Interview: Kite Thief @ 2000trees
Kite Thief by Jez Pennington
Catching up with Kite Thief at 2000trees was a full-circle moment. With their relentless energy and fresh music, Kite Thief is quickly becoming a standout in the alt-rock scene. This past year has been monumental for them—signing with Year Of The Rat Records, releasing their EP Ambiviolent, and hitting the road hard.
We had the chance to chat with the band about their jam-packed festival schedule, the thrill of playing two sets at 2000trees, and their ever-evolving sound. We also dug into the challenges of writing new material post-Ambiviolent, their plans for the rest of the year, and what’s currently dominating their playlists. From the packed Word stage to the iconic Forest stage, Kite Thief has proven they’re not just rising stars—they’re a force to be reckoned with.
I don't even have any notes because we didn't know we were going to see you!
Elin: I know! We can just have a chat, yeah?
It's a bit full circle for us both. You were our first interview last year, just celebrated our first year, and in that time you’ve signed with a label and released a big EP. Now here we are again! How has the last year been for you?
Max: It's been really busy, you know. We released Ambiviolent last year, spent pretty much the whole year creating it, and the year before that as well. This year, we've just been touring it—headlining our own tour and recently supporting Marisa And The Moths too. It's been super busy, but really fun, with some amazing shows.
Elin: Yeah, really good shows. We’ve had some amazing experiences and played here twice now.
You're no strangers to Trees, and you got to play twice this time. How’s it been?
Josh: It was amazing. We were a bit curious about how the Wednesday would go because only half the festival was there, and only two stages were open. We thought people would be busy setting up their tents and not come to see us, but we got in there, and it was packed straight away. There was a pit during the first song, and we were like, “Oh yeah, people are here and ready to go!” We packed out the Word stage. It was amazing. And then yesterday, we played on the Forest stage, which is just iconic. We even had our first crowd surfers. It was probably the biggest crowd we've played to so far.
Elin: Marisa from Marisa And The Moths joined us for a song, just like she did in London on tour. That was great.
Josh: Yeah, she came out and did a little bit with us. It was nice.
We arrived just in the middle of that song. The other half was very packed, and the pit loves Kite Thief. They love a Kite Thief breakdown!
Max: And now we have crowd surfers as well! That’s a new one for us. Luckily, we had security doing their job.
Josh: He was filming us! I looked down, and the security guy was just filming. I was like, “There’s someone being crowd-surfed—she’s going to fall, excuse me!”
So, when you’re not doing lots of gigs, what else have you been up to this year?
Elin: We’ve been trying to write some new songs—trying! It feels like it’s been really hard. About two hours ago, we were at the tent listening to them, and it was the first time we went, “Oh yeah, no, these are good, actually.”
Josh: I was like “guys these songs are amazing.”
Max: I think we got burnt out after Ambiviolent because it was two years of writing, rewriting, and doing loads of work on the songs. So, we took a bit of time off after releasing it, and getting back into writing was tough. But now, after some time away, listening to them again, especially after hearing Ambiviolent and having that whole era, it’s quite nice to have some fresh stuff that’s a new sound for us. Not too far off, but pushing some boundaries we haven’t explored before. So yeah, it’s great. It’s fun.
Elin: We’re doing some fun stuff.
What do these new boundaries look like, feel like, sound like?
Max: Well, the fact that Josh and I are going to have to play baritone guitars now because we’re going a lot lower. We’re also learning to use guitars more as percussive instruments instead of just melodic ones.
Josh: Our stuff’s typically not overly intricate, but we don’t tend to write simplistic verses either. We like to fill in a lot of space with notes and stuff. So, learning to use the guitar differently, leaving more space for vocals and other layers, is something we started doing on Ambiviolent and are trying to push further. But we’re still keeping the crushing sections we love playing live. It’s exciting to see how it goes.
Is it like progressing on from “Judge Judy,” where you packed that so full of so much without overdoing it?
Elin: I think that’s what we were always striving for, isn’t it?
Max: Yeah, we’re trying to fuse lots of different elements and make each song have its own space. Like, “The Tide” and “Judge Judy” are in the same chordal areas musically, but in terms of vibe and how the songs are, they’re very different. They’ve all got their own personality. So, we’re really focusing on giving songs their own space and not just doing something for the sake of it.
Elin: Yeah, doing it because it works, not just because we feel like we need to fill a section. We want to try each section out and make sure it’s really looked into.
Max: We’re doing things intentionally, not just because we did something similar with the last song. It’s about doing something fresh and new that’s exciting to us as well. Otherwise, you just write the same stuff, and if we’re not excited about it, no one else is going to care. So, it’s about writing stuff that excites us.
So, what else are you doing this summer?
Elin: See, we did this earlier, and we accidentally said what we were doing. And we don’t think either of them are announced yet.
Josh: We’ve got some shows.
Elin: I don’t think they’re announced, so...
Josh: Well, if they are announced…there’s something coming up again which is really exciting.
Josh: We’ve got some shows. We’ve got a few cool shows in Bristol later this year with some good friends of ours. But mainly, what’s next for us is writing in the studio. We’ve got a few songs to get over the line, and then we’re going to work towards something a little bit bigger later on as well. So, we’ve got a lot of writing to do.
Max: Trees is kind of like our wind-down now. This is our big celebration. Ambiviolent is…not put to bed, but we’re saying goodbye to that era. That’s why we have different stage clothes and stuff now. We’re closing that chapter and starting to move on with new stuff, even though we’re still pushing Ambiviolent.
Nice! Can’t wait to see what’s next. What are you listening to right now?
Elin: Oh, I listen to just only like girls, gays, and theys. That’s all I care about. Just pop—I love Peach PRC, I love... oh my God, who am I? I’m obsessed. I don’t like sad music. I’m either like, “I want it to be angry, or I want it to be really happy.” But yeah, she’s got me in a trap. Chappell Roan, obviously. Bring Me the Horizon, obviously. Lola Young—I love her at the moment.
Max: I’m vibing with unpeople, Olly Steele—he used to be in Monuments. His new album is great. Wage War dropped a new album that bangs. Nothing,Nowhere is doing quite a lot of good stuff. He’s kind of like emo-trap, country stuff. Josh?
Josh: I’ve got my top four songs at the minute according to Spotify. We’ve got “End of the Beginning” by Djo, “Bangarang” by Skrillex, “Alkaline” by Sleep Token, and then “The Tide” by Kite Thief. So there you go. Been practicing for today and yesterday.
Stay tuned for everything coming up from Kite Thief.
