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INTERVIEWS, REVIEWS, CULTURE PIECES, MUSICAL RAMBLINGS.
It’s rather easy to find solace in any corner of the town of New Paltz. To some people, it might be whatever patch of grass they choose to nestle in beside the Wallkill, or their favorite graffitied picnic table around the perimeter of Peace Park. For musicians and grad students Julia Bellontine and Santi Coto Segnini, their special spot was in a tiny red shed in the backyard of a shady single-story house, where their band Kablamo’s first full length self-titled debut was born. Formed in 2019 as a loosely-structured jam band, the group’s lineup has welcomed a variety of contributors. Performing primarily at live house show venues throughout New Paltz, both Bellontine, drums and vocals, and Segnini, guitar and vocals, wished to bring their energy to the studio to write their own music, a venture they started to pursue amid the rise of the pandemic. “We wrote the songs, recorded them and then performed them live,” said Bellontine. “We were able to get context: ‘Okay, how do people react to this song? Sometimes people get bored during that time. Maybe we can make that arrangement more exciting when we go into the studio.’” As performances started to pick back up in the spring of 2021, Kablamo released their first official single, “Cruisin,’” that April. Featuring once-New Paltz-based On Pink’s Joe Ippolito on bass, the song was an immediate cornerstone on the band’s live sets, and a personal milestone to the musicians themselves, thrilled to finally have a recorded piece to send to people who asked about their music. The duo spent the next year revising and perfecting each song, inviting New Paltz artists in their circle and going tweaking each version to perfection before the final cut. Musician Charlie Peterson and On Pink bassist Tom Giuzio learned basslines to help the band play live. Their setup still stood in the Red Shed the day after the album release, microphones attached to the drumset, and stands propped in the same place where they recorded and performed down to the last touches. On Sep. 9, 2022, “Kablamo” was finally out on all streaming services. The band even sold Sharpie scribble-ridden CDs of the EP next to colorful branded t-shirts at a release party in the Red Shed the day after. They played the album in full, the crowd already knowing the words and singing along, followed by a series of fun cover songs that kept the energy up, the audience bouncing and the windows fogging from the heated intensity.
The debut features seven solid tracks, tackling the real-life ups and downs that the members have faced in their college careers and beyond. With three songwriters contributing to the lyrics — Bellontine, Segnini and fellow collaborator and musician Aiden Ludlam — the songs have a healthy stylistic range: some sweetly simple and straightforward while others delve into more abstract and fluid themes that anyone can interpret using their own personal compass. This broad range of styles caused slight clashes in the songwriting process, however. “That's the thing about making music with someone; it correlates to your own demons,” said Bellontine. “Making music means you have to argue, like a little bit, because it's like, “I like this part. You like this part.” None of them is objectively better than the other, so you have to compromise. We just learned how to compromise a lot.” Bellontine, who also drums for New Paltz-based all-female group Yes Ma'am, maintains a powerful vocal delivery as she sings behind the set. Paired with Segnini’s equally ethereal vocals, the two have a smooth and melodious harmonic balance that takes the listener on a sonic ride through their guitar riffs and beats. The band takes pride in wearing their inspirations on their sleeve, their hazy-pop sound comparing to the likes of their favorite modern shoegaze group DIIV, and even the 00s chart queens such as Britney Spears and Kesha whose songs occasionally appear in their setlist as covers. While other artists shy away from claiming the bands they love have strong influences in how they sound, Kablamo proudly admits that “Face to Face” was once labeled “The DIIV Song.” “It’s very genuine,” said Segnini, regarding the album. “It’s very unpretentious in the way we went about it. I think a lot of ego and tension has dissipated to the point where we are on the same page. We just want this to be as good as it can be, and we’ll do our part.” The disassociation from ego shines throughout the album but comes to a head in the final track, “Face to Face.” A song about owning up to your mistakes and taking that difficult, grueling look at yourself in the mirror, it’s a love letter to the listener, telling you that it’s ok to make a change. Meanwhile, angst runs high in the album’s fourth track, “Autumn of Breakups,” a song that tackles the longing of a love lost during the pleasant season of the year, and life. “I think one of the main things of this album, at least from my perspective, is that there's a lot of optimistic songs. It's not a really emo album and also, we don't really care about sounding cool. We're kind of just being authentic. I want people to feel good when they listen to our music. I mean, someone said to me that they were really crying to “Autumn of Breakups” the other day. I was very, very happy. [laughs] But yeah, the thing is it's a wide range of emotions. That's kind of what we're getting at. It's positive, but also it's kind of dark and it's just real.” Currently on the Kablamo agenda include a collection of hometown gigs in New Paltz, and some Yes Ma'am shows for Bellontine. A potential string of shows in New York City could be in the works as well. The band has been producing a “Making Of” Instagram video series, where each week they highlight a song from the album and provide exclusive in-depth details about the processes. At the end of the day, the band’s main goal is to get back in their sacred Red Shed, and ambitiously tackle their next project as soon as possible. Follow @kablamo.ny on Instagram and listen to “Kablamo” on your favorite streaming service.
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