Kidstreet Avoid One-Hit Wonder Status, Despite Hit 'Song' -- NXNE

Renowned for their exuberant live presence, Waterloo, Ontario's Kidstreet hit the jackpot with their poppy 2009 track 'Song.' That single literally became a commercial success for the band when it was heavily featured in Ford car commercials, thereby opening doors for the three-piece family band. With their debut EP, 'X,' now making the rounds, Spinner spoke to group about when we can expect a full-length, their fear of gimmicks and how they hope to bring back the original 'Kidstreet' game show.

You're all related, which has gotten a lot of attention, especially because the actual 'Kidstreet' television series revolved around siblings. Are you ever worried that being related comes off as a gimmick?

We definitely thought about that a little bit, but not as much because our main focus is just having fun. So if you have fun, people aren't going to dwell on novelties. But at the end of the day, if we end up being a novelty band, that's completely our own fault.

A couple years back, your track 'Song' was featured in a Ford commercial. Did that exposure give you a better understanding of the music industry and the way it works?

It's definitely opened up a few things. As soon as you're a little bit successful in the music industry, it definitely puts you at a different level where you meet certain people -- I guess that's what the music industry's all about: people you know. It's just like any other industry, really. So having that little bit of success has helped us garner a little more attention.

Did you ever feel confined by the focus on that specific song?

No, not at all. To be fair, I don't even think it's gotten that much recognition. I mean, occasionally when we play it live, we'll hear some people in the crowd [recognize it]. But people aren't coming out to hear that song. It's not like our "hit." We don't really have a hit.

Maybe you don't even want a hit because then you run the risk of being a one-hit wonder. You want to be an album band.

That's completely it -- I 100 percent agree. If you have a hit, and it's f---ing amazing then you're screwed because you're never going to write another song like that, and that's all people are going to want to hear.

You've been making music for years and you just released your debut EP.

Yeah, we have a lot of new stuff that's probably going to be released in about a year down the road. All the songs that are going to be released, we've been sitting on for a while, but we made the choice only to release them for ourselves and to make sure that we're going to get proper distribution for them. We totally could have released them a year ago, but it didn't make a lot of sense because we would've sold 150 copies and maybe broken up in the end.

So your full-length is being released this year?

This fall is when it's coming out, it looks like. Actually, I shouldn't put down a date, but it looks like fall -- that's what the chatter is right now. We're really excited to have it out. The EP is cool to have, but we want an album to sell.

Do you think your recorded material does your live performance justice?

It's tough to say because every time we go to record, we utilize different techniques, and some of them are more studio-oriented and others are more live. It's tough to say because our live performance, I think, is the only reason anyone's given us any attention. But to make that happen in the studio is almost impossible, because jumping up and down does not make a good sounding record.

What is it going to take for us to bring back the 'Kidstreet' TV show?

S---! I think it could happen, because it'd be a cheap show to make, right? Maybe the band would have to get a bigger name, then some TV producer would see it, and realize [the show] is going to make a lot of money. But, I don't know. The problem is if the show does come back, we're probably screwed on the name. So keep watching those reruns because they're phenomenal, but don't bring it back.

Kidstreet play the Supermarket tonight (June 17) @ 12AM

Watch Kidstreet's 'Penny Candy' Video


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