You can easily create a song with large amount of equipment and effects, though unless you can pick up a guitar or play it on a piano and it still sounds good, it isn’t going to be a good song,” Ross says. “I think that’s a real test of a song – if it strips back well to just the acoustic guitar. JT made that statement of making an album with Pharrell, I think.”

Kid Radio’s self-titled independently-released EP is out now, and on Saturday August 22 they play Oxford Art Factory.

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