Hi! So that our readers can know a bit more about you, please introduce Kaibald

Kaibald is a 4-member group that got its name from Estonia’s largest desert – the Kaibald sands. It has an internationial background through an Australian bass player and combines many different music genres, mainly western, blues, rock and country.

Liisi sings, Riho plays the 6-string, Mike’s got the 4 to 5-string one and Donat, Don as we call him, is behind the drums.

You recently released your latest single ‘Heatwave’ and it’s brilliant. For anyone who’s yet to hear it, how would you describe the track?

Heatwave is mostly a creation of our singer Liisi. It started from a guitar riff and was developed further from there with Liisi guiding others through the process. It’s not like Liisi is telling us what notes or beats to play, but she’s describing her ideas the best she can with emotions and analogies. This means the character of the others isn’t left out when certain parts of a song are created.

The idea for Heatwave was born when most of us were burnt out and tired of constant stress of life. A feeling that is known probably to anyone these days. The song describes this feeling as you were lost in a desert. However, at the same time it’s energetic and uplifting. So it’s a mix of negative and positive, reminding us that keeping a positive attitude in difficult times is important to keep going and be sure that better times are ahead.

Stylewise it is inspired by western movies, blues, rock and country. And you can be sure the sound quality is great because we recorded and mixed it in cooperation with the best mixing/mastering/recording engineer in 2021 according to Estonian Authors’ Society and EAPP.

Where did you record it?

The best mixing/mastering/recording engineer mentioned earlier is Peeter Salmela. He has a very cosy studio in the heart of Tallinn which he built in 10 years with extra special care and attention. This is the place we recorded and mixed at. It was an awesome process and a real pleasure. He’s not just a great recording and mixing engineer, he’s also an exceptionally kind-hearted person with great communication skills. He’s like an old friend from the first day. All this made the sessions feel like therapy and our souls felt a bit more healed after each time. And it’s not just therapeutical, it’s also inspirational. There just isn’t enough words to describe it…

Your music interweaves so many different styles and sounds. If you could collaborate with anyone in the world, who would it be and why?

Yeah. Our music is maybe not very similar to the music that is done by the artists that inspired us. We see that as more of a good thing because it shows that what we do comes from our emotions and characters and is not trying to copy others or follow certain rules and boundries. But there are a lot of artists that have influenced our music. Different styles even. From instrumental funk to heavy metal. It is about absorbing good music from anyhere. But of course there are some that have influenced us the most. The interweaving of different styles probably comes from each of us having a little different most influential styles of music. Liisi loves western-blues, Riho is more of a blues-rock guy, Don’s maybe a little more into funk drumming etc, but as we all still like the other’s most influential styles, we still like what we do together and make it work.

When it comes to dreaming about collaboration with anyone, Dan Auerbach from the Black Keys and his Easy Eye Sound are the first that come to mind. His music has inspired us a lot and Easy Eye Sound’s somewhat western, outlaw-countrysh blues-rock scene is where we feel we could also fit in well. Collaboration with Gary Clark Jr, Khruangbin or Hermanos Gutierrez would certainly be interesting.

What’s been your favorite musical experience to date? 

As a band we’d have to say recording and mixing with Peeter Salmela. Because of the reasons descirbed earlier. We’ll definitely do it again when we have the chance.

Where are you based? Can you tell us how the music scene there has inspired your sound at all?

We live, work and rehearse in Tallinn but create most of our songs in a small country house in Hiiumaa, an island full of beautiful nature and tranquility. The silence and isolation we get there, in the middle of nowhere, is somehow really inspirational.

In addition, our inspiration comes from different artists all over the world but the styles our music is mostly based on originate from the USA. So it’s hard to find certain artists from our country to inspire our specific sound. But we do enjoy the amazing music Estonian musicians have to offer.

Can you write what was the best performance in your career? How do you remember it?

We had the priviledge to play at Estonia’s biggest blues festival called Augustibluus. Our first main stage gig. That was definitely a close second but probably the best experience was a few years ago at a memorial concert for a legendary Estonian rocker Gunnar Graps. The sound on stage for the band was great and that gave us confidence. We all gave one of our best performances but Liisi was top noch. She felt incredible and could really focus on the performance and be in the moment at the same time. The amazing support we got from the audience was overwhelming and lifted our spirits even days after the concert.

Can we expect a new EP or an album from you in the near future?

We have some new songs ready that we haven’t released yet and we’re also working on new material. We’re aiming at an album, but there’s still some work to do to get there. Something is definitely coming. Maybe not an album in the near future but we’ll see. We don’t want to keep the audience waiting too long.

Finally, have you got anything to share regarding upcoming gigs, and what have you got planned for the rest of 2022?

The rest of 2022 we’ll be working on new songs and enjoying ourselves in the rehearsing room to keep the creative juices flowing. You may see us in a local jazz club playing some blues classics on a jam night but we’re not going on stage as Kaibald any time soon. That’s because unfortunately our bass player Mike’s life has taken him back to his home country, Australia. He’s still following and supporting what we do from there, though. But „He“’s no longer in the band and „She“ has taken his place. People will find out who „She“ is when we release our next song that will be dedicated to Mike and is also mainly created by him. We’re sorry we have to keep people waiting but it’s necessary to give our best performance. We’ll definitely keep our fans informed of our next gigs via our social media and website. Something will definitely happen in 2023.

Author

  • Sarah Jickling

    Freelance writer, lover of starting hobbies, and hater of not being immediately perfect at said hobbies. Can be found in Little Collins, drinking my fav coffee!

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