We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful The Khost. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with The below.

The, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?

We learned to do what we do with plenty of trial and error over the years. We like to study our influences, identify what we like about them, and dissect the process into our very own version of it. We also study things we don’t like and dive into why we don’t like them. Following this method in general really helps us discover who we are and brings us to our fullest creative potential when we work on our music.

Knowing what I know now, I wish I had focused on finding my musical vision earlier rather than try to play music that my friends were into. In my very early years as a musician (about 15 years ago), I jumped from genre to genre but could never fully identify with what I was playing. I always felt like I had to stick to rules of the genre and venturing too far away from it would not appeal a crowd. Now a days I feel playing the music I made for me is way more rewarding and it is a magical feeling when the crowd is enjoying the music as much as I am.

The skills that made me who I am today are discipline, organization, and not taking everything so seriously. Discipline developed the routine of consistently working harder at my craft. Organization helped me keep all my thoughts on track and gave me the ability to hyper focus on what part of the music/performance needed the most attention. Not taking things so seriously helped me accept failure rather than sulk in it. I can reflect on what can be better next time and laugh at myself in the process.

Laziness can be the biggest obstacle. Driving in Austin traffic, working a full-time day job, then driving back home in Austin traffic can make the idea of doing nothing very, very appealing. Unfortunately, I have fallen into that trap quite a few times and I think that definitely has kept me from learning more and applying what I learned.

The, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

We are a group of musicians that have a passion for production beyond just the music. We each love a good live show and we want to bring that to our fans. Plain and simple. We know that playing out in Austin can sometimes seem like a drop in a bucket since there is a plethora of amazing live music every night so we want to put on the best show we possibly can to say “thank you” to the folks that chose to come see us.

Our show is a blend of atmospheric, self-reflective, rock music complimented by a fun, etherial, light show. We put in a lot of work rehearsing these shows so know that every show has each member’s heart all in. We bring our art in as many mediums as we can when we play a show. The lights, the music, and the shirts we design and screen-print ourselves. We want the show to be personal. We want to connect with our fans.

We are a 5-piece band from Austin, Texas fortunate to be really good friends that share a passion for good production and great times.

I am most proud of what this project has become and how it is developing into something that people come out to see and enjoy,

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

To me, the most rewarding aspect to our work is having a person you have never met in your life come up to you glowing, smiling ear to ear, after seeing us for the first time. I feel like nowadays, it takes a lot to make somebody feel like that and it is one of the best feelings to know that our music made somebody’s night that much better.

Even though we strive to play this music full-time in front of as many people as possible, being able to see the joy you brought someone is one of a kind and I am content with that.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.

I think one-thing that non-creatives struggle to understand about the journey of a creative is why we put so much time, resources, and effort into our craft when there is little to no payoff in a traditional materialistic way. I sometimes get asked why I still play music after all these years and it gets me thinking.

The best way I can explain it in relevance to my story is I see it as my true way to express myself. I have a hard time expressing myself emotionally without music but the music I make can speak what I am feeling way more what my words can. Getting my emotions out there is well worth the time, money and effort. A creative outlet is a tool that can be used in many ways and that is truly the fun part about it. What you create when you are happy versus when you are sad can be totally different things and whatever you create is a snapshot of how you felt in that very moment. I think that is very cool and I would not trade that for anything else.

Contact Info:

• Website: thekhost.squarespace.com
• Instagram: @thekhost
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/wearethekhost
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGtYEO7L41YTsNVNrmE0SSA

Image Credits
Marv Vang