Sydney trio Kallidad describe themselves as 'Mexican mariachi metal', but the term hardly does them any justice.
“None of those words are actually very accurate to describe us, but it's almost impossible to describe us and we find it impossible so we decided to go with a little bit of alliteration,” cajon player, Julian 'Julz' Lardis says.
Playing a blended style that draws heavily on Spanish guitar music and wearing Dia de los Muertos face paint, Julz says newcomers to the band never really know what to expect. “The most common statement people say is 'wow, I wasn't expecting that' and we really like to hear that,” he says.
“Whether that's because of our image – sometimes people think we might be a straight-up metal band; they might think they're about to hear some loud, aggressive metal and then they're pleasantly surprised when the music is a lot more palatable than that.
“Maybe because we're young guys, they're quite surprised how serious our musicianship can be after a lifetime of practising.
"We love to surprise people and hear when they say 'wow I wasn't expecting that' because even if someone has described to you what you're coming to see, we still think we can shock people.”
Don't let the face paint fool you into thinking Kallidad are a novelty act with a cheap gimmick – the musicality of Julz and his bandmates, guitarists Jason Contos and Thomas Raven, stands apart from their visual aesthetic.
“What's funny is that we've developed these band characters that have the face paint, so when we're performing as our boring old selves it changes everything and Kallidad is much more exciting than our boring old selves,” Julz says, who takes on the persona of Senor Bang Bang when he's onstage.
“You can't be that character without the costume, and the music was written by or for that character. The way you play, the way you present yourself and the way you hold yourself is based around your Kallidad persona.”
Kallidad are currently taking their firebrand live show on tour around Australia, including a performance at one of their favourite places in the whole world, Nannup Music Festival where Julz says was where the band went from part-time plaything to full-time fun.
“We've been to Nannup [Music Festival] a few times before, and the first time we went literally changed our lives because the response there was so overwhelming, that was where we quit our day jobs and became a full-time band,” he says.
“We went in there not knowing what to expect. . . it was the furthest we'd ever been on tour so we were way out of our depth when we got there and it just went off. We went all in on Kallidad all because of the reception of the Nannup crowds in 2014, so it's a huge part of our lives.”
Kallidad play 2020 Nannup Music Festival (WA), which runs 28 February to 2 March.
Kallidad 2019-2020 Tour Dates
Thu 21 Nov - BackDock Arts (Brisbane)Sun 24 Nov - Hotel Brunswick (Brunswick Heads, NSW)
Thu 28 Nov - Yonder Festival (Sunshine Coast)
Fri 6 Mar - Settlers Tavern (Margaret River)
Sat 7 Mar - Indian Ocean Hotel (Perth)
Sun 8 Mar - Clancy’s Fish Pub (Fremantle)
Sat 11 Apr - The B.East (Melbourne)
